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Namibia: Rubberducking Wins the Day At Swakopmund
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The Namibian (Windhoek)
15 April 2008
Posted to the web 15 April 2008
Six teams of pilots (with co-pilots) roared their rubberducks through four adrenaline-filled courses during the Inland Inflatable Boat Club (IIBC) club event that was held in Swakopmund's Mole over the weekend.
Three teams from Windhoek, one from Oshakati and two from Swakopmund took each other on during a short course over three rounds and a 20km long haul.
Swakopmund's Lighthouse team with Quinton Liebenberg and his fiance Keren Till (the only female contender in the field), took the first place overall, with Windhoek's Namib Marine Service's Burgert Terblanche and Pieter Pfeiffer coming second.
Another Swakopmund team (Swakop Thatch), Lourens Fourie and Jaco Blaauw, ended in third position.
The two "casual" jet-ski participants, AJ Louw and Stefan Loftie-Eaton, gave the rubberduck teams a run for their money.
IIBC's chairman Derek van der Merwe told The Namibian that conditions were very good, although the absence of rough water may have dampened the excitement.
"The water was smooth - we could just have well been at Von Bach dam," he said.
"The participants definitely took advantage of the favourable conditions and raced excellently."
Competitors agreed with Van der Merwe about the lap circuits that were held at the Mole, but stated that the waters were rougher during the 20km haul between the Mole and Swakop River mouth.
During this race, two teams experienced some trouble, where one of the co-pilots was hurled from the rubberduck, while another boat had to be towed in due to an engine malfunction that occurred in a set of cross-waves near the river mouth.
Van der Merwe, who has represented Namibia in several international rubberduck events, said that the sport is starting to pick up again in the country, and that more tournaments are planned.
An international event is being planned for December, while in August watersport enthusiasts can look forward to another action-packed event that will be held during Henties Bay's fish festival.
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"There is a passion for the sport, and its just a matter of time when we'll have 30 Namibian teams on the water," he said.
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