Surfski

DUC has a very well supported and extremely active Surf Ski section.

As part of the Point Watersports Club (PWC) the DUC surfski members benefit from the fact that DUC is a registered Canoe South Africa (CSA) club and members can take part in CSA sanctioned events wearing the club colours.

CURRENT WEEKLY SURFSKI PADDLING ACTIVITIES AT DUC 2023

Members need to become separately registered with CSA and for those who are only intending to do social or close to shore racing, an annual membership of CSA as a Social member only costs R100.00 per year. A visit to the CSA website will give greater detail on the considerable benefits of becoming a paid up member of CSA.

More extreme CSA sanctioned surfski races require a full membership with CSA….details on their website.

At the new club facility, custom built racking facilities for surfskis and a wash off area are available. Details of how to apply for one of these racks and the annual fees applicable are available from the club manager.

For newcomers to the sport, an active but independent Paddling Academy operates in the area and can be contacted: jacqui@paddlingacademy.co.za

History & Current Evolution of SurfSki Paddling @ DUC

Although surfski paddling itself hasn’t changed greatly over the years apart from ski design and the requirement for greater water safety compliance, a lot has happened in terms of the club environments, especially at DUC.

What was initially a relatively small group of ‘older’ paddlers, often referred to as the Geriatskis or Salty Dog group, this has become a very vibrant mix of surfski paddlers where each grouping has established itself into different elements of surfski paddling activities throughout any given week.

  1. The ‘Thursday Paddlers’ are those who traditionally were some of the ‘founder members’ of the Geriatski paddlers and used to meet and paddle every Thursday morning in the harbour as well as every Saturday morning from Vetchies.
  2. The ‘Geriatski’ paddlers comprised this grouping, as well as the more infrequent paddlers who couldn’t commit to the early morning session in the harbour but nevertheless joined in on the Saturdays and often after work on Thursdays to do the weekly dice at Vetchies.
  3. As DUC evolved into a more multi water sports club, it welcomed and embraced surfski paddlers of all ages and backgrounds, so that the original ‘Geri’ profile is no longer fully representative of who paddles under the club membership of DUC.

Ocean Safety

The appointed Surfski Safety Officer is Neville Hart and the appointed Surfski Proficiency tester for the club is Wally Bodin. Additional individuals have made themselves available to assist but the requirement for signed off Proficiency for surf ski paddling, should direct their enquiries to Wally Bodin: wally@elitefp.co.za
DUC SurfSki Water Safety Code

Surfski paddling in the ocean is a hazardous sport and sea conditions can be very unpredictable and changeable. As an affiliated KNCU club we are obliged to ensure we operate within the CSA regulations and adhere to all SAMSA (Marine Safely Association) regulations as well.
All surfskis operating from the DUC club site must be marked with a CSA number and the person paddling the craft must be CSA registered.
Individual paddlers must be in actively managed training or have completed and passed the required Surfski Proficiency test.
It is a requirement of club membership that both the craft and the owner / paddler must be identifiable by the markings on the craft used. There are clear safely compliance reasons for this requirement.

Because of our proximity to the harbour, we are under constant surveillance of the harbour authorities and need to be respectfully aware of this at all times in our paddling activities.

Current Development Paddling Initiatives @ DUC

Durban Undersea Club along with several key Corporate Sponsors and the Paddling Academy Durban, have been supporting and growing a very active surf ski development program under the Siyaphambili banner for several years. This relationship has now been formalised and has been granted Affiliate Club status to DUC. The impact this program has had in motivating these paddlers and positively driving performance is reflected in their recent results over the past couple of years where they have participated in local, regional and national paddling events.

Some of the more outstanding achievements of the Siyaphambili team are as follows:

  • Lungelo Shange came second overall at the SA Schools Sprints by achieving the following results:
    *1000 m singles – Silver
    *1000 m doubles – Silver
    *500 m single – Silver
    *500 m double – Silver
    *200 m single – Bronze
    *200 m double – Silver
  • Lungelo Shange also secured his selection at the Junior HOPE Olympics because of these outstanding results.
  • At the 19 kms KZN Marathon Champs, the following results were achieved:
    *Lungelo Shange U 16 Single – Gold
    *Senzo Ngcobo U 16 Double – Silver
    *Lungelo Shange U 16 Double – Gold