Lee McGregor's CPC TOP TIPS

LEGEND LEE MC GREGOR

Talking up a storm about the

Cape Point Challenge

IMAGE Cape Town Sports Photography

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I was asked to write a little story about why anyone should do the Cape Point Challenge (CPC), So here goes ...

A few years ago I was doing a talk in Australia to a whole group of surf ski paddlers. The question was brought up: “Tell us about this crazy CPC”. After asking why they told me that they’ve all heard some war stories about this incredible challenge that we have here in South Africa. I told them how it began for me.

We were all qualified SPA Surf Life Savers. to do the race in 1984. There was no question that the race started at the crayfish factory in Kommetjie and ended in Fishhoek. Irrespective of the wind or waves. My cousin Glen said to me: “ Let’s go and do it in a double!” I remember clearly asking: “Why? I’m not a ski paddler. I’m a swimmer.” He said: “ When you finish at Fishhoek, you are going to feel that you’ve done something special in your life.” My reply was:“ What? You are kidding me. Why?” He said: “Just do it with me and you will understand.”

We got in a 30kg plus lifesaving ski with a built-in nose cone in the front. No juice. 226cm flat blades. No training, and arrived at 5am in Kommetjie in a screaming South Easterly gale. It was blowing so hard, it was actually spitting with rain due to the build-up of the clouds in the mountains, known as the Black South Easter. (I later received a certificate from the Surf Life Saving Association saying the wind was blowing at 51 miles per hour at Cape Point Lighthouse at 6 am. 80 km per hour.)There was just a handful of us who decided to do it. The wind was blowing so hard that you couldn’t see in front of you because of the spray. Glen kept saying: “ It will calm down when we hit the kelp beds. Just

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survive the first 15km.” He was right, it did calm down, Not the wind, but the spray and chop.. Only then could we see the other paddlers around us.

Oscar pulled up next to us and even though the wind was still howling he stank. I asked him: “ What is the smell?” And he said: “He had just had to go to the loo.” I said to him: “ You are not staying on our wave with your bucket full of shit. Go, wash.” He said:” Ok, wait for me. I will catch you guys later.” I looked back to see just his head bobbing in the kelp beds. This was my first encounter with Oscar - known as the man who paddles on hydraulic oil. A few minutes later he was back and we cleared the outer reefs and got back into the wind and the waves. Literally, the boat speed was around 4km per hour. We were hardly moving. The land seemed to be stationary.

The press boat was a massive fishing trawler from Hout Bay and they came up to us to say: “The race is canceled. Go back!” Anthony Scott (Scotty) and Dave Mc Cormack waved at us as they came screaming past us - homeward bound. The race was officially over. Glen started turning and I shouted at him: “We can’t stop now. We are in the front. We are winning!” Unfortunately, he didn’t listen to me. After three hard hits behind his ear with the blade, he got the message and we carried on with blood seeping through his hair. A few minutes later we noticed that we weren’t alone. Some of the others had seen us and the race was back on. We hit the Point knowing that the galeforce wind was going to be behind us and we would surf all the way home. We had a compulsory ten minute stop at Buffels in those days for safety reasons. There weren’t too many happy faces on the beach as we came in. What Glen didn’t tell me was that our double ski couldn’t

surf downwind as it had a canoe tail rudder on the back that lifted out everytime we caught a wave. I can’t remember exactly how many hours it took us to eventually reach Fishhoek. No, we didn’t win, but we made it. Glen was right, we had finished the Cape Point Challenge and we had done something special.

I’ve come back a few times over the years to win it in a single and also in a double with my son Hank (15 at the time), who obviously everyone knows, has won it so many times since then that I’ve lost count. Why do we keep coming back? Because we can and because it’s so special.

The CPC is not a race. It’s a personal challenge, and it’s something that everyone who ever paddles in a ski and enjoys being out there, should do. Put it on your bucket list and you will know that you have done something great in your life. Not many people will understand why you want to do it. And they won’t understand why you did it, but you will. and you definitely won’t regret it

Peter Cole, the organizer, has new rules today. Anything over 15 knots and any massive swell, the race starts at Simonstown - basically in the harbor and you paddle in the lee of the mountains to Cape Point. Then an incredible downwind run to Fishhoek. Some say that it is not the same as rounding Cape Point, but let me tell you, that when you turn at Cape Point, you won’t regret that you haven’t been on the other side of the mountain. The feeling when arriving 50km later in Fishhoek is still the same. At least today, you don’t have to arrive at the start with your Speedo swim goggles with holes drilled into them to stop the spray blinding you after a few hours. Times have changed. Thank goodness.

LEE MC GREGOR

LEE’S

CAPE POINT CHALLENGE

TOP

If you are going to do it for the first time, then make sure that you prepare yourself properly. These are some of the pointers that I would recommend that you focus on before you attempt it:

1Stability is the key. Don’t get into a fast, unstable boat. Get into your race boat and don’t change any boats for training or on the day.

2 Don’t do any training in the flat water and call it training for CPC. Those are Junk Miles. Get in that ski, out there in the sea, and get used to bobbing around.

3 Race what you train and train what you race.

4 Make sure you get used to whatever juice you want to race with. Train on your race juice. I recommend just Coke and water.

TIPS

5 Don’t duck paddling into the wind in training. This race is a there and back. It’s an all rounder’s race, not just for downwind specialists.

6 If you can’t get into the sea, the try a tennis ball with a bungee under the boat and do half your session like that - as a form of resistance - and then half a session without it. Simulate the race, i.e. into the wind and then downwind.

7If you are doing the race for the first time, make sure that you don’t follow someone who is also doing it for the first time. You don’t want to get stuck in a massive kelp bed or get caught by a wave breaking on the rocks. In other words, don’t cut corners and get washed up on the rocks.

8 If you haven’t done it before, go out there and enjoy the comradeship, the incredible scenery, the occasional seals, the kelp beds that make you think that you are in an alien swampland, in other words, get

in a double ski and have some fun.

9 Training wise, any way you look at it, it’s going to take you four hours plus. Peter Cole’s qualifier is 35km minimum. So you need to do at least 3 x 3-hour paddles before the race. And maybe even a four hour if you feel so inclined.

10 When you are training, don’t stop paddling to take a break. i.e to take juice. Keep moving, you won’t be able to stop during the race.

11Don’t overheat. It is cold in the morning when you start but make sure that by the time the sun starts baking, you don’t have to stop and peel off clothing.

If you need any more advice, you are very welcome to contact me. My email address is macsquadelite@gmail.com

HOPE TO SEE YOU ON THE 16TH OF DECEMBER 2018 WITH A SMILE ON YOUR FACE AT THE START!

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