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The Dubai Surfski and Kayak Club (DSKC) is
about to host the richest race in the history of paddling: in ten days time,
the winner of the Dubai Shamaal will walk away with US$20,000 of the US$50,000
prize pool.
 DSKC Evolution!
So who are these DSKC people with their
dollar signs drifting around the Shamaal website? A bunch of nouveau riche
newbies trying to buy the sport?
Actually not - the DSKC has grown, like many
other clubs, from grass roots through the efforts of their core members. The tale starts on a fine summer morning in
2001..
A
couple of Saffas far from home make a plan
Wayne Randall was looking out to sea from his
beach front villa when he spotted a paddler on a purple hammerhead ski. "He had
a heart rate monitor planted on his largish frame," he said, "and he was making
very heavy weather of the warm, calm ocean conditions."
Earlier that same morning another hammerhead,
a blue one, had whizzed up and down the then newly completed Burj Al Arab at a
rate of knots considerably faster than the purple ski...
Wayne watched this early morning activity for
a good week until he plucked up the courage to venture out towards them. He'd bought a green (what's with all these colors?)
double hammerhead, intending to paddle with a friend, Kevin Goddard, a top-10 South
African Dusi Marathon finisher, but Kevin worked at the Al Maha Resort in the
middle of the desert...
So when one morning the blue egg beater and
purple paddler passed by "Norman No Mates" Randall headed out to greet
them. Three skis in one spot - a very
rare site in Dubai in 2001. The egg
beater turned out to be from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, Wayne's home town
and purple paddler had studied at university there - and Wayne knew that he had
something to work with.
"The slower purple paddler was Alan Hall," he
said, "and the bloke who paddled like an egg beater on steroids was none other
than John Callie."
24 Skis
looking for a home!
"Lost your paddling partner mate?" asked
Purple Paddler indicating the vacant seat in Wayne's double. "She's sleeping... I live up there near the
beach," Wayne replied. "We're looking to
get some skis in and start a club - what do you guys think?"
"Hmmm...!" said Purple Paddler. It turned out that Alan Hall had been storing
24 of John Callie's skis at his home and needed to get them out on instructions
from his wife, Fiona...
And the humble beginnings of the DSKC started
right there amidst the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf.
In no time John, Alan and Wayne met to discuss
the pending storage of some 30 hammerhead skis that John had imported from
South Africa. "It's not often that I've
met someone with more enthusiasm than me when it comes to water sports," said
Wayne, "but in John I had met someone so energetic and enthusiastic about sport
- and life itself - that the club was sure to succeed."
The skis and the
personalities combined to lay the foundations of what would become the first
(and possibly still the only) paddling club in the Middle East.
Six years later... a short but colourful history
The DSKC now has a
membership tally that rivals any club in the world and has established a tight
knit fraternity involving kayak vendors and the Dubai Paddling School. Members have become better paddlers; craft have
evolved from slow old hammerheads to the state of the art racing craft and the
races have become more challenging and competitive.
Events
The DSKC has staged a
number of events - culminating in the first Dubai Shamaal in 2006.
- The Standard
Bank Global Roots 2002 - 15km
- "The
Charged" series
- Landrover
Surfski Series
Annual
Events
- Dubai
Creek - Bridge to Bridge - A 12km flat water race along the infamous Dubai
Creek between Al Maktoum and Al Garhoud bridges.
- Paddle
with Sole: Annual race against Dubai Creek Striders. A unique race that dictates that
teamwork is more important than winning. Graded teams of 4 paddlers and 4
runners race along the Dubai Beach over a 10km course meeting at a common
turning point near the Burj Al Arab then heading back along the coast to
finish at the sailing club DOSC. Each team is only as fast as its weakest
member, and places a colored peg in the beach only when the last member of
the team reaches the DOSC beach.
- Ali
Maynard Musamdam Classic: This race takes place in Northern Oman through
the musandam over 25km, around Telegraph Island. The island is infamous for
the term "going around the bend" was coined here during the World War I.
Strategic control of the island was paramount and British troops were left
on the small island in order to draw a telegraph line around the bend of
the tip of Oman using Telegraph Island as a base. The remoteness of
the island and the infrequent shipping traffic had these guys out here
alone for long periods of time and once the ships returned to collect
them, they had literally gone around the bend. This race is in honor of
one of our stalwart members Ali Maynard and his wife Pam who both were key
core members of the club. Pam and
Ali have since moved back to South Africa but the legacy of Ali and the
race continues.
Characters , Personalities
and friendships
-
(See
the gallery below) Rob Klok (Fenn Agent)
and Gavin Dickinson (Club President) are core club members; Chantelle and
Richard Howes have supported the club from the beginning.
-
Graeme
Fenton and Hadyn Holmes (seen here sharing a joke while riding the wake of dhow
- wake riding is one of the club traditions and forms the basis for the "King
of the Dhows" title).
-
Ian
Kingon (Epic distributor) has been key to the growth of the sport in Dubai and
many of the club's successes are due to him.
-
Pete
O'Higgins is the drive behind the Dubai Paddling School. As DSKC club captain, he acts as a catalyst
between the club and the members.
Wayne
added, "Also deserving of mention are Robyn Parker, Neil Hamp Adams who drove
the Shamaal home last year and many others. I must also thank Jamal Al Mazrooie
a local Emirati who has allowed the club to exist within the walls of his
private villa. Jamal who now occupies
the villa that I previously stayed in is a keen sportsman himself and enjoys
the activity of the club along the beach. For a modest rent and free water
Jamal is the unsung hero behind the club; if we had no clubhouse we would have
no club."
DSKC Legends
Boyan
Zlaterev: a quiet unassuming guy who is the fastest projectile on the water
between the Club and The Burj, a co-founder of Dubai Paddling School and a mentor
to all in Dubai. "Unbeaten to date at DSKC I believe," said Wayne, "Boyan is a
real paddling talent but a gentleman foremost."
Nigel
Harvey a paddler from the old school, a key core club man still dishing out
hard lessons to the youngsters.
What it's all about
 At the end of the day...
Dubai Shamaal 2007
"To
all those of you heading to the desert this year," Wayne said, "on behalf of
the club we are looking forward to seeing all out here for a great paddle and
an awesome weekend. Windguru is currently predicting a 23knot westerly wind on
the 28th - hopefully it will last until the 30th."
See also:
http://www.dskc.net/
http://dubaishamaal.com/
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