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A few days before the 2007 edition of the Cape Point Challenge I called Peter Cole who has run the race for the last few years. He's competed in most of the races and has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the event.
 Soetwater at 04h30 (www.jacquesmarais.co.za)
Images courtesy of Jacques Marais Media
The weather forecast was showing a light to moderate southeaster with small swell. "I'm just happy that we'll be going around the Point," he said.
(In 2005, 5m swells in the Atlantic meant that Peter had to change the course for safety reasons and we paddled from Fish Hoek out to the Point via Buffels Bay and back again. The decision was greeted with derision by some of the old campaigners who declared that a Cape Point Challenge without going around the Point wasn't a Cape Point at all.)
Conservation of Energy
Key to the race - especially for hackers like me - is to conserve energy. For safety reasons the competitors are started in groups of 15, five minutes apart in reverse seeding order so that the slowest paddlers start first. Each group quickly forms into lines, with the front position rotating between the strongest paddlers who take turns pulling the group. The rest of the paddlers ride the wakes of those in front as long as possible.
 Batch 2 preparing to start (Pic: www.jacquesmarais.co.za)
Slow Start
When the final elite batch started at 05h40 (30minutes after my group), they started "slowly". "We were going at about 12-12.4kph much to my relief," Daryl Bartho said. "After a while Traut (Capetonian Ian Trautman) did a strong pull at about 13.5kph."
A group of about 8 paddlers including defending champion Dawid Mocke, Paul Marais, Peter Cole and Oscar Chalupsky stayed together for the first half hour. Bevan Manson, recently returned from Australia, fell off his ski near the start but caught up after paddling on his own for about 6km. (He retired at Buffels Bay.)
NSRI Escort
Some 8km from the start, a big NSRI escort boat came past the group. Daryl Bartho watched as the waves from the boat's wake rolled across the flat sea towards the group. "I knew that this was probably a break point," he said. "I was in the worst spot too - 2nd slip closest to the boat."
In a moment the orderly formation was shattered. Oscar Chalupsky and Jasper Mocke made the most of the waves, surging ahead of the rest of group. Daryl and Dawid Mocke caught a couple of the waves, while Paul Marais and Peter Cole were left further behind and Ian Trautman dropped out of the picture altogether.
Both Daryl and Peter Cole thought the race was lost at that point. However, sub-groups immediately reformed - Daryl sitting on Dawid's slip; Paul on Peter's.
Dawid found a run or two and managed to drop Daryl.
A-grade Batch
Dawid put in a hard interval and caught the two front runners and they formed in a new line with Dawid pulling; his brother Jasper next with Oscar on his tail. Perhaps Dawid was already feeling the pace, but the front three had slowed enough that a bunch of A-grade paddlers joined their group and the relatively slow pace allowed the rest of the top contenders to rejoin. Daryl, having been on his own for a while, moved up the side of the line in bounds, using each individual's side-wash to accelerate and pass the next one ahead.
Meanwhile Pete Cole, still pulling Paul Marais, was doing the same thing...
Back to square one with Dawid, Oscar, Jasper, Paul, Pete and Daryl all formed up again into one group. Except... where was Ian Trautman?
Kelp Beds
Just before Platboom, the group hit the vast kelp beds. Initially Jasper was leading the group, but "I think he was testing Oscar's rudder," laughed Daryl, "and Oscar took over, pulling the group out of the kelp into clear water on the seaward side."
A short while later Peter Cole was pulling the group when they suddenly spotted a lone paddler on an inside line... Ian Trautman had found a good line through the kelp and had made his way back to the front of the field. Pete quickly guided the group across to rejoin him.
By now they were approaching the final section before Cape Point - the rough water at South-western Reefs between Cape Maclear and the Point itself. Dawid had dropped off the bunch, but the rest ground on through the choppy water. This area is notorious for the "washing machine" effect caused by the ocean swells reflecting off the sheer cliff faces and today was no exception.
Cape Point to Buffels
Pete Cole rounded the Point first followed closely by Paul Marais. Oscar Chalupsky took an inside line against the rocks hotly pursued by Daryl Bartho. (It was at this moment that I saw them come rocketing past, Daryl some 50m behind Oscar.)
About 3km from Buffels, Daryl overtook Oscar on the inside. "It was a boost getting past Oscar," he said, "but Pete had taken a better line and was ahead and about 400m to the right." Daryl arrived at Buffels about 40 seconds behind Pete. "I was feeling fresh but my game plan was to conserve energy," he said. "Two Cape Points ago I went too hard and crashed and burned."
 Oscar Chalupsky arrives at Buffels Bay (www.jacquesmarais.co.za)
Pete went out hard from Buffels and within 3km had opened up the gap to about a minute. "I started getting worried," said Daryl, "especially when I saw Paul catching up." By now the paddlers were at Batsata Rock, the Buffels side of Smitswinkel Bay. "It was a wakeup call," Daryl added, "and I put my head down.
"I don't race well from behind," Daryl admitted, "and I don't like being overtaken! I upped the intensity and dropped Paul."
Dawid Mocke
Meanwhile, Dawid Mocke had arrived at Buffels minutes behind the leaders. He had been unwell since the Perth World Cup and had recovered only a few days before the Cape Point Challenge. "I think my body was just used to 25km distances and perhaps I didn't eat well enough before the race," he said. Whatever the reason, he had run out of energy when the front group hit the kelp beds at Platboom. "I thought I was going to die at Buffels," he said. During the ten minute stop, he hoovered up a mound of sandwiches and a gallon of coffee. "He went off like a rocket," said his wife, Nikki.
Meanwhile, after defending the gap between himself and Paul Marais, Daryl "took it easy" as far as the Roman Rock lighthouse 5km from the finish.
"I was getting a little frustrated," he said, "but then I saw that Pete was tiring.
"I wanted to up the intensity again but experience whispered ‘you're doing fine anyway'," he added.
With about 4km to go, Daryl put in a little more effort and came alongside Pete, but about 50m on the inside. "I was working the runs," he said, "and after I overtook Pete, I was tempted to work them harder. But I was watching the GPS and knew that I was doing a good speed and that it would be difficult for anyone to overtake me.
"I didn't want to look behind," he said, "but at Sunny Cove I took a quick glance and it seemed safe. The record was in the back of my mind but I didn't know whether the ten minute stop was included in the race times or not." (It is.)
"In the last Cape Point we were much more gung ho," he said, "doing intervals and so on. This year I was slightly more relaxed, knowing that I hadn't done the distance and with all the recent travelling. I just focussed on not wasting nervous energy."
He came into the beach at Fish Hoek with a time of 04:28:38.
Pete Cole came in second just over a minute later. "I felt good," he said, "until just after Smits when I started overheating.
"Daryl had a flipping good race," he said. "I was actually more worried about Paul!
"It's lekker for Daryl," he added, "He hasn't won a big race recently. He's one of the nice guys of paddling."
Paul Marais
Paul got into Buffels just after Daryl with Oscar about ten seconds behind. "I went hard after Buffels," he said, "to make sure Oscar couldn't catch my slip. I caught up to Daryl who was inching up on Peter but at Millers Point I just got tired and Daryl got ahead."
 Paul Marais finishes in Fish Hoek (www.jacquesmarais.co.za)
Paul decided to consolidate his position and make a solid third place.
However... "I'd been watching my right hand side but 2km from the finish I glanced the other way to see Dawid sneaking up on my left; he'd made a huge recovery. I had a panic attack and did a big burn to get to the finish
"I was stoked.
"Daryl paddled a sensible, conservative race. Pete was probably getting a bit hot - but hats off to Daryl, it was a solid, brilliant win.
"I probably needed a bit more of something to help me - I just wasn't fit enough or strong enough."
Record?
And as for the record: Daryl Bartho's time was just 8 seconds behind Herman Chalupsky's record, set in 2003.
 '...one of the nice guys of paddling' Daryl Bartho wins the Cape Point Challenge 2007 (Justin Vellacott Gameplan Media)
The view from the back
And how was the race for the hackers (like me)?
It's critical for your race which group you're put into: in a group too weak, you'll end up going slowly and doing less well than you ought. In a group too strong you'll be going too fast and you'll exhaust yourself. The perfect group is one that travels slightly faster than you would on your own - you hitch a ride on the slips and boost your performance.
In 2005 I asked to be moved up a group, ended up pulling the stronger group for the first half hour (and lost my juice) and hit the wall before Buffels Bay. The rest was a nightmare and I ended up with a highly disappointing result.
This year, although my coach Nikki Mocke said that she thought I was a group too slow, I resolved stick with it. There were one or two paddlers in the group with whom I'd diced in some of the Sunday races and I figured we could work together quite comfortably.
Soetwater to the Point
When we started at 05h10, two of the paddlers immediately set off at a faster pace than I was prepared to go. Leading the pair was Etienne Rawlinson whom I overtook three hours later at Millers Point. He'd hit the wall hard and I felt vindicated that I hadn't chased him.
Paul Lee and I led the rest of the group - with me pulling for the first hour. The sea was flat except for some small wind generated slop and at exactly 06h10 I stopped to have a drink and Paul swerved past me and took over. I sat on his slip for the next hour. The sea changed in character as we went past various landmarks - definitely becoming more choppy as we passed Olifantsbospunt and the point at the beginning of Platboom.
Going past Platboom we found ourselves in thick kelp and changed course towards the open sea to try to get away from it. For some reason Paul seemed more efficient at working his way through the stuff and I had to put in a hard interval to catch him again when we found open water again.
Just before Cape Maclear I took over again. We made our way past a group of slower paddlers, working our way along one side of the line. As we reached Cape Maclear a line of breakers loomed up in front of us and we altered course seaward to clear them. Once past, we were into the confused chop of the south-western reefs. The group split up and some of the guys seemed to be going very wide; I couldn't see any breaking waves and headed directly for the point. It definitely helped to have done the route before; I think some of the others were overawed by the reefs' reputation.
Once around Cape Point the wind died, but there were some small runs to be had alongside the cliffs and as I tried to work them without expending too much energy, Oscar and Daryl came past, Oscar leading by about 50m.
As I reached the calmer water I snatched one of my rocket gel sachets - and spilled half of it into the cockpit. Curses!
Buffels
As I reached Buffels, Dawid Mocke came past on my right. As I staggered up the beach my daughter ran up to me and pointed out where she and her mother had laid out my food. The honey & cheese brown roll was the right food for the way I was feeling, but I found it difficult to force it down. I had half an energy bar and rocket gel as well before running down to start the last half. I heard my number being called about 30 seconds before I was ready, bad timing!
As I made my way out, a set of small waves came in and spilled me out of the ski. Feeling foolish, I got back into the ski and chased after Dean Jordaan who'd actually come into Buffels after me. After a while I caught up to him. He continued on a seaward line; I took went much closer to the edge of the bay, working my way through the rocks at Millers Point.
The 12km to the finish are exceptionally familiar from all the Millers Runs that we've done over the years - but never has the leg from Millers Point to the lighthouse seemed so long... I tried to maintain a steady stroke and to catch some of the small bumps but the lighthouse just didn't seem to be coming any closer.
I finally crawled past it and faced the last 5km to the finish. By now there was barely a ripple on the sea. Somewhere around Millers Point, my GPS started acting up, beeping as the auto-pause activated and de-activated. Finally it gave up altogether having lost connection with the satellites. Most annoying.
I came into Fish Hoek feeling tired but relaxed when to my horror I saw Rob Brodie, a long time paddling buddy whom I've usually beaten this season, coming past me on the inside - he made his way along the rocks, catching a wave off the reef at Sunny Cove. I sprinted to try to catch him, but he beat me by 15 seconds to the finish. As I stood up on the sand, I nearly keeled over - that last km had drained whatever reserves I had left...
I ended up 53rd out of 95 singles with a percentage of just over 78% in a time of 5:27:59.
 Rob Mousley at Fish Hoek (www.jacquesmarais.co.za)
I was very happy to be at the finish; very happy to have improved my performance by about 10% over 2005 and happy that my paddle had gone according to plan. What would I do differently next time? A few more long (i.e. 40km) paddles - more for confidence than anything else. I'd also try to focus more on the end of the race - I too should have tried to collect those easy runs near the shore at the entrance of Fish Hoek bay! Instead I was cruising, looking forward to the end of the paddle.
Cape Point Challenge and the World Series
There was and will be plenty of debate about the merits of including the race in the World Series. But I can say that this was a true challenge and I hope the event goes from strength to strength in the future. (There is a plan to pitch for a World Cup race the week before the Cape Point - the WC race would have a waiting period to be sure of a strong southeaster; would start at Platboom or Buffels and head to Cape Point and then straight downwind to Fish Hoek. This would create a race of around 35km, most of which would be downwind.)
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