{"id":59192,"date":"2025-04-09T21:17:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T19:17:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/?p=59192"},"modified":"2025-04-09T21:17:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T19:17:57","slug":"engen-ballito-downwind-headlines-paddle-fest-to-host-the-kzn-singles-champs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/more-sport\/engen-ballito-downwind-headlines-paddle-fest-to-host-the-kzn-singles-champs\/","title":{"rendered":"Engen Ballito Downwind Headlines Paddle Fest to Host the KZN Singles Champs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Durban paddlers \u2013 both experienced and novice \u2013 are invited to participate in this year\u2019s Paddle Fest running over the Easter weekend, 18 to 20 April 2025. This epic three-day festival will include the popular Engen Ballito Downwind as the headliner, as well as hosting the KZN Singles Surf Ski Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Considering the weather conditions and paddle calendar, South Africa Surf Ski decided to shift the dates of the Engen Ballito Downwind to coincide with the long weekend, as well as bringing in more activities to open the sport up to a new market.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cSouth Africa Surf Ski is proud to add this new and exciting paddling festival to the surf ski calendar, in an auspicious year for the sport in South Africa,\u201d says Barry Lewin, Event Organiser. \u201cDurban, specifically, has been awarded the 2025 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Champs, which will be held on our doorstep from 17 to 19 October. This new event \u2013 the Paddle Fest \u2013 will allow paddlers to compete and prepare for the World Champs.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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He explains that the Engen Ballito Downwind has been a highly anticipated event on the calendar for some time, but has been moved to the long weekend to take advantage of the \u2018excellent paddling conditions\u2019 experienced at this time of year, adding that this is also a great opportunity to host the KZN Singles Surf Ski Championships.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe festival has already seen great support from sponsors like Engen Ballito and The Pumpsmith,\u201d continues Lewin. \u201cWe look forward to seeing this festival grow from strength to strength in the years to come. We are specifically excited to be adding to the Engen Ballito Downwind, with the Reef Shootout \u2013 which is an exciting spectator-friendly event \u2013 as well as some free coaching sessions to introduce new people to the surf ski sport.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mark Jason of Engen Ballito said they are proud to return as sponsors for this impactful event, which encouraged local sports stars while showcasing the beauty of the KZN North Coast: \u201cWe are stoked to support local! We have been here for more than 20 years, when Ballito was still a small village. The surf ski community epitomises the many reasons that our town is so desirable \u2013 a fun destination supporting a healthy, ocean-based lifestyle! It\u2019s really all the best elements the KZN North Coast has to offer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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The KZN North Coast is a popular paddling destination for South African competitors, with former World Champions Hank McGregor and Michelle Burn among this year\u2019s Paddle Fest competitors. Commenting on the upcoming race, Michelle said: \u201cI always love paddling north or south of Durban bay! I love having to navigate the fun surf break, and of course, my favourite is a good downwind. The Engen Ballito Downwind offers all my favourite things, so I am really looking forward to the upcoming event!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Paddle Fest 2025 Schedule<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

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Friday, 18 April<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

7am: Free SASS Coaching Session at DUC \u2013 Paddlers are encouraged to bring a friend to introduce new people to the sport with this fun coaching session.<\/span><\/p>\n

9am: Reef Shootout at Vetchies \u2013 This is an 800m knockout event, great for spectators to enjoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Saturday, 19 April<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

9am: World Champs Course Preview from DUC to Westbrook\/Toti \u2013 Organisers will prioritise downwind paddling but this is a great way to check out the course ahead of the October event.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Sunday, 20 April<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

9am: Engen Ballito Downwind from Blythedale to Tiffany\u2019s and reverse \u2013 The Paddle Fest culminates in this 18.5km course.<\/span><\/p>\n

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There is no pre-entry required for the first two days of Paddle Fest. To enter the Engen Ballito Downwind, visit <\/span>www.canoesa.org.za<\/span><\/a><\/span>. The first 50 entries get a free paddling shirt!<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Durban paddlers \u2013 both experienced and novice \u2013 are invited to participate in this year\u2019s Paddle Fest running over the Easter weekend, 18 to 20 April 2025. This epic three-day festival will include the popular Engen Ballito Downwind as the headliner, as well as hosting the KZN Singles Surf Ski Championships. \u00a0 Considering the weather […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[4415],"class_list":["post-59192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-more-sport","tag-olivia-jones-communications"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59192"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59192\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/southafricatoday.net\/sport\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}