First off, I’d like to thank the Facelevel Crew for nominating me for the awards… and secondly to all of you who took the time to find out more about (and to vote for) me. Well done to Kevin for a bunch of work I’m sure to put it all together and to Ice and his team for their vision in taking some big strides towards uniting our tribe of Hydrospeeders / Riverboarders from the four corners of the globe. Congratulations to everyone who was nominated, to the winners and especially to Raphael, it seems a fitting tribute to someone who’s done so much for the sport.

It is great to see such good cooperation between Facelevel and RIPH, the two most dynamic forces in our sport in the world. I’m really excited about what the future holds…

I’m writing this on Sunday night 20 May at 20:00. Earlier today, I took my wife, children and dog with to the Du Toit’s Kloof, a grape growing, wine-producing valley about 120km’s from where I live, to go down a creek there, in a very mountainous part of the country called the Hottentots Holland Mountains. On the one bank there is a very quant Hotel, complete with trout farm, restaurant, stone outbuildings, log fires and good coffee. I spoke with the owner Louis, a very friendly and gregarious man, who told me that late yesterday was the highest level he’d ever seen the river at, in 9 years of owning the Hotel. Hooked up there with a mate of mine, Johnny, who kayaks. It was a different river at this level and we did it in record time… I guess I’m telling you this, because it touches on all of the reasons I love this sport. I get to spend time with my family, see some beautiful scenery, meet with great people along the way and be part of an adventure with friends every time we hit the water, and of course, afterwards, we drink some good coffee (life’s too short to drink bad coffee).

I hope to have an opportunity to drink coffee with many of you one day, that is, once we’ve descended some seriously steep creek…

Charl van Rensburg

I started Hydrospeeding...

In 1999 I read an article on Mike Horn, who took 7 months to descend the Amazon River by Hydrospeed, from source to sea, completely unassisted. That was the first time I’d ever heard of Hydrospeeding and was immediately interested since at the time I had been bodyboarding in the ocean for almost 20 years and Hydrospeeding seemed like a natural extension of this sport, but in freshwater. I set out trying to find where I can get the equipment I need. Most of the equipment was relatively easy to acquire except for the Hydrospeed which was not available in South Africa and the costs of “importing” one from overseas were prohibitive at the time. For this reason, I decided to make my own Hydrospeed and bought a few old bodyboards which I glued together. As handles I cut pieces off of a friends old Kayak which I wrapped in EVA and Neoprene, connecting it to the board with rope and bodyboard leash plugs.

Since those early days I’ve made more than a dozen Hydrospeeds and try every season to make at least two new ones. I experiment with materials, shapes & designs which in itself has become a source of enjoyment.

Future

Besides running as many rivers as I can here in South Africa, I am on a personal quest to run a major river on each continent. I also dream of running some rivers in Siberia.

Personal Profile

I live in Cape Town South Africa, probably one of the most beautiful cities in the world (Google it if you don’t believe me) in an area called Melkbos Strand which is a coastal village, and has really good waves for surfing. Andrea and I have been married for 12 years and we have a 5 year old son Neo and 1 year old daughter Nina. Other activities and interests besides Hydrospeeding include bodyboarding, bodysurfing, longboard surfing, canyoning, occassionally fishing for Bass, I read prolifically, am interested in the new economy and we are part of a local Church.

Rivers run in 2006

2006…

Last year was a great Hydrospeeding year for me. We had a good rain season locally and of course our trip to Uganda and the White Nile was a highlight. I had first descents on a number of rivers and have developed my equipment to a point where I am happy that everything fits, works and is durable enough to give me confidence to go for it on any river. Apart from the river side of things, it was again a privilege to spend time with Raphael (from France) who has become a good friend and probably one of the sport’s greatest Ambassadors. He really is a special guy.

Palmiet River (Class 3)

“This river has 3 sections with the last section being the most exciting with short pools between the rapids and some run-able weirs. The last major rapid, just before the second weir is a testing rapid with some keeper holes and also a nice surf hole in the middle.”

River description taken from book “Run the Rivers of Southern Africa” by Celliers Kruger

Palmiet River

Kleinmond – South Africa

Molenaars (Class 3-4)

“The Molenaars boasts continuous rapids and lots of playspots. The steep overgrown banks and lack of flat pools make the rapids challenging, and at high level they become quite intimidating.”

River description taken from book “Run the Rivers of Southern Africa” by Celliers Kruger

Molenaars River

Rawsonville – South Africa

Dwars (Class 4-5)

“The Dwars is a classic pool-drop, with big drops, and is not recommended for acrophobians since the top section features a number of waterfalls culminating in a spectacular 10m fall that has been shot by experts.”

River description taken from book “Run the Rivers of Southern Africa” by Celliers Kruger

Dwars River

Ceres – South Africa

Witte (Class 4-5)

“The Wit is described by many paddlers as one of the top creeks in the world. It is seriously steep and continuous with only one decent pool on the whole stretch. The river is tight with numerous siphons and undercuts requiring very technical maneuvering and only suitable for those comfortable in class 5 water.”

River description taken from book “Run the Rivers of Southern Africa” by Celliers Kruger

Witte River

Bains Kloof – South Africa

White Nile (Class 3-5)

The White Nile is considered to be one of Africa’s best big volume rivers. It runs 365 days a year and is fed by Lake Victoria. The rapids vary in difficulty with the most challenging being the almost 300m long solid Class 5 known as Itanda which is the final rapid of the Day 1 Section.

See a video clip on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gbq9NLhPeTY

White Nile – Put in First Day on River

Uganda East Africa

White Nile

Uganda East Africa

The Orphanage

Three weeks before leaving for Uganda in November 2006 I met up with a Ugandan Couple (Paul & Sarah), quite by chance, at our Church. While chatting with them I found out that they were looking after more than 200 children at an orphanage in their village. I thought it would be a good idea to see if we could do something to assist, and Raphael, Marc, Ice & Kevin agreed that’d be a good idea. Paul had given me a list of things that they needed and we set out seeing how to collect these or to raise money so they could buy it themselves. To be honest, we found communication and logistics pretty challenging and in the end we did not quite achieve everything we’d hoped to with the Orphanage. We were able to help them with a hand-full of items they’d asked for and Raphael and Marc had brought bags full of toys and clothing for the kids, which were really well received. On the whole, our biggest contribution was probably just showing interest and being there, but we also took home with us the stark realization that there are some big needs out there and that poor infrastructure and language barriers are a reality which one needs to plan for up-front if you really want to make a difference.