RUBBER duck races returned to Port Alfred last weekend after a 10-year absence, part of the Royal St Andrews Hotel Easter Festival.
In addition to the rubber duck circuit racing in the East beach surf on Saturday and Sunday, a highlight was the resurrected Barnacles Challenge, which saw the inflatables race from the Port Alfred Ski-boat Club out the Kowie River Mouth and in a circuit off West Beach and around Fountain Rocks.
The thrilling high-speed race drew throngs of spectators on the east and west piers and lining the river banks.
“It was fantastic,” said Mike Hattingh of the Border Inflatable Boat Club (BIBC), which organised the weekend races.
The event drew participants from Port Elizabeth, Cape Town and Sasolburg.
“I last did the Barnacles Challenge about 15 to 20 years ago, and this was one of the better ones,” Hattingh said.
Rubber duck racing was last in Kowie the last time the Formula One boats raced here 10 years ago.
See the full story in this week’s Talk of the Town.
