Big Dusi incentives up the ante for Team Best 4 Kayak Centre stars

Pietermaritzburg - Members of South Africa's first pro paddling team have been given extra incentives to perform well in next week's The Unlimited Dusi canoe marathon with two new cash carrots for exceptional performances.

The management of Team Best 4 Kayak Centre has confirmed that should one of their crews win the overall title, they will earn a bonus of R40 000 each, in addition to the race first prize of R108 000 that the winning K2 crew will share. Should that victorious crew include a paddler who is not part of the team, the non-team partner will earn R25 000.

Men's defending champions Andy Birkett and Jason Graham fall right into the latter category because Birkett was signed up by the team midway through last year, while Graham remains outside of the pro teams ranks.

Serious title contenders Hank McGregor and Len Jenkins are both members of the new pro team, and should they pull off the win, each will pocket R94 000 for the three day race.

"It's a fantastic extra incentive to win the race for sure," said team captain Hank McGregor, the current world marathon champion. "When the chips are down we will be primarily motivated by the sheer pride associated with winning the title against such a strong field. But there is no doubt that we are excited about the possibility of the extra cash bonus if we win it for team."

The Team has added a whole new dimension to the front of the race by offering a similar incentive to the elite female crews if that team boat manages to finish in the top twenty overall. This has not been achieved by a female crew in the history of the Dusi.

In the women's race the two strongest crews on paper both represent Team Best 4 Kayak Centre in the Adie twins Abby and Alex, and the defending champion pairing of Robyn Kime and Abbey Ulansky.

"Phew! A top twenty finish is a tall order but it is not impossible," said Kime. "This incentive from the team is certainly going to help keep it top of mind during the race, you can be sure of that!"

"It is going to be tough because the race has become so much more competitive in recent years," said Kime. "There are a lot more guys crews racing to make top twenty and top fifty nowadays which is going to make it harder for a women's crew to crack the top twenty."

Kime and Ulanksy finished 24th overall when they won the women's title two years ago, and are mulling over what sort of conditions would favour their chances of improving on that.

"A low river might suit our chances of making the top twenty better," said Kime.