Mike Dawson Crowned as Rapid Rajah 2015 (Malabar River Festival 2015)

Mike Dawson(NZL) overcame stiff resistance from Sam Sutton (NZL), Joe Morley (GB) and Phil Mitchell (GB) to take home the Rapid Raja Crown along with a total prize money of USD 4500.

Mike won three out of the four events at the Malabar River Festival including the Slalom, Boatercross and the Downriver time-trails and firmly established his superiority over all other athletes in the field. Mike Dawson’s win at Kerala comes on the back of his at the recently concluded Extremsportveko, which earned him a place at this years WW Grand Prix.
Beth Morgan (UK) came up with a commanding performance finished with a clean sweep by winning all the races in her category. Beth was crowned the Rapid Rani 2015 and she won a cash prize of USD 1000 along with a ride on the back of the Malabar elephant.

This year the organizers introduced a new super-final category in which the top 10 finishers across all the races got a chance to race down a big Class V+ rapid which was one of the main highlights of this years festival.

The much awaited carnage was finally seen at the kayakers party, which once again proved that world champion kayakers are also world champions at partying. But that is a story for another day.

The organizing team would like to extend their heartiest congratulations to all the winners at the Malabar River Festival 2015. Event report and complete set of resutls coming soon.

By Manik Taneja/ Photos by Chethan Karnath & Neil D’souza