On a recent trip to South Africa my un-ending quest to find new and original adventure activities introduced me to something I had never heard of before – Blokarting. Blokarting is basically land sailing. That doesn’t sound like it makes much sense but basically we’re talking about very low, very light, go-kart with a very wide stanc, no engine and a huge sail like that of a small sailboat. With the right amount of wind the vehicles are actually light enough to sustain motion and that’s what brought me to South Africa’s Muizenberg beach outside of Cape Town to check them out.
Cape Town is an adventure seeker’s paradise and just outside the city lies one of the most unique adventures of them all, blokarting!
Unfortunately, the tides and wind prevented us from blokarting actually on the beach so instead we used a paved track just nearby. After attaching my GoPro and listening to the safety briefing we loaded into the blokarts and pointed into the wind.
Up close and personal on the blokart
WOW blokarts were fun! I had absolutely no idea what I was doing though. As I would wiz by the instructor guy would constantly be yelling sailing related terminology that I had no idea about. I felt like I was in Wedding Crashers – “We’re tacking back round, do me a favor, ease the sheets, swing the jib starboard!”. What now? I didn’t know when to pull the sail tight or when to release but after a lap or two I got it down enough to really enjoy it.
A fellow blokarter passes by as we make the turn
The way the wind was blowing there were parts of the track that you could go so fast you thought you may just blow away, and there were parts of the track where you’d just come to a stop until you could reposition the kart manually. When the wind was cooperating I couldn’t believe how fast I was moving and how tight I was taking turns. With no brakes when the wind takes you you just have to go for it! I came around the fast turn a couple times so fast and so close to another blokart I thought for sure we’d collide but as unstoppable as they are, they’re also really easy to steer and handle like a dream. All in all, a ton of fun.
Dave blokarting with the mountains of Cape Town in the background
At one point I found myself moving pretty fast when I glanced to my left and noticed my wheel was about six inches off the ground. “Well that doesn’t look right”, I thought. I looked again and yes, in fact it was floating about six inches off the ground. I thought to myself “how could that be?” and then I realized I was being blown so hard I was tipping over and up on one wheel! Thankfully I did not tip and my left wheel did eventually find the ground again. One of the other blokarters weren’t so lucky though and did a mean flip ending up entirely on their side with a nasty cut on the knee.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhJGEm8v50k]
All in all, blokarts were a lot of fun. Next time I’d definitely want to try them out on the sand but honestly if you catch the wind it could be miles before you slow down. You’d have to arrange for someone to pick you up down the coast. If you’re interested in something fun, fast and different check out Blokarting next time you have the chance. And if you’re in South Africa, call up Blokart Southern Africa to take you out. They are experts in this unique adventure sport.
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