King of the Bay added 219 new photos.

7 months ago

King of the Bay
Highlights from KOB2020....Starting at Stellas Canoe Club, heading out through the Durban Harbour, then on to the open seas sown to Umgeni River mouth and back to DUC. Weather made it fun but ultimately it was awesome to have surfski action back again...Photos by Anthony Grote Photography. ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

King of the Bay

7 months ago

King of the Bay
McGregor claims national crown hat-trick in King of the Bay win with LovemoreDurban – South Africa's most decorated paddler Hank McGregor - Athlete returned to his winning ways when he partnered young rising star Hamish Lovemore to win the national double ski title in stormy weather at the Bay Union King of the Bay in Durban on Sunday.It was the first national title of a year truncated by the Covid-19 lockdown, and signalled the start of eight days during which time four national championships will be decided, as the focus shifts to St Francis next weekend for three days of ski and flatwater marathon racing.McGregor's win completed a hat-trick of victories in the national double ski title decider, after back-to-back wins with Andy Birkett in 2018 Pete Marlin and the Freedom Paddle in 2019.With Lovemore confirmed as his partner for the national marathon champs K2 race in St Francis next Monday, the 23km Bay Union King of the Bay proved to be an excellent dress rehearsal for the combination of McGregor and Lovemore.After completing the 11km flatwater haul across Durban harbour from the start at the Bayhead, McGregor and Lovemore found themselves racing two other double ski crews in Tyron Maher and Gene Prato and the Pietermaritzburg duo of Brandon van der Walt and Dave Evans.Once in the open ocean the two metre swell whipped up by the North Easterly onshore winds split up the bunches and McGregor and Lovemore ground away to a handsome lead by the time they reached the turn can off the Mngeni River mouth, before cantering home to a comfortable win over second placed Prato and Maher."Conditions weren't ideal," said McGregor afterwards. "It was quite unforgiving out there today and everyone who finished today will know they have done a proper surfski race."It was quite messy out there and you have to pick your own lines and hope for the best and gun it. I felt there was good power from the back of the boat, and we enjoyed it and and feel happy to get here first," he added."It was a great paddle, amongst the dolphins out there," Lovemore added after retaining the title he won at the same race last year when it was a single ski championship event.For McGregor the notably upbeat mood signalled the end of the lengthy layoff from mainstream paddling events during the Covid-19 lockdown."Just lining up at the start today you just got this feeling that we are back. Back after the lockdown and this was the first national title available and we are stoked that we took it," said McGregor.Prato and Maher wrapped up second before arguably the most talked about result of the day with veteran surfski ace and lifesaver Matt Boumann and rising star Connor Botha taking third after starting from stone last in A batch after missing their start.They were ahead of the start line warming up when the seeded batch was set on it's way, forcing them to return to the startline as the batch streaked away across the Silt Canal at the start."Who starts a batch early?" quipped a typically whimsical Boumann, who was quick to heap praise on Botha's contribution in their fightback.The women's race was thrown on its head just before the start when it was confirmed that former winner Michelle Burn had fallen ill and couldn't partner teenager Saskia Hockly in what was being billed as the boat to beat.Hockly was saved by her MacSquad coach Lee McGregor who arranged for Jenna Ward to partner her for what was their first outing in a ski together.In a carbon copy of the McGregor/Lovemore partnership of youth and experience and with both crews headed for the national K2 marathon championships next week, the outing proved a comfortable win for Ward and Hockly, replicating their excellent showing at the provincial marathon champs at Camps Drift last week."Once we got out into the ocean everyone spread out," said Hockly. "Jen (Ward), being the awesome driver that she is, got us onto some runs, and we felt comfortable coming back.""I knew that we combine really well, and we have very similar body shapes and size which helps. I woke up this morning with completely different intentions, planning a day of reports and marking," said Ward, a school teacher by profession."Coming away with an SA title with Saskia is probably a better way to spend my Sunday," she joked.Kyeta Purchase and young Paige Horne wrapped up second place in the event that decided both the SA S2 and KZN S2 titles for 2020.The event attracted a huge field of around 250 surfski paddlers in double and single skis and stand-up paddle boards, thriving on the return of popular canoeing events, despite the adverse weather conditions.SUMMARY OF RESULTSLONG COURSE1.Hamish Lovemore/Hank McGregor 1:26:27.52 2.Tyron Maher/Gene Prato 1:28:32.09 3.Matthew Bouman/Connor Botha 1:30:07.17 4.Brandon Van Der Walt/David Evans 1:32:40.63 5.Richard Lowe/Jason Ekstrand 1:34:23.81 6.Brendon Waters/Bryce Lawson 1:35:46.68 7.Jarryd Walker/Alex Masina 1:37:22.54 8.Garth Schonewolf/Quinton Rutherford 1:39:24.28 9.Matthew Millward/Murray Behn 1:39:42.85 10.Linton Hope/Bruce Wenke 1:40:03.84 WOMEN1.Jenna Ward/Saskia Hockly 1:42:152.Kyeta Purchase/Paige Horne 1:51:523.Valmajean Hockly/Julia MacAlistar 1:56:09 ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

LATEST NEWS

Get in Touch

NEELS MEYER (STELLA CANOE CLUB)

GIVE US A RING

083 231 0919

EMAIL US

neelsmeyer@solowebs.co.za

A Gameplan Media website