Hank McGregor snagged his third Dunlop Surfski World Cup title in Durban on Sunday, comfortably beating a powerful field and taming an uncooperative flat ocean to win the 26-kilometre race and the R40 000 winner’s prize.
The women’s race was totally dominated by Eastern Cape Olympian Michéle Eray, who shrugged off a crippling dose of flu to win going away from defending champ Nikki Mocké.
“I felt terrible coming into the race. I spent all of Saturday lying on the couch like a granny and was not feeling good at the start. I got a small lead at the 800 metres turning buoy and was able to slowly pull away on my own from there,” said Eray afterwards.
While it is difficult to measure her performance in terms of margins of victory in the women’s race, she finished 25th overall in one of the most impressive performances by a female in an international event for many years.
‘Obliterated
“When you get totally obliterated, like Michéle did to us today, it’s easy to see why she’s the best female surfski paddler on the planet. She was just too good for us and I felt like I was going backwards trying to stay with her,” said second placed Nikki Mocké.
Mocké, who was under-prepared for the event because of a crippling 10-week ankle injury, spent most of the race on her own and struggled in the flat conditions.
“At one stage I was screaming ‘How can there be 395 paddlers doing the same 26-kilometre race and I am all on my own?'” she chuckled afterwards.
Tenacious Australian Ruth Highman took third in the women’s race despite the complete lack of favourable downwind conditions that she has become accustomed to in Perth.
