Salt Rock’s McGregor second in Portugal

World number one paddler Hank McGregor finished an uncharacteristic second at the prestigious Nelo Summer Challenge surfski race in Portugal over the weekend.

The Salt Rock resident was part of the touring South African paddling team.

Sean Rice and Hayley Nixon delivered a double victory for SA by winning the men’s and women’s titles.

In a race totally dominated by South Africans paddlers, Rice was locked in a duel with compatriots McGregor, brothers Dawid and Jasper Mocké, his own brother Kenny and Nicky Notten for much of the 19km race from Viana do Castelo to Ofir’s beach in Esposende.

Because he lost his GPS tracker overboard, Sean Rice’s charge went largely unnoticed by the audience following the race at the finish venue and the huge global following watching the live streaming, until he snuck into the beach finish ahead of a strongly finishing McGregor.

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Rice (Think Kayaks) won his world championship title at the same event a few years back and revelled in the windy conditions and mild ocean swell on the coastal route.

McGregor (Euro Steel/Fenn) finished a close second with Nick Notten taking the last spot on the podium from Kenny Rice.

The women’s race was totally dominated by the reigning world champion, Hayley Nixon from Durban.

The Euro Steel/Vaikobi star hit the front the start and gradually opened up a massive 500 metre lead to win the title with ease, to go with her impressive win on her maiden Molokai Challenge crossing earlier in the year.

With South African paddlers filling the podiums in many of the age groups, the Iberian outing is a good morale booster as many of the paddlers head for the flatwater marathon world championships, also in Portugal next weekend.

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