Salt Rock’s resident paddler extraordinaire, Hank McGregor, took two from two at the Fenn SA Surfski Champs this past weekend.

McGregor took on a strong field in both the single and double surfski events at the SA Surfski Champs, raced along the Durban coastline.

On Saturday, April 10, weather conditions permitted perfect seas and it became a true test of skill and experience for 43-year-old McGregor as he battled to first place in the singles over Nick Notten.

The course ran for 26 kilometres from the Durban Undersea Club (DUC) to Amanzimtoti.

“It was pretty much a straight run from the harbour wall to Toti. You couldn’t have asked for better conditions.

“I managed to get my nose ahead after about four or five kays then pushed the pace at the Cutting and opened up a small gap,” he said.

It was not all smooth sailing, however, and McGregor almost lost his lead when he had to turn back out to sea in order to round a buoy that he had missed.

It made for an exciting finish but he was able to hang on and beat Notten by just over 8 seconds.

“That’s a third national single title in a row, so I am really happy with the hat-trick against an awesome field.”

Michelle Burn won the woman’s singles, keeping out U23 Kira Bester in second and Melanie van Niekerk in third.

“I went too hard in the first few kilometres of the race, hustling after I got stuck behind some others at the start. I was racing with Melanie (van Niekerk) for a while but then I just decided to put blinkers on and paddle my own race, which went quite well,” she said.

On Sunday, the course changed direction, running north for the S2 doubles race from DUC to Umdloti.

McGregor and Burn were both able to wrap up another victory, winning with Josh Fenn and Saskia Hockly as partners respectively.

It was McGregor’s seventh national doubles title in a row and it was convincing as the duo powered to an eighty second win over Hamish Lovemore and Bevan Manson.

The race was the first that the two had competed in together and it proved to be a perfect pairing, getting Fenn his first national title.

“We had a really great paddle together, something I have been wanting to do for a long time after travelling the world together,” said McGregor.

Burn and Hockly had a similarly dominant race, finishing in 22nd overall and almost 4 minutes ahead of the next female pairing.

To find the full list of results, visit sasurfskichamps.co.za.