Undefeatable Hank and Pippa McGregor streak ahead in Petrefuel Dolphin Coast Challenge [WATCH]

Salt Rock’s power couple Hank and Pippa McGregor dominated the Petrefuel Dolphin Coast Challenge this weekend past.

World-renowned paddler Hank finished day 1 in first place in 1 hour and 27 minutes, racing from Pirate’s Lifesaving Club in Durban to Umdloti, despite the cold and drizzly but largely windless conditions.

“The polar bears pulled into Durban on Saturday. It felt like I had brought the Berg home to Durban,” he said after his return from the thrilling tussle he had at the Berg River Canoe Marathon in the Western Cape.

Hank said conditions were pretty flat and that he managed to get out ahead with a clean start, making a straight line to the Umhlanga Lighthouse.

“From the lighthouse I was able to catch up some of the doubles,” he said.

The event doubles as the provincial single ski championship for 2021 and day 2 saw visibly improved conditions.

Paddlers launched from Tiffany’s Beach in Salt Rock on Sunday, Hank once again proving that he would not be beaten.

Sunday’s conditions were not favorable for the veteran paddler, as he and others raced toward Umdloti, but he was ‘stoked’ to have the wind behind them.

In 1 hour and 25 minutes, 55.82 seconds, McGregor clinched his place in the final stage, with Michelle Burn bagging first in the women’s race.

The women’s race started as a neck-to-neck affair between the recently crowned International Canoe Federation ocean racing world champion Michelle Burn and junior world champ Saskia Hockly.

Burn won on both days, finishing in 1 hour, 40 minutes and 6.53 seconds on day 1, and in 1 hour and 35 minutes, 41.68 seconds on day 2.

Taking first place in the doubles division was McGregor’s wife Pippa, alongside paddling partner Hamish Lovemore, who finished first on both days.

Their time was 3 hours and 3 minutes, 22.36 seconds.