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Durban – Hank McGregor retained his title at the McCarthy Toyota King of the Bay that doubled as the SA single ski championships on Sunday, in a race held in vigorous and testing conditions set up by the strong cold front that hit Durban on the weekend.
 The strong South Westerly wind made for tough conditions in the mid section of the six kilometer leg on Durban harbour, where the driving side wind created difficult swells that bounced off the harbour walls. Once out of the harbour mouth, the gusts made for excellent downwind racing conditions to the turn off Durban North, before grinding into the wind to the finish off Marine Surf Lifesaving Club. Four paddlers led the race out of the harbour mouth, with defending champ McGregor racing with Darryl Bartho, Clint Pretorius, and Barry Lewin. The four opted for a direct route to the turning buoy off Durban North.
Eleven times Molokai champ Oscar Chalupsky however opted for a route that went further offshore, and used the strong downwind conditions better, and caught the lead group quickly.
After turning and heading into the strong wind, McGregor, Pretorius and Chalupsky were locked together on a group all the way to the finish, where McGregor held on to win by a narrow margin from Chalupsky.
“I am stoked with the win, because we were all a bit tired from racing the trial the day before,” said McGregor. “The race is a great test of all round ability, because it started on flatwater, and then had good downwind and then headwind racing conditions, which made it a good test for the SA single ski title.”
McGregor regains the single ski title that he won three years ago, and adds it to the lengthy honours list on his CV. “It’s just that SA K1 river title that has eluded me, so I have my eye on the Hansa Powerade Fish in September to sort that out!’ he added.
Oscar Chalupsky and Clint Pretorius jet off to Hawaii this week, where Chalupsky will strive to defending his Molokai title, and to compete in the team relay that takes place this weekend.
Tiffany Kruger of Amanzimtoti took the women’s crown, from rising star Laura Thompson, who hit the headlines with her second place finish in the Hansa Powerade Dusi in January.
Brett Binnekade made it a Toti double when he won the juniors boys race from plucky South Coaster Warwick McNicol.
The Chalupsky brothers Oscar and Herman took the top honours in the Veterans section, from East London’s Hennie Roos, with the evergreen Matt Carlisle taking the Masters gold medal.
The South African team selected for the World Cup in July from the trial held in tough conditions on Saturday, will be confirmed shortly.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
MCARTHY TOYOTA KING OF THE BAY – SA S1 CHAMPS
MEN
1.Hank McGregor
2.Oscar Chalupsky
3.Clint Pretorius
4.Darryl Bartho
5.Barry Lewin
WOMEN
1.Tiffany Kruger
2.Laura Thompson
3.Michelle Eder
JUNIOR BOYS
1.Brett Binnekade
2.Warwick McNicol
3.Thomas Price
VETERANS
1.Oscar Chalupsky
2.Herman Chalupsky
3.Hennie Roos
MASTERS
1.Matt Carlisle
2.Mark Lewin
3.Mike Davey
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