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Durban - Hank McGregor shrugged off the jetlag from his return trip from the Epic Molokai in Hawaii last weekend to post a convincing win in the McCarthy Toyota King of the Bay surf ski race across Durban harbour on Sunday.
 Hank McGregor, fresh from Molokai, wins the Discovery Men's Health race 3 in Durban (Pic: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media)
McGregor, who came away with his second successive runner-up placing in the Molokai last Sunday made his break early on at a crucial section on Durban harbour. Just two kilometers into the race, which makes up the third leg of the winter Discovery Men's Health Surf Ski Series, McGregor led the elite racers into a shortcut that required them to run across a sandbank and then paddle into the main shipping wharf on the Bluff side of the harbour.
At that scramble portage across the soft sand McGregor earned a short lead, and then pinned his ears back to grind out a substantial lead by the time he exited the port through the harbour mouth, leaving Clint Pretorius and Bevan Manson to scrap it out of the other podium places.
McGregor battled through the effects of his 45 hour trip from Hawaii on the final sea lap from the harbour mouth to the Umgeni river mouth and then back to Ushaka Beach. "I just felt heavy, leaden. I guess the travel and after-effects of a tough Molokai kicked on," said McGregor. "But I was able to grind through it and finish the race off."
Manson dropped Pretorius shortly after the duo left the harbour mouth - this is the solitary occasion in the year that surf ski paddlers are granted permission to paddle in the harbour mouth - and consolidated his standing at the top of the series standing with a solid second place.
In the women's race Toti surf ski ace Tiffany Kruger redressed last weekend's shock defeat at the hands of Michelle Eder with an impressive victory, with Eder and Donna Winter making up the minor placings.
Kruger took her cue from McGregor's aggressive break across the sandbank as the race left the Silt Canal and broke contact with the other elite women and was not challenged at all over the rest of the 22km outing.
The Discovery Men's Health Surf Ski Series shifts to the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast next weekend with the popular Hansa Five Beaches event that is based around Amanzimtoti.
Pics by Anthony Grote
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
MCCARTHY TOYOTA KING OF THE BAY
Elite Men
- 1. Hank McGregor
- 2. Bevan Manson
- 3. Clint Pretorius
Women
- 1. Tiffany Kruger
- 2. Michelle Eder
- 3. Donna Winter
 Clint Pretorius wins at Dairy Beach (Pic: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media)
And in Race 2 the week before...
Durban - Clint Pretorius announced his return to form with a victory in the second leg of the Discovery Men's Health Surf Ski Series, using his experienced in testing swell and downwind conditions to edge out last weeks champ Bevan Manson.
Pretorius was simply better in the uneven downwind shoreward leg on the final lap of the Powerade Dairy race, and managed to string together a series of runs that left Manson lagging behind as they hit the shorebreak at the finish at Dairy Beach.
"I feel like I am getting there," said Pretorius of his gradual return to the sort of form that saw him in the prestigious Molokai title in 2006. "I am much stronger when there is some downwind and I was able to get away from Manson in the last few hundred metres."
The win puts Pretorius right back into the series overall rankings frame, after he just managed to scratch his way into the top ten during the tough flat conditions that prevailed for the series opener at Ushaka beach last Sunday, exposing his lack of training.
The women's title saw Michelle Eder upset the reigning series star Tiffany Kruger. Eder took a tight line at the first turn off South Beach and managed to get a short lead over Kruger.
Eder exploited this advantage to the full, and pulled away to notch up victory by a minute and half over Kruger, with Donna Winter in third.
Sprinters Ant Stott and Michael Arthur combined to take overall line honours in the race, after setting up a race-winning lead on in the 15km three lap race, held in a moderate swell and north easterly breeze on a rectangular course south of the start at Dairy Beach
Stott and Arthur imposed their authority early on in the first lap of the race, and the Pietermaritzburg based duo romped home to win by a minute from evergreen sub-masters Mark Lewin and Linton Hope.
The husband and wife duo of Stretch and Colleen Struwig took the mixed doubles honours.
The series shifts to the unique McCarthy Toyota King of the Bay race next weekend, the one occasion in the year that surf ski paddlers are allowed to paddle out of the harbour mouth.
Pics by Anthony Grote
SUMMARY OF RESULTS - POWERADE DAIRY BEACH RACE
Mens single ski
- 1. Clint Pretorius 1:19.45
- 2. Bevan Manson 1:19.51
- 3. Steve Cohen 1:21.34
Women
- 1. Michelle Eder 1:33.47
- 2. Tiffany Kruger 1:35.20
- 3. Donna Winter 1:41.20
More information can be found at http://www.surfski.co.za/
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Anthony Grote's photos are terrific; great color and drama. He has a fine eye for doubles racing especially. Very good work. Can this guy be available to photograph Molokai next year? Sponsors?
I'm sure there are other talented ski photographers who I have to see. Can S/K.i become part of a flicker-style blog so we can see more top-notch photo?