Hank Mcgregor

Durban, South Africa - Sunday saw a moderate field take on the world's oldest surfski race, the Illovo Pirates Umhlanga Pirates Surfski Race, with paddlers encountering some tough conditions with South African surfski ace Hank McGregor claiming the overall win with Nicole Russell finishing as the first lady home.

On 23 August, 2014, the inaugural Canadian Surfski Champs was held in coastal British Columbia, one week after the US Surfski Champs in San Francisco, attracting the top 8 finishers as well as Hank McGregor, who flew out from South Africa for the event.

Durban - The conditions may have been tame for much of the 26km opening day of the FNB Mazars Durban Downwind surfski race but the racing was action-packed and laden with drama as Jasper Mocké and Nicole Russell clinched their maiden men’s and women's South African Single (S1) Surfski Championship titles.

Durban – A star studded field has assembled in Durban ahead of this weekend's inaugural FNB Mazars Durban Downwind surfski race, which doubles as the 2014 South African Surfski Championships, and all are anxiously looking to Mother Nature to see what weather and ocean conditions she will serve them.

Durban – Durban’s reputation as a global surfski mecca will be strengthened on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 June 2014 as the nation’s best ocean paddlers do battle for national titles in the newly launched FNB Mazars Durban Downwind surfski race.

The brand new event will not only become the permanent home of both the KZN and Gauteng Surfski Champs annually, but this year’s opening edition also doubles as the 2014 South African Surfski Championships.

The Steelcase Dragon Run in 2014 will take place in Hong Kong on Saturday November 22nd.  [Editor: whether you're in it for the racing or the exotic venue, the Dragon Run should be on your bucket list - it's one of my favourite events.]

Thirty minutes into the Maui Jim Molokai Challenge, first-time participant Jasper Mocke led a five-man conga line of Clint Robinson, Hank McGregor, Cory Hill and Jeremy Cotter. When Mocke sprinted for a wave that shot him across Robinson's path, the five-time Olympian admonished him like a state trooper confronting an unlicensed driver. Mocke thought nothing of his move. "That's how we race in South Africa," he said. "It was just aggressive."

A few hours ago Hank McGregor won his second Molokai title in similar conditions to the first...

After two weeks of howling trade winds and mountainous seas in the Kaiwi Channel, the 2014 Molokai Challenge is faced with baking temperatures, glassy seas and “winds light and variable”.  And that means 52km of an intense challenge of a different kind…

Durban’s globally renowned winter surfski season got underway on Sunday 4 May with the Bay Union Season Starter, race one of the four leg Bay Union Surfski Series, which saw regular front runner Hank McGregor and top step of the podium novice Jenna Ward get their 2014 campaign underway in ideal fashion with victory in the men’s and women’s races respectively.