WITH a tough overnight deficit to overturn, Hank McGregor and Lee Furby paddled like men possessed as they stormed to overall victory on the second stage of the Gara Dolphin Coast Challenge from Salt Rock to Zinkwazi on Sunday.
The opening stage took paddlers 42kms from Suncoast Pirates Surf Lifesaving Club to Salt Rock and the mild conditions gave the pair of Matt Bouman and Wade Krieger the edge as they pipped McGregor and partner Furby to the opening day honours.
The pair of Bouman and Krieger were in the pound seats following the opening stanza and went into the second 32km leg of the race with a 40 second advantage over the chasing McGregor and Furby while Luke Nisbet and Gene Prato were three minutes back in third.
The opening day of the race was not without drama as the final sprint ended in a win for Bouman and Krieger after a mishap from McGregor and Furby which cost them the stage win.
“We were hoping to win both days but we had a little altercation with a surfer and we fell off our ski on the sprint to the beach on Saturday. That error definitely made us more hungry to win the second stage and I am really stoked that myself and Lee were able to put in the performance we did today to claim the Dolphin Coast title. Being part of the race from a sponsorship point of view just made it that much better to win – it was a great stage for us to be on and win on,” McGregor mentioned after their overall win.
The race was an exciting one heading into final stage and all the contenders decided to take varying lines in the benign conditions on Sunday with McGregor and Furby’s tactics proving to be the difference on the day.
The 40 second deficit that McGregor and Furby had to overturn on the second day was going to be a tough ask however they made a push heading into the final half of the day and never looked back after that until they were over the line.
Despite a barnstorming second day, which saw them finish second, the pair of Woods and Manson ended outside the top three with Nisbet and Prato taking the final podium spot.
One of the stand out results was the Carbonology mixed duo of Bailey de Fondaumiere and Hayley Nixon as they ended in tenth place overall while the Fenn Kayak’s ladies pair of Nikki Russell and Jenna Ward, the only all-ladies pair in the race, came home in fourteenth place overall.
More information can be found at www.dolphincoastchallenge.co.za.
