McGregor wins but Bouman takes the spoils
uMhlanga's Matt Bouman wins surfski series despite finishing in second place in the final of the Wall and Back series.
IN what can only be described as tricky conditions South African surfski ace, Hank McGregor, showed his class to power away from the rest of the field to claim the win in the final instalment of this year’s Illovo Suncoast Pirates Wall and Back Surfski Series on Friday evening.
Having missed a leg of the series and producing one poor showing meant that McGregor was unable to clinch the overall series title and that went to the consistently good Matt Bouman who came in second on Friday night.
The uMhlanga resident was full of praise for the Illovo Suncoast Pirates Wall and Back Surfski Series when he came through the choppy surf to claim the runner-up position on Friday night.
“It has been a pretty challenging series this year but I have to say that this must be one of the best small series in the world,” the overall series winner said. “You see some of the best paddlers in the country come out here and paddle for the enjoyment of it and the guys are out there just racing for pride and fun.
“I had a couple of mixed results throughout the series but it is great to be able to take the overall series,” a satisfied Bouman said.
Danica Bartho came in first in the women’s race on Friday night. It was only her second outing to Pirates this series and was just as difficult as the first one she took part in.
“It was horrible out there today!” she mentioned. “It was really tough and I was hoping that I might get some better conditions than there were when I had my first paddle in the series but it was just as bad today.
“It was all about surviving out there and just making sure you stayed in your boat!” Bartho mentioned.
