McGregor scoops hat-trick at Molokai Challenge
The race for the overall singles title quickly turned into a five boat affair.
HANK McGregor won his third title in the Maui Jim Molokai Challenge on Sunday, leading home fellow South African paddlers Sean Rice and Jasper Mocké in the gruelling 53km crossing between the islands of Molokai and Oahu raced in brutal flat conditions.
The race for the overall singles title quickly turned into a five boat affair with the South African trio dicing with Australian defending champ Cory Hill and his compatriot Clint Robinson, each seeking their own lines across the channel that was offering no swell, runs or downwind assistance.
McGregor, who finished fourth last year in equally tough conditions, was able to use his accumulated experience in the closing stages of the race to choose quicker lines to get to the finish at Maunalua Beach Park a minute and a half clear of winner of the ICF ocean racing world title Sean Rice with Mocké just over a minute further back, making up an all South African podium for the first time.
“It was a hot, flat, tough brutal day,” said Mocké. “To do well you needed to be efficient and to use whatever the ocean gave you – which really wasn’t much – and you really had to work hard!”
The women’s race was dominated by Queenslander Liz Pluimers, finishing fifteen minute ahead of Kiwi Rachel Clarke, with another Australian Tania Moohin completing the women’s podium.
