Monday, 03 May 2010 14:01
McGregor enters Dunlop World Cup after successful appeal
Tempers are flaring after ace Durban surfski paddler Hank McGregor posted a late entry for the Dunlop Surfski World Cup Durban. This following his successful appeal against his year long suspension from paddling competition after the incident on the Stihl Umkomaas marathon.
McGregor was slapped with the hefty one year ban, half of which was suspended, for punching Jacques Theron after the two leading boats collided moments before the finish of the race. However Canoeing South Africa slashed that suspension to two months following McGregor's successful appeal against his sentence.
That has left the door open for McGregor to join the massive field that has already entered the event on 16 May, leaving the multiple winner of the race relieved and excited.
"I am stoked!" said McGregor. "It was cutting it very fine, but the two months ends the day before the Dunlop World Cup! That means I won’t be able to do any of the Discovery Sunglass Hut series races before hand, but I will be able to take part in the big one on Sunday 16 May."
McGregor is aiming at a third win in four outings, after having won the inaugural event in flat conditions in 2006, and again in big seas in 2008, while he finished as runner-up to Oscar Chalupsky in 2007 after the duo took vastly differing choices crossing the Durban harbour mouth ahead of an approaching tanker.
McGregor has kept a low profile since the much-talked-about incident on the Umkomaas, and has not been training as much as he would have at this stage in the season. "Physically it might be good to have a rest, but mentally it has been a tough few weeks for me, and I am just relieved to be able to carry on doing what I like to do - race hard."
McGregor has not been entirely absent from regular training, and has been working with protégée brothers Grant and Brandon van der Walt while the wheels of his appeal were turning.
He also revealed that he was on the brink of taking up an offer from his sponsor to travel to Hawaii for the prestigious Molokai Challenge - on the same weekend as the Dunlop Surfski World Cup Durban - had he not been released from his suspension.
"Keith Fenn offered to fly me to the Molokai on the same weekend as the Durban World Cup, but once I heard that my appeal had been successful, I jumped at the chance to race in Durban, as the Dunlop Surfski World Cup in my own hometown is very special to me," said McGregor.
McGregor's entry has added further spice to a record entry that has already been received for the event, where he will start alongside worldbeaters like Dawid Mocke and Matt Bouman and a number of international stars.
Despite his lack of serious training, McGregor has also made it clear that he is not afraid of tough demanding conditions for the race. "It might be harder but if it is flat for the race, then there is nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. It will be a lot like marathon racing and there may well be a big bunch in it at the end," said McGregor. "Then the strongest man wins..."
The Dunlop Surfski World Cup Durban takes place on Sunday 16 May over a distance of 32 kilometres. The final race course will be decided by the prevailing weather. More information can be found at www.surfski.co.za
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