EAST LONDON – Nic Notten and Jade Wilson won the Pete Marlin Surfski Race from Yellow Sands to Orient Beach on Saturday, and with their respective wins claimed the 2026 South African Ocean Racing Championship titles.
Notten, the 2021 World Champion and a three-time Pete Marlin winner, paddled a perfectly judged race to emerge from behind the early leaders and ran up the beach to claim his second S1 title. Another pair of World Champions, Kenny Rice and multiple marathon champion Hank McGregor claimed the silver and bronze medals respectively, with all three crossing the line within 38 seconds of each other.
Wilson, who learned her paddling in the waters of the Eastern Cape, had an emotional win which she dedicated to her aunt who passed away on Saturday morning. Another former Eastern Cape paddler, Nix Burkett and Chloe Bunnett, who lives in Spain, completed the top three positions.
Wilson, who less than a week ago won a bronze medal at the World Marathon Championships in Argentina, was sad despite her victory and the SA title.
“I am pretty sad because my mum’s sister passed away this morning,” said the 2024 winner. “Cancer is a really terrible thing and there are a lot of people out there that are fighting cancer every single day … I dedicated this paddle to her today.”
Wilson turned to happier thoughts as she described her race.
“That was the really tough race. The wind was against us and the runs offered very little assistance because they were going into the shore. We got one or two runs out there but it was pretty technical and tricky and you had to work quite hard to catch some of the runs – so it wasn’t an easy race at all.
“I didn’t see the other girls besides Nix on my inside – I think we both took quite a shallow line and were always within about a kay of the shore – but I just tried to go point-to-point. Maybe it was a bit too shallow, but it still paid off.”
Notten also had to work hard for his second SA title, but picked the right line and timed his race to perfection to ease past his rivals when it counted.
“This is one of my favourite races,” said Notten after the finish. “Everything around the Pete Marlin is epic – the vibe, the atmosphere, and the conditions are always conducive to good racing.
“The Fenns (Josh and Matt) kind of took a bit of an inside line, and initially Matt pulled away and then Josh came through. I saw Kenny went quite wide and I was making good progress, so I used him as a marker in terms of seeing how wide I should go.
“As the race unfolded the outside tended to do better, and toward the end we were a little bit ahead. Then right near the finish suddenly there was much more movement in the water, and I was trying to capitalise every time a little wave pick me up, and I managed to close the gap to Kenny.
“Then I think I was fortunate that he didn’t really see me and my angle to the beach was just a little bit better and I managed to get that little bit ahead right at the end.”
Sunday will see the S2 (doubles) event and championship with the expected weather conditions sees the race in the opposite direction from Orient Beach to Yellow Sands.
S1 Results
Men
1 Nicholas Notten (Dabulamanzi Canoe Club) 1:29:21
2 Kenneth Rice (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:29:40
3 Hank Mcgregor (Dolphin Coast Paddlers) 1:29:59
4 Matthew Fenn (Border Canoe Club) 1:31:45
5 Joshua Fenn (Border Canoe Club) 1:32:03
6 Levi Mayes (Fish Hoek Beach Sports Club) 1:32:12
7 Ian Black (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:35:06
8 Matthew Rory Coetzer (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:35:36
9 Andy Birkett (St Francis Paddling Club) 1:37:12
10 Luke Jean Le Roux (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:37:25
Women
1 Jade Wilson (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:46:50
2 Nix Birkett (St Francis Paddling Club) 1:48:29
3 Chloe Bunnett (International) 1:49:06
4 Saskia Hockly (Dolphin Coast Paddlers) 1:53:04
5 Holly Shirley Smith (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:57:10
6 Angie Austin (Peninsula Canoe Club) 1:58:29
7 Mikaila Brown (Kingfisher Canoe Club) 2:00:56
8 Kirstin Scott (Blue Water Canoe Club) 2:01:20
9 Mila Watson (Strand Surf Lifesaving Club) 2:04:04
10 Kerry Louw (Blue Water Canoe Club) 2:06:37
