King of the Bay

23/06/2025

Thank you to Everyone who did the Bay Union King of the Bay yesterday!

We only received Positive feedback on the new Start Venue at Wilson's Wharf and will keep it place for the future.

See you all again next year!

Thank you to Tanna Manfron for the taking photos and here is the Link to view and download the photos.

21/06/2025

See y'all tomorrow!

21/06/2025

Good morning All,

It's all lining up for the
Bay Union King of the Bay
Tomorrow morning!!

Note: This is the
2025 KZN SS2 Champs!

Entries are still open on the PSA Entry Portal.
Get your entry IN !!

NEW START VENUE :
WILSON'S WHARF !!
PIN DROP to the new Start venue to follow..

Coffee and Breakfast is available to buy from the KuD'Ta Restaurant, situated right off the car park.
Toilet facilities available in the Wilson's Wharf complex.

Race Registration opens at 08H00
Race Briefing at 08H40
Start at 09H00

Remember to give yourself a bit extra time to get to the Start, due to the planned road closures in and around Durban tomorrow.

Thanks as always to our Sponsors and service providers for making this iconic race possible :
Bay Union, Inkunzi RMC, Sika, NSRI, Transnet and Wilson's Wharf !

See you Tomorrow!

13/06/2024

Morning All,

Just a quick heads up for the Bay Union King of the Bay in 10 days time on Sunday 23 June.

Entries for the race are now Open on the CSA Portal.

Start : Old Stella Canoe Club, Bayhead
Finish : Marine Surf Livesaving Club

Long Course : 22km
Short Course : 11km

SUP paddlers will join us as well as a Surf Boat from Marine SLC ! 💪🏻

Come and join us for this iconic event !

20/06/2023

Afternoon All,
Next up....
Bay Union King of the Bay.
This Sunday 25 June.
The race also serves as the KZN Single Surfski Champs 2023.
Start : 09:00 Silt Canal, Bayhead
Finish : Marine Surf Livesaving Club
Short Course: 11km
Long Course : 22km
Enter : www.canoesa.co.za

04/08/2022

King of the Bay 2022 is cancelled

Durban – The annual Bay Union King of the Bay surfski race has been cancelled, after being initially postponed due to the impact of pollution and the recent flooding on the Durban harbour, with the organisers vowing that the popular event will be back in its usual May timeslot next year.

In consultation with the host club and the sponsors, the organising team agreed that the ongoing high levels of pollution in the harbour made it unsafe to host the popular event, which crosses the harbour from the Silt Canal to the harbour breakwater before heading out to sea for an out-and-back lap to the uMngeni River mouth.

“There is an enthusiasm for the event that we have tried to cater for by postponing it rather than cancelling it,” said race director Neels Meyer of Stella Canoe Club.

“Sadly we have run out of time as we are heading into the windy spring months and hosting a race of this kind which attracts paddlers of all abilities is not viable in the volatile weather,” he added.

After extensive engagement with the surfski community there was consensus to refocus on the popular May date and set sights on the 2023 edition, a sentiment shared by the race sponsors.

“The safety of the paddlers and beachgoers is of paramount importance to us,” said Bay Union Managing Director Nick Keary.

More information can be found at www.wintersurfskiseries.co.za

01/06/2021

Photographer Trevor Steenekamp was up in Millennium tower on Sunday morning, and got some impromptu shots of us going through the harbour mouth. Some good ones of the chop on the corner too. Feel free to contact him if you'd like any high res shots

Photographic images from yachting events in and around South Africa. These images reflect the fun and enjoyment in yachting both enjoyed by the participants and the spectators.

30/05/2021

30/05/2021

Hank McGregor unstoppable in tough harbour race

Durban - Hank McGregor ended a highly successful paddling month of May by winning the iconic Bay Union King of the Bay surfski race in tough, blustery conditions off Durban on Sunday.

A week after his successful national marathon championships in Cape Town, the 43-year-old powered away from a class field to win by almost a minute from Matt Bouman, with Gene Prato making up the balance of the podium.

Racing across Durban harbour in bumpy conditions and then into a contrasting open ocean sector that featured good runs on the downwind leg to the uMngeni River mouth followed by a brutal slog home into the teeth of the strengthening wind, McGregor took the lead from a big bunch after leaving the harbour mouth, and never relaxed his grip on the race.

"The wind was building the whole time!" said McGregor. "There were some really nice runs going down to the river mouth, then it was just a hard slog home.

"I got to the turn can at the river mouth in front and just built on the lead from there," the Team Euro Steel/Fenn racer said.

McGregor has been named in the national team for the surfski world championships scheduled for Lanzarote in Spain in July, as well as a the national marathon team to Romania in September.

Michaelhouse schoolboys Jack Edmonds and Murray Behn won the double ski honours, handing a first defeat of the winter surfski series to the form crew of Shane Millward and Carl Folscher.

Junior Saskia Hockly laid down another marker in her impressive rise through the female paddling ranks by winning the women's race outright, with her younger sister Valmajean and Tannah Smith completing a notable all-junior podium.

"The harbour leg was very choppy," said Hockly, who, like McGregor, has won seats in both the national marathon and surfski teams to this year's world championships.

"The downwind leg was really enjoyable, but coming back into the wind was terrible!" said the Danville Park Girl's High School pupil.

"Speeds dropped right down and you just had to try and find a happy place and tell yourself you are going to make it," she added.

The women's doubles spoils went to Jordan Peek and Pippa McGregor, with the runner-ups berth secured by the returning-to-form Hayley Nixon and her partner Hilary Bruss.

Kwandokuhle Mzolo and Wongama Makasi won the short course, which involved heading straight to Vetch's Beach on exiting the harbour mouth, in a tight tussle with the crew of Ian Hemingway and Dusi icon Thulani Mbanjwa.

The winter surfski series shifts its attention to the Pirates-Umhlanga-Pirates classic in two weeks time.

Pics: Anthony Grote Digital Media

SUMMARY OF RESULTS
BAY UNION KING OF THE BAY
1 Hank McGregor 1:34:32.22
2 Matthew Bouman 1:35:22.23
3 Gene Prato 1:38:01.21
4 Kyle Friedenstein 1:40:09.37
5 Bevan Manson 1:40:34.95
6 Jason Ekstrand 1:41:46.13
7 Jean Luc Mauvis 1:45:00.80
8 Joshua Simpkins 1:46:22.34
9 Brad Pearse 1:48:23.61
10 Brendon Waters 1:49:54.87
WOMEN
1 Saskia Hockly 1:56:14.58
2 Valmajean Hockly 2:06:23.90
3 Tannah Smith 2:11:59.09
DOUBLES
1 Murray Behn/Jack Edmonds 1:43:35.64
2 Shane Millward/Carl Folscher 1:43:53.55
3 Quinton Rutherford/Derek Hompes 1:43:58.94
4 Lee Furby/Barry Painting 1:46:20.44
5 Linton Hope/Bruce Wenke 1:47:21.67
6 Luke Symons/Bradley Boulle 1:47:55.94
7 Jordan Peek/Pippa McGregor 1:49:27.69
8 Benjamin Tarr/Angus Dick 1:50:51.99
9 Craig Cook/Nicholas Cook 1:50:57.05
10 Dave Harker/Theo Smit 1:51:11.85
WOMEN
1 Jordan Peek/Pippa McGregor 1:49:27.69
2 Hayley Nixon/Hilary Bruss 1:53:34.03
3 Julia Mcalister/Chelsey O'Brien 2:03:38.14

SHORT COURSE
1 Kwandokuhle Mzolo/Wongama Makasi 0:43:20.49
2 Ian Hemingway/Thulani Mbanjwa 0:43:25.22
3 Gavin Dundas-Starr/Tamzin Gace 0:46:11.45
4 Garnett Wilson/Tyler Wilson 0:46:35.44
5 Wim Van Herzeele/Sara Agostini 0:46:42.01
6 Richard Tandy/Vallon Kupferberg 0:48:06.84
7 Matthew Coetzer/Grace Coetzer 0:48:31.81
8 Murray Mackenzie/Kevin Oliver 0:48:54.27
9 Matthew Hollinshead/Jonathan Hollinshead 0:49:00.26
10 Wally Bodin/Jeff Schaller 0:49:27.16

27/05/2021

Surfski paddlers eager for annual harbour race

Durban - Surfski paddlers will gather at the Silt Canal at the Durban Harbour Bayhead on Sunday morning ahead of the start of the popular annual Bay Union (Pty) Ltd King of the Bay surfski race, which is the only chance in the year that surfski paddlers get to paddle across and out of the Durban harbour mouth.

The iconic 26km race from the old Stella clubhouse across the harbour to a turn buoy off the uMngeni River and back to the DUC clubhouse at Vetch’s Beach always attracts the cream of the surfski racers and a large social paddling field.

Race organiser Neels Meyer of Stella Canoe Club has assured paddlers that the race has measures in place to ensure full compliance with the Canoeing South Africa Covid-19 protocols, and said he was confident of the paddlers full co-operation.

He stressed that the pre-race check procedure would be different to avoid congestion and that paddlers would be required to check into a number of batch pounds for screening, and would be required to wear masks until their batches are called to the water.

“There has been good compliance at the Winter Surfski Series so far, and I am confident that we can count on the paddlers and their seconders to keep that up,” said Meyer.

He asked paddlers to plan around a drop-and-go system at the Bayhead area as parking was very limited and spectators were not allowed at the start and finish venues.

The Bay Union King of the Bay is the fourth race in the Winter Series and is the first of the three longer races that head out into the open ocean.

“All the paddlers doing the long course which goes down to the river mouth and back after exiting the harbour will be expected to have their phones in a dry-bag with SafeTrx loaded onto their phones,” said Meyer.

“This has become the standard for open-ocean races and paddlers understand that this is the best way to look after their safety,” he added.

He added that rules specific to the unusual race across the harbour also needed to be adhered to.

“While we have permission to paddle across the harbour, the paddlers need to stay off the shipping lane, especially staying left as they exit the harbour mouth, and to be vigilant at the point where they cross the shipping lane,” said Meyer.

He also pointed out that paddlers were not allowed to exit their skis to run across the sandbank near the container terminal.

The well-supported Winter Series gradually builds in race distance to help paddlers training for the iconic open-ocean races later in the season, starting with the Pirates-Umhlanga-Pirates on 12 June and culminating in the Scottburgh2Brighton marathon on the last weekend in June.

27/05/2021

Bay Union King of the Bay, race info:

Entries via the CSA Paddler Portal website only.
Entries close at 18H00 on Saturday, 29/05

Pre-race Covid check and protocols are in place and will be strictly enforced.
If you do not do the Covid screening , you WILL BE DISQUALIFIED from the race.

Life Jackets (PFD) are compulsory for ALL entrants.
Only paddlers wearing ISO Rated PFD's will be allowed to participate in the Bay Union King of the Bay.

As we are still not allowed any spectators, Drop and Go for all paddlers at the Start, please. 🙏🏻

Please arrive 30min before your Batch Start Time in order to allow for enough time to do Covid screening.

Pounds will be erected at the Start and clearly marked.
Head to your pound and wait your turn to do the covid screening.
Covid screening will be done per pound as per the start procedure set out below, ie LC men first, then LC women, then LC Doubles, then SC

Long Course Important info:
For the Long Course, your paddle proficiency MUST be Open Ocean!
You will not be allowed an entry otherwise.
As with all Opean Ocean races, please ensure you have a leash with you on the day.
SAFETRX must be installed on your phone and must be on and working when you start.
Spot checks WILL be done and if your Safetrx is not on, or not working or not downloaded on your phone, you will be moved to the Short Course pound until you are Safetrx compliant, or you will only be allowed to do the Short Course.

Start and Finish procedure:

Long Course and Short Course will start at the old Stella Canoe Club, Bayhead.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/WqHkpcZHyXyq8ch29

Start Procedure:
09h00 : Long Course Singles - MEN
09H10 : Long Course Singles - WOMEN
09H20 : ALL Long Course Doubles
09H25 : ALL Short Course - Singles, Doubles & SUPS

When paddling through the Harbour, stay Outside of the Ships Channel.
You are NOT allowed to run across the sandbank at the Container Terminal.
You must go Clock Wise around all 3 Yellow marker bouys in the vacinity of Wilson's Wharf.

When you get to the Black and Yellow marker bouy near the Passenger Terminal, cross the Ships Channel while being vigilant for other Harbour traffic.
Make your way to the NSRI base and hug the North Breakwater Pier to the Harbour mouth.

Short Course finish info :
Once you exit the Harbour mouth, turn left and head for the Yellow marker can on the Inside of the Reef and on to the finish line, which will be clearly marked with Bay Union banners.

Long Course finish info :
Once you exit the Harbour mouth, head towards the Umgeni River Mouth.
There will be a Yellow turn can just North of the river mouth, behind back line.
Turn Anti-clockwise around this can and head back towards Vetchies.
At Vetchies, go sea side AROUND the cluster of orange bouys which are now a prominent feature at the Reef.
Then head for the Yellow can on the Inside of the Reef.
Go Clock Wise around the can (Left of the Yellow can) and on to the finish line, which will be clearly marked with Bay Union banners.

A paddling cap will be given to each participant as the cross the finish line.

A social gathering and "Race Winner Recognition" , will take place at the PYC Beach Club , close to the finish, the entrance of which will also be indicated with Bay Union banners.

Food and Drink will be on offer at the PYC Beach Club at reasonable prices.
Boat wash facilities and Showers are available at PYC Beach Club for all paddlers.

Public parking is available right behind the PYC Beach Club at the end of Browns Road.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/LpPjq7ULGk8EdyNV7

See you on Sunday!

Slipway Ln, Bayhead, Durban, Sydafrika