It’s summer in South Africa, and the paddlers there are enjoying epic downwinding conditions and setting new records.

After 10 years, the Miller’s Run record falls to a rising star

Uli Hart, the former Junior and Under 23 World Champion, has broken the ten-year-old Miller’s Run record. Conditions were big, and he powered to the finish in 36 minutes, 29 seconds. That was 7 seconds faster than Jasper Mocke’, the previous record holder. Uli averaged 19.2 kilometres / hour over 11.67 kilometres.

Miller’s Run is one of the most famous downwinders in the world, and odds are high that if you’ve ever seen a video of someone paddling an epic downwinder, that was Miller’s Run. Near Cape Town, the course starts at Miller’s Point, passes Roman Rock Lighthouse, and finishes at Fish Hoek Surf Lifesaving Club.

It’s known for consistent swells, steep waves, linkable runs, and beautiful scenery – the course runs alongside the iconic Table Mountain National Park.

In an interview with Richard Forbes (set to footage from Richard’s own Miller’s Run on the same day), Uli said the runs were travelling fast, so he had to stay focused and avoid making any mistakes. Once he caught a run, he was able to link up more runs and keep his speed high. It may have taken ten years to break the record, but Uli is optimistic that his new record could be broken again. He completed a Miller’s Run in 36:03 with Hank McGregor in a double, and said “I actually think sub-36 is possible.” Uli speculated that one of the Mocke family might be after the record next, either Jasper going to reclaim the record or perhaps reigning Junior World Champion Sam Mocke taking it for the youth.

Hank McGregor records a stunning 2:37 split on Downwind Drag Race

In Durban, conditions were even faster. Legend of the sport Hank McGregor recorded one of the fastest splits ever submitted to Downwind Drag Race when he paddled 1km in 2 minutes, 37 seconds. That was in the middle of a blazing run between Umdloti and Tiffs Tigers, along the same stretch of water as last year’s ICF Surfski World Championships.

Hank topped the Downwind Drag Race records in 2025 with a 2:47, also recorded along the Durban coastline. Starting 2026 by dropping that to a 2:37 sets a very high bar, but at least paddlers around the world have all year to try and beat Hank’s time to “win” the 2026 leaderboard.

Exciting racing at the Rio Negro kicks off a big year for marathon in Argentina

In marathon racing, the 50th edition of the Regata del Rio Negro started off the year with a bang. For 5 out of the 9 stages of the 415 kilometre race, the top 3 teams finished just seconds apart. In the end, it was the Balboa brothers – Franco Ivan & Dardo Antonio – who won the race with a combined time of 22 hours, 6 minutes, 55 seconds. Just six minutes behind them was the young crew of Pedro Agustin Ratto and Julian Daniel Salinas. Ratto and Salinas both raced at the World Championships in Gyor, Hungary last year, finishing 2nd and 4th respectively.

While locals led the overall standings, visiting crews found success in the women’s and mixed categories. The Spanish crew of Josefa Molina and Aitana Gastaldo Ariza won the women’s race, and the young Karen Stoubaek Anderson travelled all the way from Denmark to win the mixed race with Adrian Vega.

Still under 18, Karen is a paddler on the rise. At last year’s Worlds in Gyor, she came away with medals in both the junior K1 and K2 marathon races, and a 5th place finish in the short course. She might well be back in Argentina in October to see how many more Worlds medals she can rack up in the junior category.

Scheduled for 22-25 October, this year will be the first time that the Marathon World Championships are hosted in South America, and the first time since 2019 they’ve been held outside of Europe. The International Canoe Federation called the decision “another major step forward in the globalisation of Canoe Marathon.” As evidenced by the famous Rio Negro race reaching its 50th edition, and the results of many of Argentina’s top paddlers on the global stage, Argentina has a long and impressive history of canoe marathon racing which makes it a logical choice to host South America’s first marathon worlds.

Host city Gualeguaychu, located near Argentina’s border with Uruguay, is named after its river, which seems like a good sign for a canoeing course. But it’s a long trip for many of the sport’s best athletes who come from Europe and South Africa. Hopefully it’s not too far to dampen participation.

Next up: The Dusi

The next big race on the calendar is also celebrating a big anniversary: 75 years of the Dusi River Canoe Marathon. It’s South Africa’s premier river race, and some of the event’s biggest names have already announced their plans to compete. Andy Birkett and Matt Fenn will be aiming to repeat the win they achieved in 2024, but will face tough competition from previous podium finishers: brothers Msawenkosi and Sandile Mtolo, and Sbonelo Khwela and Bongani Ntinga. And Christie Mackenzie has teamed up with Saskia Hockly to try and win the women’s race, which would be Mackenzie’s first K2 title after four consecutive K1 titles. Stay tuned for more Dusi coverage coming soon…