2026 Ocean Racing World Championships preview: Hill and Bester defend surfski titles in La Vila Joiosa
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- 2026-10-05T17:23:40+00:00
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- PaddleStats
Full competition results: ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships - Vilajoyosa
Ocean Racing Worlds 2026: Hill and Bester defend their titles in Spain
Cory Hill and Kira Bester return to defend their titles at the 2026 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships, which begin in La Vila Joiosa, Spain, on Friday 9 October. The entry list features 908 boats from 39 teams, with hosts Spain accounting for 321. Hill is chasing a fifth world title, while Bester is bidding for a third consecutive victory.
This will be the tenth edition of the championships, first held in Vila do Conde, Portugal, in 2013. Spain hosts the event for the second time, following Lanzarote in 2021. The single surfski (SS1) races are scheduled to start at 13:00 local time on Friday, with the doubles (SS2) following at 12:30 on Saturday.
How ocean racing works
Ocean racing is a very different challenge from a sprint regatta. There are no lanes or heats. Last year's course in Durban covered 34 km along the coast, from Durban Undersea Club to Westbrook. The men started together, with juniors, under-23s, seniors and masters all racing on the same swells. The overall world title goes to the fastest paddler, with age-group results drawn from the same race.
An entry in a masters category therefore does not rule out a challenge for the overall title. Three medallists from the past two championships are entered as masters this year: Hill in men's 35–39, 2024 champion Gordan Harbrecht in 40–44 and Madeira bronze medallist Hank McGregor in 45–49. In Durban, Harbrecht finished fifth overall and won the 40–44 category, while Dawid Mocke placed ninth overall and first in 45–49.
Senior SS1 world champions since 2013
| Year | Venue | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Vila do Conde (POR) | Sean Rice (RSA) | Michele Eray (RSA) |
| 2015 | Tahiti (PYF) | Cory Hill (AUS) | Teneale Hatton (NZL) |
| 2017 | Hong Kong | Cory Hill (AUS) | Hayley Nixon (RSA) |
| 2019 | Saint-Pierre-Quiberon (FRA) | Sean Rice (RSA) | Danielle McKenzie (NZL) |
| 2021 | Lanzarote (ESP) | Nicholas Notten (RSA) | Michelle Burn (RSA) |
| 2022 | Viana do Castelo (POR) | Kenny Rice (RSA) | Jemma Smith (AUS) |
| 2023 | Perth (AUS) | Cory Hill (AUS) | Jemma Smith (AUS) |
| 2024 | Madeira (POR) | Gordan Harbrecht (GER) | Kira Bester (RSA) |
| 2025 | Durban (RSA) | Cory Hill (AUS) | Kira Bester (RSA) |
South Africa and Australia have claimed eight of the nine men's titles. Hill has four, while Sean Rice won in 2013 and 2019. Harbrecht broke that dominance in Madeira in 2024, becoming the first European man to win the title. South Africans have also won five of the nine women's titles. The only women's champions from outside South Africa and Australia are New Zealand's Teneale Hatton, who won in 2015, and Danielle McKenzie, the 2019 champion.
The start list in numbers
There are 744 singles entries: 581 men and 163 women. The senior, under-23 and junior fields are similar in size within each gender. The men's categories have 69, 57 and 66 entries respectively, while the women's have 34, 27 and 31. Men's masters 50–54 is the largest category overall, with 77 entries, followed by men's 60–64 with 71 and the senior men with 69.
Spain accounts for more than a third of all entries with 321 boats. Great Britain follows with 81, ahead of South Africa with 67, Portugal with 65 and France with 63. Eight boats are entered under the Paddle Worldwide (PWW) banner rather than through a national team, including five in the senior men's race.
How surfski races are won: watch our explainer
Reading the waves is as important as raw power in ocean racing. Catching the right sequence of swells can open a gap far more quickly than a paddler could build it on flat water. Our video, How do surfski paddlers turn waves into race speed?, explains how it works and why small decisions can make a big difference at the finish. Find more on the PaddleStats YouTube channel.
Cory Hill targets a fifth world title
Hill won his four world titles in 2015, 2017, 2023 and 2025. He was runner-up in Madeira in 2024, clocking 1:28:24.62 to finish just under 53 seconds behind Harbrecht's winning time of 1:27:31.69. A year later in Durban, he caught the leaders before pulling away to win in 2:05:22. France's Pierre Vilella took silver in 2:06:05, 43 seconds behind, with Portugal's Bernardo Pereira a further ten seconds back in third.
Hill raced in the open category in Durban. This year he is one of 31 entries in men's masters 35–39, but he will still line up alongside the senior contenders and compete for the overall title. The senior field includes Vilella, former world champions Nicholas Notten (2021) and Kenny Rice (2022), Norway's Magnus Ulimoen, and South Africa's Joshua and Matthew Fenn. France's Tony Duval and the United States' Patrick Dolan are also entered in the open category. Pereira, the Durban bronze medallist, remains eligible for the under-23 category and is entered there.
Harbrecht's performance in Durban underlines the strength of the masters field. He finished 1 minute 16 seconds behind Hill, with only Hill, Vilella and Notten ahead of him among the open-category paddlers. In La Vila Joiosa, the German is one of 45 entries in men's 40–44, alongside Spanish Olympic sprint paddler Javier Hernanz.
Kira Bester bids for three in a row
Bester has won the past two editions. In Madeira, she took both the under-23 and overall titles in the same race. Racing on home waters in Durban last year, she won in 2:22:46, finishing 23 seconds ahead of New Zealand's Danielle Richards. Britain's Rosie Edwards claimed bronze in 2:28:17. Richards is absent from this year's entry list, while Edwards is entered in the under-23 category.
Jemma Smith, the 2022 and 2023 champion, returns after missing Durban and is among the 34 senior women entered. Spain's Judit Vergés, fifth last year, will race on home waters. South Africa's Jade Wilson, sixth in Durban, also features, along with Czechia's Katerina Milova and Greece's Eleftheria Kaminari. Michelle Burn, the 2021 champion, finished seventh overall in Durban and won the women's 40–44 category. She is entered in that age group again.
South Africa has four entries in the senior women's race and another four in the under-23 category. The latter include Saskia Hockly, who finished eighth overall in Durban.
McGregor, Mocke and Szubski in a strong men's 45–49 field
The men's masters 45–49 category has 56 entries, including Poland's only representative, Sebastian Szubski, who will race with bib 583. He faces some of the sport's best-known names. McGregor has twelve canoe marathon world titles and four Molokai victories to his name. Mocke won the 45–49 category in Durban and finished ninth overall, with McGregor second in the age group, 3 minutes 16 seconds behind. Spain's Walter Bouzán, a former sprint international and the 2023 mixed SS2 world champion, was fourth in the category and twentieth overall. Ukraine's Borys Markin and Morocco's Abdelmajid Jabbour are also entered.
Born in Bydgoszcz in 1981, Szubski raced for the local Astoria club before going on to represent Brazil. He reached the K2 500 m semi-finals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, a year after winning Pan American Games silver in the K4 1000 m. He now owns and coaches at the CB163 CrossFit gym in Bydgoszcz. His father, Zdzisław Szubski, won four world championship medals in the K4 10,000 m and competed at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
More recently, Szubski has focused on endurance challenges. In 2019, on a lake in Poland, he set a Guinness World Record for the distance paddled in a kayak over 24 hours on flat water. On 18 July 2025, he completed a circumnavigation of Great Britain in about 36 days, faster than the previous best time, set by Dougal Glaisher in 2023. La Vila Joiosa presents a different challenge: a race lasting roughly two hours, against two of the most decorated paddlers in the field.
Saturday's doubles and the rest of the season
Champions team up for SS2
Saturday's doubles programme has 164 entries across 21 categories. Many of Friday's leading contenders will return for the senior mixed race, which has 34 crews. Jemma Smith teams up with Cory Hill, Jade Wilson with McGregor, and Melanie van Niekerk with Mocke. Vilella will race with Margaux Bouteloup, while Edwards partners Ryan Lark. New Zealand's Rebecca Cole pairs with Gene Prato, Portugal's Sara Sotero with Bernardo Pereira, and Belgium's Falke Duprez with Laurens Pannecoucke. The hosts also have two former mixed world champions in separate boats: Bouzán, who won the 2023 title with Vergés, will race with Estefanía Fernández, while Vergés partners Jorge Vila.
Matthew Fenn and Saskia Hockly, the reigning senior mixed SS2 champions, are not entered together this year. The senior men's doubles field has just seven crews, including Germany's Friedrich and Johannes Rixen.
Masters doubles categories are based on the paddlers' combined age. That explains age bands such as men's 110–119 and mixed 120–129 on the entry list. The largest masters doubles field is men's 90–99, with 13 crews.
The World Cup concludes in Réunion
The world championships will not mark the end of the ocean racing season. After events in Madeira, Kuantan, Tahiti and Fortaleza, the ICF World Cup series concludes in Réunion from 9 to 15 November at the ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Cup – Réunion.
First, attention turns to La Vila Joiosa. Hill will chase a fifth title, Bester will attempt to become the first woman to win three in a row, and a strong 45–49 field featuring McGregor, Mocke and Szubski promises an intriguing contest among the masters.
Frequently asked questions
When are the 2026 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships?
The championships run from 9 to 11 October 2026 in La Vila Joiosa, Spain. The SS1 singles start on Friday 9 October at 13:00 local time, and the SS2 doubles on Saturday 10 October at 12:30.
How many boats are entered in La Vila Joiosa?
The entry list contains 908 boats from 39 teams: 744 singles and 164 doubles. Spain has the most entries with 321, followed by Great Britain with 81 and South Africa with 67.
Who are the defending surfski world champions?
Cory Hill of Australia won the men's title in Durban in 2025, his fourth after 2015, 2017 and 2023. Kira Bester of South Africa won the women's title in 2024 and 2025. Matthew Fenn and Saskia Hockly won the senior SS2 mixed title in Durban, but they are not entered together this year.
Can a masters paddler win the overall world title?
Yes. Masters paddlers are included in the overall classification. In Durban, Harbrecht finished fifth overall and Mocke ninth. This year, Hill is entered in men's 35–39 and Harbrecht in 40–44.
Are any Polish paddlers competing?
Poland has one representative: Sebastian Szubski, who competed for Brazil at the 2004 Olympics and is the son of Zdzisław Szubski. He will race with bib 583 in men's masters 45–49, alongside Hank McGregor and Dawid Mocke.
Which countries have won the most ocean racing world titles?
South Africa and Australia have won eight of the nine men's senior titles since 2013. South Africa has also won five of the nine women's titles. Harbrecht's 2024 win was the first by a European man.
Is Kira Bester the favourite for the women's title?
As the winner of the past two editions, she is one of the leading contenders. But her winning margin in Durban was just 23 seconds, and Jemma Smith, the 2022 and 2023 champion, returns after missing last year's event.
What is the difference between SS1 and SS2?
SS1 is single surfski and SS2 is doubles. In masters doubles, categories are based on the paddlers' combined age, which explains age bands such as 110–119.
Friday's races will decide whether Cory Hill and Kira Bester retain their titles. Polish fans will also be following Sebastian Szubski in men's masters 45–49. Results will be available on the 2026 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships page, before the season moves on to Réunion in November.