Pete Marlin 2026 S1 results: fourth win for Nicholas Notten, Jade Wilson leads the women home

Published

2026-10-31T20:04:09+00:00

Author

PaddleStats

Full competition results: Pete Marlin and South African S1/S2 Ocean Racing Championships 2026

Nicholas Notten and Jade Wilson won the singles races at the 2026 Pete Marlin and South African S1/S2 Ocean Racing Championships in East London on Saturday, 31 October, securing the national S1 titles. Notten covered the course from Yellow Sands to Orient Beach in 1:29:21, finishing 19 seconds ahead of Kenny Rice and 38 ahead of 48-year-old Hank McGregor. Wilson led the women home in 1:46:50, just six days after winning a medal at the Canoe Marathon World Championships.

Fourth win for Notten as 23 national titles are decided

Notten's fourth Pete Marlin singles victory put him ahead of every other man on the organisers' winners list, which dates back to 2008. He also retained the South African S1 title he won in False Bay in April 2025. Just 38 seconds separated the men's podium finishers, with the top five covered by 2:42. According to the organisers' report, paddlers faced a headwind for much of the course, while the swells ran towards the shore and offered little assistance. Wilson described the race as tough and technically demanding.

Leading men and women across all age groups

The singles races doubled as the South African S1 Championships. The database lists 247 entries across 23 championship classes, with 215 paddlers recording a finishing time. The age groups range from boys' U16 to men's 75–79. Those totals cover the championship classes and exclude international paddlers racing outside them. Full results are available on the Pete Marlin 2026 results hub, including the combined age-group standings for men and women. The table above also includes Chloe Bunnett, the third woman to finish in the organisers' results.

The South African S2 titles will be decided in the doubles races on Sunday, 1 November. With different weather expected, the organisers have reversed the course: paddlers will start at Orient Beach and finish at Yellow Sands.

Notten sets the men's singles record

Notten previously won the Pete Marlin in 2019, 2021 and 2024. His fourth victory took him clear of Dawid Mocké and McGregor, who have three wins apiece. Last year, racing the same stretch of coastline in the opposite direction, he finished 17 seconds behind Andy Birkett. This time, the Dabulamanzi Canoe Club paddler again had ground to make up. The organisers' report describes the Fenn brothers taking an inside line early on, while Notten used Rice, further offshore, to judge his own route. A better angle into the beach helped him move ahead in the closing stages.

Notten's biggest achievement remains his world title in Lanzarote in 2021. At the 2025 World Championships in Durban, he finished fourth overall, 11 seconds behind bronze medallist Bernardo Leça Pereira. Three weeks ago at the World Championships in La Vila Joiosa, he was seventh in the SS1 open standings. Within the separate senior age category, he placed second, 1:27.36 behind France's Pierre Vilella. That age-group result should not be confused with the open world title, which went to Germany's Gordan Harbrecht.

Rice, the 2022 world champion in Viana do Castelo, had to settle for second this time. McGregor took third overall and won the men's 45–49 class by 15:28, continuing his strong October form. At the Worlds in La Vila Joiosa, he finished fourth overall, won the 45–49 class and claimed mixed SS2 silver with Wilson.

The Fenn brothers, SS2 world champions in La Vila Joiosa, were the leading paddlers from host club Border. Matthew Fenn finished fourth in 1:31:45, with Joshua Fenn fifth, 18 seconds behind. They placed third and fourth respectively in the men's senior class, behind Notten and Rice. Levi Mayes of Fish Hoek Beach Sports Club finished sixth overall in 1:32:12 to win the U23 class. Matthew Rory Coetzer was second, 3:24 back, and Peninsula's Luke Le Roux completed the U23 podium.

Defending race winner Birkett finished ninth in 1:37:12, 7:51 behind Notten, but won the men's 35–39 class by 4:05 from Matthew Tebbutt. Ulvard Hart, tipped by the organisers as the man to beat after his K1 silver at the Marathon World Championships in Gualeguaychú, finished 12th in 1:38:37. He was sixth in the senior class, 9:16 behind Notten.

Jade Wilson wins at home for the second time

Wilson claimed her second Pete Marlin singles victory, repeating her success from 2024. Last year, she finished third, 3:01 behind New Zealand's Danielle Richards. Her winning time of 1:46:50 on Saturday put her 37th in the combined men's and women's championship field. The East London-raised Peninsula paddler dedicated the win to her aunt, who had died that morning. The organisers' report described an emotional finish.

It capped a demanding October of racing on three continents. On 25 October, Wilson and Georgia Singe won women's K2 bronze at the Marathon World Championships in Argentina, finishing 1:06.06 behind the winners. A fortnight earlier in La Vila Joiosa, she placed fourth in SS1, just 7.33 seconds short of a world championship medal, and took mixed SS2 silver with McGregor, 4.40 seconds behind Jemma Smith and Cory Hill. The Pete Marlin was her third event in four weeks.

Nix Birkett, Andy Birkett's wife and a former Pete Marlin winner whose victories include 2015 and 2016, finished second in 1:48:29. She also won the women's 35–39 class, the age group in which she became world champion in Durban last year. As in 2024, she followed Wilson across the line; the pair also won the Pete Marlin doubles together in 2023 and 2024. Spain's Chloe Bunnett finished third in 1:49:06, competing as an international entry outside the South African championship classes.

Saskia Hockly, the 2022 Pete Marlin winner and U23 silver medallist in La Vila Joiosa, won the women's U23 class in 1:53:04. She finished 4:06 ahead of Holly Smith, the U23 mixed SS2 world champion, with Mikaila Brown of Kingfisher Canoe Club third. Hockly will team up with Wilson on Sunday, with the organisers naming them favourites for the women's doubles.

Remembering Pete Marlin

Born in Zambia in 1956, Pete Marlin studied civil engineering at the University of Natal before settling in East London. He took up paddling and competed in major South African river and ocean races. He died during a race on the Umkomaas River in KwaZulu-Natal in the late 1980s, and his clubmates established an event in his memory. The organisers' published winners list begins with Bevan Manson in 2008; Michelle Eray, the first woman listed, won in 2010. Border Canoe Club runs the event from its race base at the East London Surf Lifesaving Club on Nahoon Beach.

The organisers describe the Pete Marlin as South Africa's biggest surfski race. In 2024, it attracted more than 600 entries across the two days. The course is chosen to suit the wind and announced on the Friday. In an easterly, paddlers race from Yellow Sands or Glen Eden to Nahoon or Orient Beach over 17 or 23 km; a westerly calls for the opposite direction. There is also an 18 km option from Nahoon for calm conditions and a 16 km harbour course if the sea is unsafe. With the route and conditions changing between editions, winning times cannot be compared directly. Notten won in 1:12:35 from Glen Eden to Nahoon in 2024; Birkett's victory from Orient Beach to Yellow Sands a year later took 1:29:56.

The event previously hosted the national championships in 2018 and 2023, and in 2024 it was the final round of the inaugural TRPL Crown series. In 2026, it again hosts both the South African S1 and S2 Championships, with titles awarded across the age groups.

All 23 South African S1 champions of 2026

The men's 55–59 class had the largest entry, with 40 paddlers entered and 34 recording a finishing time. The men's 50–54 class had 34 entries and 31 finishers. Quinton Rutherford won the 55–59 title by 56 seconds from Steve Cohen, while Brad Pearse beat Zoog Haynes by 1:22 in the 50–54 class. Fish Hoek Beach Sports Club, Peninsula Canoe Club and St Francis Paddling Club each claimed four titles. Host club Border had the largest entry, with 37 paddlers, but its sole class win came from junior Abbey Jones. In the youngest category, boys' U16, Daniel Van Nieuwholtz finished 1:37 ahead of Sboniso Dlamini of Siyaphambili Surf Ski Club.

What's next

The South African S2 titles will be decided on Sunday, 1 November, over the course from Orient Beach to Yellow Sands. Matthew Fenn and Andy Birkett return as defending Pete Marlin doubles winners, having covered last year's 17 km course in 1:00:30. The reigning national S2 champions, however, are Notten and Rice, who won that title at the 2025 Prescient Freedom Paddle. The organisers expect both crews to contend, along with Joshua Fenn and Hart, while Wilson and Hockly are favourites for the women's race. Official doubles results will be available on the PaddleStats championships hub.

The South African surfski season continues with the 2026 Cape Point Challenge in Cape Town on 19 December, with 20 December as the reserve date. The next ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships are scheduled for 30 September to 3 October 2027 in Tahiti. South Africa's paddlers will be chasing the SS1 titles won in 2026 by Germany's Gordan Harbrecht and Australia's Jemma Smith.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Pete Marlin Surfski Race 2026?

Nicholas Notten won the men's S1 in 1:29:21, 19 seconds ahead of Kenny Rice, with Hank McGregor third in 1:29:59. Jade Wilson won the women's race in 1:46:50 from Nix Birkett (1:48:29) and Chloe Bunnett (1:49:06).

Did the 2026 Pete Marlin double as the South African Championships?

Yes. The singles day on 31 October decided the South African S1 titles in 23 classes, and the doubles on 1 November decide the S2 titles. The race also hosted the national championships in 2018 and 2023.

What was the course for the 2026 singles races?

The singles races ran from Yellow Sands, east of East London, to Orient Beach in the city. According to the organisers, paddlers faced a headwind and received little help from the swells. Sunday's doubles will follow the same route in reverse, from Orient Beach to Yellow Sands.

How many paddlers entered the singles championships?

The database lists 247 entries across 23 South African championship classes, with 215 paddlers recording a finishing time. Those totals exclude international competitors racing outside the championship classes. The largest age group was men's 55–59, with 40 entries.

Does Nicholas Notten hold the Pete Marlin men's singles record?

Yes, based on the organisers' winners list, which dates back to 2008. His four victories — in 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2026 — put him one ahead of Dawid Mocké (2010, 2014 and 2015) and Hank McGregor (2016, 2022 and 2023).

How did 48-year-old Hank McGregor perform?

McGregor finished third overall, 38 seconds behind Notten, and won the 45–49 class by 15:28. Three weeks earlier in La Vila Joiosa, he placed fourth overall, won his age group and took mixed SS2 silver with Jade Wilson.

Who was Pete Marlin?

Pete Marlin was a civil engineer and paddler based in East London. Born in Zambia in 1956, he died during a race on the Umkomaas River in KwaZulu-Natal in the late 1980s. His clubmates established the race in his memory, and Border Canoe Club continues to organise it.

Where can I find the full results of every class?

Every class of the S1, from the boys' U16 to the men's 75–79, is on the Pete Marlin 2026 hub, together with the combined men's and women's standings.

After his fourth singles win, Nicholas Notten will join Rice for Sunday's Pete Marlin doubles, while Wilson teams up with Hockly following her second victory. Both crews will be chasing another national title before the season's attention turns to events including December's Cape Point Challenge 2026.

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