South African brothers Joshua Fenn and Matthew Fenn won the men’s SS2 world title at the 2026 ICF Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships in La Vila Joiosa. Racing a double surfski, they covered the course in 1:05:34, the fastest doubles time of the day.
The race started at 14:00 local time on Saturday 10 October. Nicolo Razeto and Francesco Balsamo of Italy took silver in 1:08:41, with Maik Dimitrov and Antonio Gil of Spain third in 1:09:01. The Fenns’ winning margin over silver was 3 minutes and 7 seconds.
Three minutes clear of the field
The championship drew roughly 810 paddlers from 39 countries to the Alicante coastline.
No detailed race report for the SS2 men’s final was published. But the wider South African performance tells the story: the nation topped the official medal table with six golds and won the points-based Nations Cup ahead of Australia.
Worlds pedigree, a new crown together
Joshua Fenn placed second in the men’s SS1 singles at the 2023 world championships behind Cory Hill. Matthew Fenn won the mixed surfski double world title with Saskia Johanna Hockly in Durban in 2025. At these championships, Matthew finished 12th in the SS1 men’s singles before stepping into the double with his brother.
Villajoyosa handed the next World Sea Kayaking Championships to Tahiti for 2027.
