Stand Up Paddle Event Reviews

19/10/2011
Report by Simon Bassett

The 2011 BSUPA National championships were held at the usual venue of Watergate Bay in Cornwall. This year the forecast was looking good at 2-3 foot on Saturday with light offshore winds and Sunday a increasing swell 3-5 feet with a better period. When we got there Saturday morning we weren't disappointed –the sun was out the the swell had arrived were set for a great weekend of paddle surfing.

50 competitors were divided up into heats of 4 or 5 and each had 15 minutes to cut some shapes on the wave face. A panel of 3 judges would then score each wave ridden the best two wave scores added to get maximum points.

California's distance paddling king Danny Ching returned to the winner's podium at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle, taking first in the 10-mile stand-up paddle (SUP) race. Dominant female paddler Candice Appleby (Hawaii), who took first in yesterday's women's Elite race, won the women's division. A total of 230 racers took part in today's distance race. There were more than 900 race entries over the course of the weekend.

The weather forecast claimed there would be gales and storms were on the way, so it was looking like it could be a windy weekend, great for windsurfing and kitesurfing, but what about SUP?

Saturday morning, dark skies and winds from the South West would make it an interesting paddle but by circumnavigating Brownsea Island in an anti-clockwise, which would give shelter from the wind for part of course, the BSUPA Round Brownsea Island race was on.

WAIKIKI, HAWAII - (May 14, 2010) -- Australian Travis Grant turned the tables on good friend and long-time paddling partner Danny Ching (USA) today in the Elite race of the $25,000 Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle, presented by Quiksilver Waterman Collection, held at Duke Kahanamoku Beach. The women's division was claimed by Honolulu's Candice Appleby - her third elite Battle victory in as many years.

Matt Argyle & Steve Palier reports: The Dakhla Stand Up Paddle Surfing contest, held in Western Sahara, was started right after the shortboard contest on February 26th 2011, the contest was held in perfect conditions at Foum Labouir. Long and hollow waves, breaking at a good five feet with a light sideshore wind.

Watergate Bay played host to the 2010 Extreme Academy / British Stand Up Paddle Association Series Finals.

With its golden sands, clear ocean blue swells and its natural amphitheatre shape, it is clear why Watergate Bay is the perfect venue for so many ocean sports, including the sport of stand up paddle boarding. The main competitions to be run over the weekend would be Surf and Distance. Over the season there had been three rounds of distance racing completed, but no surf to date. This being the case it meant that a national title for surf would be won or lost by this, the deciding competition of the year.

The biggest event in the stand up paddle race calendar was held on 2nd-3rd October at Dana Point, California. It is of course the Battle of the Paddle 2010. So what happened - read all about it here and watch the video.

It was a Danny Ching repeat at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle California, Presented by Quiksilver Waterman Collection, as the Redondo Beach paddling powerhouse took out today's 10-mile distance race. Ching added another $1,100 to his weekend wallet, and his fourth Battle of the Paddle title for 2010 after claiming both the elite and distance stand up paddle (SUP) races this weekend, and in Hawaii back in June.

Despite struggling with conditions that have gone from pretty classic to completely flat the Stand Up World Tour, in Anglet, France, now has announced the trialists that have made it through the surfing heats and have got into the second round of the main event.