Euro Tour. Week 8. France…
The NSP Euro Tour continues to roll on. What was supposed to be a seven week voyage around Europe has turned into a two and a half month-long odyssey. The traditional European summer racing season is mid May til the end of June, but this year it’s gonna stretch right through to the beginning of August.
Euro Tour: Encore we’re calling it. → READ MORE
We’re less than 48 hours until one of the biggest events of the year: The Lost Mills race in Germany.
With a formidable lineup of talent and a unique flat water course, the 2014 Lost Mills is going to be a big race. We’ll have live updates on Saturday as the race unfolds, but in the meantime let’s take a look at the course itself. → READ MORE
So the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race was held earlier today and won by Shae Foudy and Jamie Mitchell. Jamie took out the men’s 5.5 mile distance race just six seconds ahead of Chase Kosterlitz, with the two surfing the same wave to the shore before one last sprint through shallow water to the line.
Jamie won. With his surf life saving background and incredible fitness, Jamie is near impossible to beat in shallow water running.
The whole sequence was eerily similar to *that* finish up at Lake Tahoe a couple of years ago. However today’s finish in Santa Monica reminded me even more of another race…
A different kind of race. THE Race…. → READ MORE
Jamie Mitchell and Shae Foudy have taken out the Pier Paddleboard Race in Santa Monica today, beating home a solid field of paddlers in what is fast becoming an iconic event in SoCal.
The Santa Monica Pier Paddle is the race responsible for *that* photo sequence in 2013, when the event was run in very solid surf and carnage was the order of the day. JM, a big wave surfer by trade, probably would have fancied his chances even more if there was a similar swell for this year’s race, however conditions appeared to be a lot mellower and more welcoming for paddlers today.
Click through for full results and pics from the Pier… → READ MORE
Chase Kosterlitz has defended his crown at a race in Florida for the umpteenth time, taking out Saturday’s Florida Cup race in St. Pete Beach. Chase was quickest around the 10 mile Tampa Bay course, finishing three minutes clear of the very talented Ryan Helm.
It was an impressive performance from Chase, who has showed similar early season form at last month’s Carolina Cup. The big guy from Florida (who recently moved to San Diego) hasn’t lost in his home state since 2011. Not a bad track record. So while he’s yet to crack the podium at his non-preferred BOP Elite Race, if there’s ever a hard, grinding, long distance race, you’d be a brave punter to bet against Chase finishing near the front of the pack.
Meanwhile Jenny Kalmbach, who hosted a couple of technique clinics across the weekend, was too strong in the women’s, coming home ahead of East Coast warrior Helga Goebel. → READ MORE
Woah… What a race. That was 13 miles of pain. I’m hurting.
Congrats to Danny Ching for muscling his way through this one and to Annabel Anderson for coming out on top despite a huge push from Jenny and Lina. Danny has now won this event three years in a row while Annabel has gone back to back in her first two attempts.
Click through for full results from all the races. → READ MORE
Chase Kosterlitz has officially signed with the BIC SUP team, as the brand continues its push into the racing side of SUP both in the U.S. and abroad. Between his constant race podiums and new role as head of the Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association, Chase is one of the most visibile athletes in the sport and will no doubt be a great pick up for the BIC team.
The big guy has long been the leading paddler on the U.S. East Coast (though he’s actually in the middle of a move to San Diego right now) and in the past year or two has also been a strong contender for the role of fastest paddler on mainland USA who isn’t named Danny Ching. → READ MORE
On Monday we asked “what” is the Stand Up Paddle Athletes Association. Well now we know “who” it is as well, with the initial Board of Directors line up revealed. And it’s not too shabby…
The new organisation, which aims to promote the sport by giving the athletes a collective voice, will be helmed by: both of the reigning Molokai-2-Oahu Champions, National Champions, State Champions, European Champions, SUP adventure record holders as well as perhaps the most well-traveled SUP athlete in the world.
In case you missed our story yesterday or have completely avoided Facebook the past 24 hours (seriously, every three seconds I see new “such and such likes SUPAA” pop up in my news feed), here’s the elevator pitch (this is the group’s official “Mission Statement”): → READ MORE
Danny Ching and Lina Augaitis have taken out the 2013 Paddle Royal in Puerto Rico after an incredibly tight second day of racing. Danny claimed the overall victory by winning the final round of racing on Day Two, ending the hopes that both Aussie young gun Jake Jensen and Frenchman Eric Terrien had of flying home with the $7,000 winner’s prize.
Danny had all the work to do after finishing third in yesterday’s Long Distance Race and left it until the very last minute to fight his way back into the lead. Coming into the final round of racing, which consisted of a 200m straight-line sprint, Danny was sitting third on the overall points leaderboard, one point behind Eric and two behind Jake. The reigning champ basically had to win the last race and hope Jake didn’t get second. And that’s exactly what happened, allowing Danny to leapfrog his two close rivals and walk away with the title.
Click through for results, recap and pics from Puerto Rico… → READ MORE
Chase Kosterlitz has won the 2013 Battle of the Bay, claiming the overall title ahead of Fanatic Teammate Jake Jensen on a time count back, after the two traded 1-2 finishes in the Distance and Course Races. Mo Freitas was third with Ryan Helm and Jay Wild rounding out the Top 5 in San Francisco. Meanwhile Lina Augaitis, fresh from her win in Tahoe last week, put on another great display to make it a clean sweep of the weekend.
Click through to see the full results…
The race has just finished, so we’ll update results as they become available… → READ MORE
This time last year Chase Kosterlitz was still licking his wounds after Jamie Mitchell literally stole victory at the 2012 Tahoe Nalu distance race.
After 90 minutes of back and forth dueling across beautiful Lake Tahoe, the race came down to a sprint to the line. In the closing stages, Chase was half a board length in front and probably thought he was about to, finally, defeat the 10x World Champion. With just metres to go Chase could almost taste the victory… He knew he was in front and just had to hold on for a few more seconds. Then, out of nowhere, Jamie Mitchell came storming past. Not on his board, but on his feet… → READ MORE
We’ve just wrapped up the second and final day of the Ta-Hoe Nalu SUP Festival here in beautiful Lake Tahoe, California. Among epic scenery and hundreds of paddlers, it was Georges Cronsteadt from Tahiti who stood out, taking out both the Distance and Elite Races.
Meanwhile the women’s prizes were split between the impressive Canadian Lina Augaitis (Distance Race winner) and the always strong Morgan Hoesterey (Elite Race winner).
Yesterday saw the 10 mile Distance Race while today it was the Elite Race and overall it was a fun weekend. However there were a few sticky issues with the event organisation, including a particularly messy one with the prize money, but that will come out in the days to come. For now let’s look at how the results went down… → READ MORE
Some more great footage from last month’s III Deep SUP Race in Ville de Noja, Spain. While we had the highlights reel from the Beach Race the other day, this is the full video recap, including the Distance Race, Beach Race and interviews with the paddlers.
Click through to watch the full clip and then pencil in Noja on your 2014 racing calendar, looks like a great event… → READ MORE
Some great footage from the Noja SUP Race in Spain few weeks ago, where Chase Kosterlitz won ahead of a quality field and among some pretty scenic surrounds.
Click through to watch the full clip. Looks like a nice little spot for a Stand Up Paddleboard race… → READ MORE
Austrian dark horse and JP Australia team rider Peter Bartl has defeated Chase Kosterlitz and French young gun Arthur Daniel to claim the Happy Summer SUP Challenge, the $10,000 SUP race that was held today in Namur, Belgium. Meanwhile Fanatic’s Olivia Piana triumphed in the women’s race ahead of Melanie Brandstätter and Celine Gondert.
Click through for more… → READ MORE
Chase Kosterlitz has taken out the 3rd edition of the “Deep SUP Race” in Noja, Spain on the weekend to continue his good form in Europe this Summer. The Fanatic International rider beat the best from Spain, including Roman Frejo, team mate Belar Diaz and reigning Spanish Champ Manuel Simoncelli, to win both the Distance and Beach races.
Meanwhile Laura Quetglas was far too strong, taking out the women’s races and beating half the men in the process. Full results and photos… → READ MORE
Travis Grant and Connor Baxter have dominated the 2013 SUP Race Cup, which drew a stacked field of 100 paddlers to St. Maxime, France and marked the official start of the unofficial European SUP Racing Tour presented by NSP.
This event was a tale of two days; on Saturday the winds were apocalyptic and the Beach Race turned into a survival paddle, while Sunday was much calmer (and warmer), producing an epic Distance Race.
The field was absolutely stacked, as many of the world’s best paddlers in Europe for the next few weeks, but in the end it was the favourites Travis and Connor who filled the top two spots on both days. Click through for the full results and race recap… → READ MORE
Danny Ching has won the 2013 Carolina Cup at Wrightsville Beach, claiming his second straight title in emphatic style to cement his position as the world’s fastest stand up paddler. Danny opened up a big gap on the field and was well clear by the end of the 12.5 mile “Graveyard” Elite Race course, crossing the line exactly four minutes ahead of his nearest rival.
France’s Eric Terrien also paddled extremely well to claim 2nd ahead of an all-star cast that included Jamie Mitchell (3rd), Chase Kosterlitz (4th), Ryan Helm (5th) and Matt Becker (6th).
Meanwhile Annabel Anderson put on a dominant display to claim victory ahead of Jenny Kalmbach and Brandi Baksic. Click through for FULL RESULTS… → READ MORE
Chase Kosterlitz showed again today that he’s the man to beat on the East Coast, taking out the Florida State Paddleboard Championships for the third year in a row. The Fanatic International team rider, who’s gearing up for the 2013 SUP Racing season after a recent stint down in Oz, already had the lead at the first turn and never looked back.
This year’s Championships enjoyed some very mild conditions, at least compared to the rough, windy events of the past two years. Blue skies, light winds and plenty of keen Stand Up Paddlers on the start line. Click through to see how it all looked… → READ MORE
See that pic to the left? That’s World Champ and Battle of the Paddle winner Travis Grant. See that thing strapped to his chest? That’s a $20,000 piece of equipment that measures VO2 max.
While it might look like Trav is doing his best Top Gun impression, the whole thing is actually part of a study into SUP that’s happening on the Gold Coast. The project aims to quantify the health benefits of Stand Up Paddling and a whole bunch of the world’s best racers have been taking part in it.
Click through for more info plus video… → READ MORE
