Synchronised paddling, anyone?
Carolina isn’t just about SUP: the outrigger canoes and surfskis took over on Sunday for another loop around the infamous Graveyard course.
Pictured above are Danny Ching, Ryland Hart, Georges Cronsteadt and Travis Grant in perfect formation. How good is that shot? You couldn’t set that up if you tried. → READ MORE
SUP Racer quietly celebrated its 6th birthday a couple of weeks ago (time flies), and if one thing has defined this site over the past half a dozen years it’s the world analysis.
I love analysing this sport. It all began with one of the earliest posts on the site: The Top 11 of 2011. That story got a lot of attention and helped kickstart SUP Racer as we know it, and from there it followed with year-end “best of” lists in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016.
And now it’s time for the Top 17 of 2017… → READ MORE
In brief: Original young gun Slater Trout has continued his quest to return to the top of the sport, narrowly edging out his highly under-rated Infinity team mate Toby Cracknell and defending champion/former world number one Danny Ching to claim the 2017 Santa Monica Pier Paddle overall event title.
Slater and Toby split the wins between the long distance and beach race disciplines, with Slater taking the former before the Aussie out-sprinted him up the beach to claim the latter. With points tied, Slater got the nod on the tie-breaker (which weighted the result of the distance race) to take the biggest chunk of the $15,000 prize purse. → READ MORE
World number one Annabel Anderson and Sunova’s James Casey have taken out the weather-affected OluKai Ho’olaulea race on Maui this morning, winning the modified ‘beach race’ event at Kanaha after the standard Maliko downwind run was canceled for the second time in two days following wild and unsafe conditions.
With swirling winds and stormy weather continuing to lash the Hawaiian coast, OluKai organisers wisely opted for safety over tradition, keeping the event inside the reef at Kanaha Beach Park instead of sending competitors on what would have been a somewhat-treacherous ocean paddle from Maliko Gulch. → READ MORE
The Countdown to Carolina is officially underway, with almost all of the world’s best paddlers getting ready to hop on a plane to Wilmington, North Carolina for the 7th Annual West Marine Carolina Cup aka the first major race of the season.
This year’s event is set to be the most competitive yet, with an absolutely stacked field of elite talent joining hundreds of amateur paddlers for a major festival of stand up paddling. → READ MORE
In brief: Danny Ching has taken out the 30th annual edition of the classic Dana Ocean Challenge in Southern California, outlasting the unlimited of Rob Rojas and beating home young gun Tyler Bashor, French expat Greg Closier and Team USA rep Chuck Glynn. → READ MORE
In brief: Danny Ching and Jade Howson have taken out the 2017 Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge in San Diego’s Mission Bay.
While Chuck Glynn edged out Thomas Maximus in the unlimited fight for line honours, Mr. 404 won the battle of the 14 footers after leading home Chase Kosterlitz, the Brown Blurrr Dave Boehne, and his young team mate Noa Hopper. Danny also won the 9 mile outrigger race… → READ MORE
What a year it’s been for our sport, with great performances by incredible athletes at big events all around the world making for an exciting season of racing.
But who was the best? Who dominated all season long? Who were the standout stand up athletes this year? It’s time to reveal the Top 16 of 2016… → READ MORE
We’re just over 24 hours away from the most prestigious race of the season, and what a race it’s shaping up to be. The 20th annual crossing of the Ka’iwi Channel between Molokai to Oahu is already destined for the history books, but a record level of talent and a few last-minute twists should ensure we’ll be talking about this one for many years to come.
The Molokai-2-Oahu Paddleboard World Championships, aka M2O or just simply Molokai, has become the ultimate event of the international stand up paddle racing season. The race has taken on an almost mythical status over the years, and it’s surely one of the toughest trophies in the sport to get your hands on. Becoming a Molokai champion makes you an instant hero, while many paddling legends have built their reputations by conquering this epic, dangerous, thirty-two mile stretch of open ocean between these two imposing Hawaiian islands. → READ MORE
Following a couple of big weeks in Europe and the showdown in Santa Monica, we’ve updated the Battle of the Brands leaderboard to show you which race teams are on a tear and which are trailing off.
NSP holds onto the #2 spot ahead of Naish, however Starboard has extended its already-massive lead at the top of the table. Thanks to Danny Ching and Noa Hopper’s heroics at the Pier, Team 404 is +1 this week and could easily move higher in the coming weeks, while the Infinity Speed Freaks can smell a top 4 spot.
Danny Ching has triumphantly returned to the racing scene after a brief hiatus, claiming the Tommy Bahama Paddleboard Race and Ocean Festival at Santa Monica Pier this afternoon after edging out Slater Trout and a strong field in a day of highly-entertaining racing.
In the women’s event, Shae Foudy successfully defended her Pier Paddle title after a very close contest with Candice Appleby. Click through for the full recap, results and some awesome photos of the action… → READ MORE
How fast can you paddle 200 metres? Not as fast as Connor Baxter…*
Although the main event at the Lost Mills was the 18km distance race on Saturday, the sideshow event, the 200m time trial on Friday afternoon, threw up its fair share of action as well, including a heartbreaking fall and a return to the top for the 2013 champion. → READ MORE
Thanks to the crew at SUP the Mag, here’s the trailer for the new paddleboard movie “Chasing Gold,” which follows Team USA’s quest to win the 2015 ISA Worlds in Mexico.
Prior to the 2015 World Championship, Team Australia had famously never been beaten at this event. That all changed on the golden sands of Sayulita beach though, with the Americans bringing their A-team and dominating the week to bring home the team trophy. → READ MORE
In brief: Danny Ching and Shae Foudy have won the 2016 Mongoose Cup in Dana Point, California, showing solid early season form ahead of the first big race of the season in Carolina later this month.
Danny made it a clean sweep of the event, with the 404 front man taking out both the 14′ and 12’6 time trials as well as the main event, the “Sport of Kings” sprint race. On the women’s side, Shae made it two from two for Team Riviera by claiming both the 12’6 time trial and the sprints. → READ MORE
In brief: Zane Schweitzer has taken out the Ultimate Waterman event in New Zealand, triumphing over Danny Ching, Connor Baxter and a handful of other elite ocean athletes in this multi-sport, invite-only specialty event.
Now in its second year, the Ultimate Waterman combines everything from SUP racing to outrigger to longboarding, and is held at various locations around New Zealand. → READ MORE
The start list for the 2016 Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships has just been revealed, with the men’s solo stand up paddle division attracting the most competitive field in the event’s 20 year history.
Top ranked athletes including three-time champ and world number one Connor Baxter, two-time champ and world number two Travis Grant, number three Danny Ching, and number four Kai Lenny will be racing across the Ka’iwi Channel (aka the “Channel of Bones”) on Sunday, July 31st. → READ MORE
In brief: Danny Ching has just taken out his local race, the Lanakila Classic in Redondo Beach, California, ahead of a couple of his 404 team mates.
Danny took the 5 mile win (on a 12’6 no less) shortly after he’d saluted in the 9 mile OC-1 race. Danny’s 404 protégé Noa Hopper finished runner-up, half a minute behind his team boss but almost a minute ahead of third-place Anthony Vela. Another fluro green rider, Ryland Hart, came home 4th. → READ MORE
