Greg Closier has taken out the Raid Paddle Race in France on the weekend, as six dozen paddlers enjoyed a wild and woolly 10km downwinder in the Gulf of Morbihan.
With a stiff breeze providing plenty of bumps and an overcast sky forcing paddlers to wear plenty of neoprene, the race for the prize was super tight. → READ MORE
The 2014 French SUP Racing Championships are happening this weekend, with a spot on Team France and a ticket to the 2015 ISA World SUP Championship up for grabs.
UPDATE: We’ve just wrapped up the second and final day of competition, with Arthur Arutkin making it a clean sweep of the event. The 17-year-old took out both yesterday’s long distance event and today’s course race. Click through for full results/recap/photos… → READ MORE
Gaetan Sene has taken out the “City Race” in La Torche, a side event to the SUP surfing world tour event that’s happening in France this week.
With most of the surfing internationals sitting out the race, it was a four-way battle to the line between the talented French trio of Gaetan, Arthur Arutkin and Greg Closier, as well as Italy’s Leonard Nika. → READ MORE
Titouan Puyo has made a clean sweep of the Presqu’île Paddle Race in France, taking out both the downwind and beach race on the weekend.
Titou, the reigning ISA Distance Race World Champ, showed once again that he’s an absolute machine in the bumps, finishing the 16km run three minutes clear of his rivals. Those rivals included many of France’s finest, such as rising star (and Battle of the Paddle ‘Most Inspirational’ award winner) Martin Letourneur, Vincent Verhoeven, Gaetan Sene and Greg Closier (who was runner-up in the 12’6 class). → READ MORE
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
It’s week #4 of the Euro Tour and this weekend we’re in the awesome city of Bilbao, Spain for another big race: The Bilbao World SUP Challenge. The action wrapped up just moments ago and it was Zane Schweitzer and Angie Jackson who claiming the overall event titles.
This event attracted a pretty solid lineup of talent; I’d say there were around 15 paddlers competing who would be on the top level internationally. Set right near the iconic Guggenheim Museum, the event involved sprint racing on Saturday before a 13km cruise through the city on Sunday.
Here’s how it all went down. → READ MORE
Remember how France decided to go all out in selecting their team for the 2014 ISA Worlds? In addition to their National Titles five weeks ago, the governing body (French Surf Federation) organised a week-long series of racing and training that’s essentially a second (and final) round of qualification to decide who flies to Nicaragua next May.
Ten of the best paddlers in France (and, by extension, ten of the best in Europe and even some of the very best in the world) will be battling it out over the next five days in a series of short and long distance races. A win is worth zero points, 2nd place = 2 points, 3rd place = 3 points, and so on… Each paddler’s best four out of six results (four races this week plus the two races from last months Nationals) are tallied up and then the two guys / one girl with the lowest score will be invited to compete for Les Bleus in Nicaragua. → READ MORE
At the same time as the Aussie SUP Titles were happening in Queensland on the weekend, on the other side of the world there was another elite battle taking place, with glory, bragging rights and a trip to the 2014 ISA World Champs on the line there as well.
The French National SUP Titles (“Championnats de France Stand Up Paddle”) have just wrapped up and produced plenty of SUP racing action as well as a couple of interesting surprises. Held in the picturesque town of Carnet on the South of France, the championships featured the best paddlers from one of the strongest SUP nations there is.
The talent pool is France is runs deeper than probably any other nation outside the “Big 3” (Cali/Hawaii/Aus) so this was always going to be a tough event. However nobody would have predicted these results. On the opening day, hot favourite and undisputed king of French stand up paddle racing, Eric Terrien, was defeated by the unheralded Titouan Puyo in the 18km Distance Race, while young gun Arthur Arutkin also crossed the line ahead of the reigning champ. Eric would have his revenge on day two though, with a sweet victory in the Beach Race ensuring he still has one foot in the door on the plane to Nicaragua. → READ MORE
Kai Lenny and Annabel Anderson have taken out the Camp David SUP World Cup in Hamburg, Germany, defeating a solid international field to claim stop #5 of the 2013 Stand Up World Series. It was a clean sweep for both Kai and Annabel, as the stars took out Saturday’s Sprints and Sunday’s Distance Race by clear margins. The battle for second was tight however, with Casper Steinfath, Beau O’Brian and Leonard Nika tied after the two races, while Angie Jackson just managed to take second place from young gun Manca Notar.
Full results are in so click through to see how it all went down in Germany… → READ MORE
Check out the race results (and some great photos) from the $20,000 Bilbao World SUP Challenge, which was held in Spain over the weekend.
It was Starboard’s weekend, with Connor Baxter and Zane Schweitzer going one-two in the men’s and Annabel Anderson dominating the women’s event. Click through for the full wrap… → READ MORE
SUP Racing is growing super fast in Europe, with hundreds of events throughout the year in pretty much every single country. And nowhere is it bigger than in France, home to many of the races and most of the leading paddlers in Europe.
Next month we’ve got the big SUP Race Cup in St. Maxime, which kicks off six major weeks of SUP racing on the Continent, but in the meantime there are plenty of other races happening. Last weekend it was the Jade Paddle Race in Brittany, an event organised by European #1 Eric Terrien’s family. As always there were plenty of keen paddlers on the start line, and, as always, Eric Terrien reigned supreme (though Gaetene Sene certainly put up a fight). Check out some great pics of the action plus full race results and recap… → READ MORE
France’s Swell Beach Race Series continued yesterday, with European #1 Eric Terrien making his series debut and showing straight away that he’s still the King of SUP Racing in his home country. The air looked cold.
The water looked cold. Yet there were still almost 40 die hard SUP racers out in the water, including almost all of France’s top guys. As well as Terrien there was also international elite paddlers such as Gaetene Sene, winner of the first two events Greg Closier, and young gun Arthur Daniel. So click through for full race results, plus some great photos of the action… → READ MORE
Eric Terrien has taken out today’s Nautic SUP Paris Crossing, capping off another year of domination in Europe. Gaetan Sene claimed second place in the main event, the Elite Distance Race (on his namesake the River Seine, no less), with Yoann Cornelis claiming third in the Distance and 2nd overall. Meanwhile Faustine Merret, Manca Notar and Sonni Hönschied dominated the women’s division.
Conditions were close to freezing, with the temperature hovering around 4°C (39°F) as the paddlers took to the water just after sunrise. There were plenty of wetsuits, booties, gloves and beanies on show. The 12km course stretched up and down the famous river, with competitors gliding under historic bridges and even going past the Eiffel Tower at one point. Over 200 paddlers braved the cold for what must have been one of the largest ever SUP races in Europe. → READ MORE
Check out the action from the first stop of the 2012 Reunion Island Starboard SUP Race Tour. Starboard’s own Gaetene Sene took out Race #1 last weekend, ahead of a pack of eager local paddlers. Sene, who is one of France’s leading racers, not only took out the victory but also managed to do some SUP whale watching while he was on Reunion.
Click through for full results plus some great pics of the action, including the SUP whale… → READ MORE
One of France’s (and Europe’s) biggest SUP races of the year went down in Lyon the weekend before last. The 2012 Open de Lyon SUP Race was held the 8th/9th September on the Rhone River in Lyon. After a Summer that saw Europe step things up and host a good half a dozen major stand up paddle races, the Open de Lyon was a great way to finish the season.
Over 100 paddlers competed including many of Europe’s top names, with Gaetene Sene and Olivia Piana were the big winners. Click through for video of the action… → READ MORE
The Oleron Stand Up Paddle Challenge, the latest Stand Up World Series event, is happening this weekend on Oleron Island, France.
In Saturday’s 24km Long Distance race, Starboard’s Annabel Anderson put in a massive effort to not only win the women’s division but also take line honours ahead of all the guys. Fellow Starboard rider Gaetene Sene was 2nd with Greg Closier in third. Click through for full results → READ MORE
Check out results from the 2012 Waxx SUP Summer Challenge that was held last weekend in Bandol, France.
Greg Closier took out victory in the Elite 5km “Slalom Race”, walking away with €1,200 and a key victory over his rival for the French National Team, Gaetene Sene. → READ MORE
Early results are in from the the €5,000 Massilia SUP Race in Marseille, France.
Eric Terrien kept his European winning streak intact by winning Saturday’s 8km Beach Race ahead of the Danish Viking, Casper Steinfath. Frenchman Gaetan Sene was third.
Click through for more details… → READ MORE
The SUP Race Cup (aka the International Mediterranean Trophy) was held last weekend in St. Maxime, on France’s famous Côte d’Azur.
This is probably the most prestigious Stand Up Paddle race event in Europe and the 2012 edition drew the best from the continent, such as Eric Terrien, Gaetene Sene and Casper Steinfath, as well as international stars like Bart de Zwart and Chase Kosterlitz.
Over 100 stand up paddlers competed but it was BIC Sport’s Eric Terrien and Fanatic’s Olivia Piana who were the big winners, with both of them going through the weekend undefeated.
To see who else was paddling fast, click through and check out the full results… → READ MORE
Stand Up Paddle racing is growing like crazy in Europe and France is no doubt leading the way. This weekend saw another big French race, the Nah Skwell Trophy.
Eric Terrien, seemingly unbeatable in Europe, was the big winner. Terrien ahead of well-known French paddlers such as Gaetene Sene and Greg Closier, as well as young guns like Arthur Daniel. → READ MORE
