Connor Baxter has just WON the inaugural Aragas Magallanes Paddle Challenge, defeating his arch rival Kai Lenny in the beautiful wilderness of Patagonia, Chile.
Connor didn’t have it all his own way though, with Kai taking out the Long Distance race on Day 1 of this $20,000 event, which also serves as the first stop of the 2013 Stand Up World Series. Wearing the yellow jersey after his victory last year, Kai battled with Connor right across Lago Gray (“Grey Lake”), the epic, iceberg-filled host of yesterday’s race. But despite Connor leading early, the young Naish star was able to break away in the final stages of the 13 mile race to take the win and start the 2013 Series the same way he finished 2012.
This weekend’s SUP racing enjoyed an insanely cool backdrop (pun intended), with glaciers, icebergs and steep mountains rising up all around the paddlers. So click through for more photos of the action plus the full race results… → READ MORE