In brief: Michael Booth and Fiona Wylde have claimed the prestigious ICF SUP World Cup in Germany in extraordinary circumstances.
The Starboard superstars only arrived in Germany Sunday morning after jetsetting in from New York where they’d been competing at the APP money tour event, yet they overcame the jetlag to salute against one of the toughest fields assembled all season. → READ MORE
Defending champion and four-time winner Travis Grant has withdrawn from this year’s Molokai-2-Oahu race through injury, throwing the door wide open for what is surely the most prestigious title in our sport.
Travis, the 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2018 Molokai champ and many tipsters’ favourite to claim a record fifth crown next week, injured his ribs while steering a six-man outrigger canoe in the 4th of July race at Waikiki. The ever-humble Aussie gave himself time to recover but the injury wasn’t improving, telling me on Messenger this afternoon that “I can barely even paddle right now, let alone race a distance like that.” → READ MORE
Fiona Wylde and Michael Booth have made it a clean sweep of the Greek Islands for team Starboard, claiming today’s “Agios Nikolaos on SUP” event after conquering some of the gnarliest conditions we’ve seen all season. This follows on from their big wins on Corfu last week.
Today’s 14km race on the island of Crete had a bit of everything, from downwind to flat to one or two brutal kms of crazy headwind. The winners both went hard early but earned their big leads in different parts of the course: Boothy shut the door on the chase pack of Vinni Martins, Martin Vitry, Ty Judson, Arthur Arutkin, Noic Garioud and Enzo Bennett in the grueling upwinder, whereas Fiona setup her victory early on during the smoother downwind section. → READ MORE
Team Starboard super duo Michael Booth and Fiona Wylde have claimed this week’s EuroTour race with emphatic victories against both a strong field and a draining hot sun in the Greek Islands.
Boothy claimed the ‘Corfu Emerald Cup’ to bounce back from his big mistake at last week’s battle of Bilbao and put an exclamation mark on his status as the world’s strongest paddler, while Fiona was a little too strong for Italian wildcard and rising star Caterina Stenta. → READ MORE
Titouan Puyo and Fiona Wylde have surfed their way to victory in week 3 of the EuroTour, claiming the Vendée Gliss Event on France’s west coast.
Titou out-surfed fellow Frenchman Arthur Arutkin and week 2 winner Michael Booth to even the score with the Aussie powerhouse at one European win apiece.
Meanwhile, Hood River hero Fiona Wylde felt right at home in the bumps, coasting clear to defeat Sunova’s Amandine Chazot and Maui wunderkind Annie Reickert en route to her second French win in seven days. → READ MORE
Starboard superstars Michael Booth and Fiona Wylde have started their summer seasons in style, saluting at the “Azur Paddle Days” EuroTour event in Villefranche, France this afternoon.
Boothy edged out regular sparring partner Titouan Puyo by about 10 seconds after an hour of paddling, while Titou’s team-mate from NSP, Ty Judson, was close behind in third. Martin Vitry took top honours for the home team in fourth, while Carolina runner-up Bruno Hasulyo had to settle for fifth in a sign of how tough the summer clashes are going to be. → READ MORE
Sonni and Boothy have both gone back-to-back at the Carolina Cup today, with the Australian holding off a strong challenge from the Hasulyo Brothers, while Sonni was too good for local legend April Zilg.
Early results up on The Paddle League.
The Aussie Titles wrapped up today in Queensland. Here’s how it went down for one of the most competitive paddling nations on the planet. → READ MORE
Good morning and welcome back to Brekkie Bites.
We’re down to the business end of the 2018 Aussie Titles, with the surfing and beach race titles decided today and the marathon race wrapping things up tomorrow. → READ MORE
Today, Team Australia’s lineup for the ISA Worlds in China (Nov 23 – Dec 2) was revealed. The five-time champions always start favourites for the overall teams title, however 2018 could be their toughest challenge since the U.S. Dream Team briefly stole their crown in 2015, with the French looking particularly strong.
Here’s some light analysis of the squad. → READ MORE
Good morning and welcome to episode #019 of Brekkie Bites–your daily breakfast briefing about the world of SUP. Here’s the latest… → READ MORE
Good morning and welcome back to Brekkie Bites, your daily fix of news from the world of SUP.
Here’s your morning briefing for Monday, October 22… → READ MORE
As if the biggest weekend of the year needed any additional spice, we’ve now got a little extra sizzle courtesy of The Paddle League.
After a season that officially began in Tahiti six months ago to the day, the battle for the inaugural Paddle League Men’s World Title will be decided by two Aussie athletes and one big weekend of racing in Southern California.
The Pacific Paddle Games presented by Salt Life is the setting for the “title fight” between current ratings leader Michael Booth and his compatriot Lincoln Dews (ranked #2 in the world). And the equation is fairly simple: If Lincoln wins the PPGs and Boothy misses the podium, David will snatch the crown from Goliath at the final race of the season. → READ MORE
In brief: Aussie powerhouse Michael Booth has flexed his muscles to win the annual race around the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco today. The current world number one paddled clear of the small but highly elite field to claim the win the 2018 Battle of the Bay a minute ahead of his highly under-rated compatriot Ty Judson (Team NSP).
The women’s contest was a lot closer, with Seychelle being pushed all the way to the line by young SIC team mate Jade Howson, while Fiona Wylde rounded out the podium in this 4-star Paddle League regional event.
More to come on Monday morning… For now you can get full results over on The Paddle League.
In brief: The quest for the inaugural Paddle League World Title has been reignited following an intense day of racing at the Mercedes-Benz SUP World Cup in sunny Scharbeuz, Germany, with Lincoln Dews and Olivia Piana unseating the established powerhouse duo of Michael Booth and Sonni Honscheid to claim memorable victories in front of a big local crowd.
In what was surely the most exciting race of the year in both the men’s and women’s fields, Lincoln outlasted Boothy in a tug-of-war for the ages, while Olivia overpowered the home-nation hero in the second half of the 10km race to put a hold on Sonni’s World Title victory parade. → READ MORE
In brief: Michael Booth has flexed his muscles once again, breaking and then holding off an ultra-strong field of international talent to claim the fifth stop of The Paddle League World Tour and week 7 of the EuroTour here in the Basque city of Bilbao.
Boothy won the Iberdrola Bilbao SUP Challenge to cement his spot on top of the world rankings, however his compatriot Lincoln Dews gave the champ a fright with a lightning fast final two kilometres that saw him break away from the 11-man chase group and get within shouting distance of the powerhouse. But in the end Boothy’s lead was simply too big, which made it a race for second that Linc deservingly won. → READ MORE
Week 6 of the EuroTour definitely delivered the goods, with San Sebastian turning on a fun, challenging and highly entertaining 12km race around this scenic seaside city that tested the competitors through a mix of flat water, waves and open ocean bumps.
The men’s showdown was once again an ocean battle between Paddle League ratings leader Michael Booth and number two seed Titouan Puyo, while the women’s event saw something of an upset as Sonni Honscheid accepted her first defeat of the season at the hands of Olivia Piana. → READ MORE
