This years event saw the attendance of prone paddleboard legend Jamie Mitchell who has turned his hand to SUP along with all the top UK riders to compete in a 10mile course on the River Thames in London.
This years event organised by Blue Chip saw record numbers for the event register to take part in a variety of challenges including a 10 mile or 2 mile distance race followed by a 150m sprint event on one design boards to truly see who was the fastest paddlers.
The main race saw a great start and tight racing throughout the event with battles taking place up and down the fleet. The buoy turns proved very interesting with racers jockeying for position as they rounded the mark with some pushing their luck a little too much resulting in a cooling dip in the Thames. We were able to position ourselves well to capture some of the unseen action whilst we were able to admire the variety of different techniques on display.
The Starboard team did fantastically well with four of them finishing in the top ten in the mens event and three of the top four in the womens.
Sam Ross and Pete Vale also put in sterling efforts on the new 12’6″ and 14″ Red Elite race boards both winning their respective classes and Sam only being beaten by competitors on full carbon race boards. Full results can be seen by click HERE
After the Main event a series of knock out sprints were held on one design boards in front of a large at the Thames Sailing Club. With the only rule being that you had to round the buoy to your left made for some interesting tactics during some of the heats and the final.
With several competitors taking multiple swims it was great entertainment and Sam Ross managed to battle his way into the final and took a solid second place behind Mark ‘Slasher’ Slater after being in last place going into the first turn!
A full selection of photos can be seen on our Starboard SUP UK Facebook page HERE
Paul Simmons has updated us on how his race was after finishing third under four minutes behind race winner Jamie Mitchell:
A mass start featuring a tight bunch of racers on all manner of SUP boards passed without too much carnage thanks to some slick organisation from the Blue Chip team. We were set a ten-mile course on a three lap route starting at the Thames Sailing Club downstream towards Kingston then a turn and back up through Surbiton to the upstream turn less than half a mile from the start.
When the starting horn sounded I went off fast to hit the clean water away from the masses. With the adrenaline pumping and knowing that race legend Jamie Mitchell was hot on my heels, I worked really hard all the way to the first mark. After a slightly cautious turn on the stunningly fast but slightly wobbly 24” wide Sprint, I felt his powerful presence tearing away from the buoy and past me as I lost momentum for a second or two. Heading back upstream I tried to remain in touch but sensed that maintaining such pace would definitely lead to burn out well before the finish. Hugging the bank to avoid the Thames’ flow, the remainder of the first lap was all about knuckling down to a steady rhythm and not overcooking the pace.
Only a few hundred metres into the second lap, Starboard team mate Ryan James powered through like an express train at a pace that I couldn’t match. Through a race a competitor pushing hard tends to have periods of relative comfort, interspersed with varying degrees of pain. As Ryan overtook I was in a tough part of my pain cycle and had no way of increasing my efforts to stay with him. He gradually pulled away and though I recovered and felt pretty good for most of the remainder of the race, Ryan’s superb fitness and power ensured I wasn’t in with a chance of reeling him in. On the last lap I was attacked by some Canada geese, which forced me to stop dead and wield my paddle to defend myself, losing several seconds and breaking the rhythm.
Worse was to come on the final straight, where feeling pretty good physically, I decided to go flat out and try and close the gap to Ryan. This plan backfired with the onset of intense stomach cramps, forcing me to ease off and stand tall to alleviate the pain. Fortunately I had a reasonable lead over the following group of racers so I could cruise towards the finish, by which stage my burning stomach had subsided enough to allow a burst of speed over the line.
Blue Chip did a superb job in organising the event and promoting it well to draw in such healthy numbers, which made for a memorable occasion for all involved. Thanks to Mitcho for making the effort too, must have been quite a bit colder that he’s used to! With no national series, rankings or association interested in racing, perhaps the time has come for event organisers and keen competitors to look at setting up a national series and race association for next season to build on the superb SUP race events we’ve already seen in 2013.
