– to access more content and expert support, check out 
.
Mandurah Duel – Sunday 7th December.
With less than 24 hours to recover from the KOTC, the Mandurah Duel followed that Sunday; a shorter (14.5 km) part of the same course as the King of the Cut. An Oceanpaddler World Series Event, a unique downwind paddling duel between ocean skis, SUPs and Outriggers.
The Start was beneath the Dawesville Bridge and paddlers had to choose between taking the Ocean course or the Atlernative inland-water course each both 14.5 km and finishing in front of the Mandurah Ocean Club, Halls Head. It was less breezy than the other races and pretty hard work. Paul was up near the front in the first few km but faded through the race, not helped by a lack of hydration after choosing not to stop when the hose dropped down out of reach (!) I worked hard all race, which I guess was necessary for all competitors with fewer good runners to catch. I was pleased to be not far behind 2013 Molokai to Oahu winner, Terrene Black (though I suspect she had eased off the gas a touch, looking like she was cruising, compared to my all-out effort to try and keep up!)
The whole SUP scene in the Perth area really blew us away. Every niche of the sport is really well covered, with representatives from the shops fully engaging in racing, surfing, down winding, fitness, yoga and more! There’s good understanding of SUP’s technical aspects and plenty of demo kit and stock on the shelves ready for first-timers right through to international competitors. After clocking in literally hundreds of miles of paddling we’re in complete agreement that as far as the Perth SUP race scene goes, we’ll certainly be back for more!
Massive thanks to:
- Ian from auswind.com.au, for helping with boards
- Starboard for providing boards with race-winning speed
- Jez & Amanda from 2nd Wind for vehicles, accommodation and great entertainment
- Stand up Surf Shop (particularly Cameron) for providing boards and running the awesome downwind shuttle.
- The whole WA SUP community for being amazingly welcoming, accommodating and a truly awesome bunch of paddlers!
Words by Marie Buchanan. Photos by www.vmgblades.com and www.foliobox.com.au
All that paddling in just one week?!! Just shows that Australia, with its consistent trade winds and predictable climate is a SUP downwinders heaven. Talk about living life to the full! Bet they slept on the plane on the way home!!
And now back home, swapping their board shorts for their wetsuits, Marie and Paul will no doubt still be getting out on the water every day, training hard and making the most of our varied winter SUP conditions. Some might call them mad! But that’s the great thing about SUP… you really can do it in all conditions.
To find out what our SUPboarder Team member Marie’s up to, visit her Facebook page here.
Well done Maria and Paul. Sounds like a great trip and some epic conditions. Great write up and interesting to hear about the sup scene in other parts of the world. Catch up soon. Jon and Belinda SuffolkSUP