Race Round Up – April and May 2015

May ended with some unseasonably chilly weather for the Euro Tour event in St Ives where Connor Baxter dominated on both days, winning the 14′ main event on Saturday and the survivor event on the Sunday. Close behind Connor were several of the UK’s top paddlers with Paul Simmons crossing the line in 4th place ahead of Ryan James in the 14′ class, and Ben Fisher taking first place in the 12’6″ class ahead of Scott Warren. Paul was also 4th in Sunday’s Survivor race behind Connor, Fernando Stalla and Paolo Marconi, with Ollie Shilston and Aaron Row taking 5th and 6th. For the ladies Fiona Wylde beat UK’s Marie Buchanan to the line in the 14′ class with Tarryn Brown ahead of Emily King in the 12′ 6″ class.

The weekend wasn’t all about the elite racing though, with races for all ages and abilities, clinics from the pros, lots of kit to check out, and fun events for everybody including some more mega SUP racing. Could this be the summer of the mega SUP?! Read more here.

After two months packed full of events there’s no time to take a breath with the next round of the UK SUP clubs series on the first weekend in June, hosted by Bay SUP. Alongside the seniors Bay SUP are also hosting the first of the mini-series for UK Junior racing. Over on the continent the Euro Tour continues with events in Germany, Spain, Italy and back to Spain again, before heading to Belgium.  All this before the fourth round of UK SUP clubs racing in Hove on June 28th which includes the second round of the Junior race series.

July is even busier with two more rounds of the UK SUP Clubs series, the Paddle Around the Pier, Icon Classic, Naish One Design Nationals, SUP/Bike/Run, SUP4Life, the Hayle Surf to Salt race and the Thames Challenge. Details for all of these can be found on the SUPboardermag events page.

It’s too early to make any predictions on who might do well through the rest of the season. But the closest competition has to be between the men in the 12’6″ class for the UK SUP Clubs series with the two young guns Aaron Rowe and Peter Kosinski trading wins. For the ladies Jo Hamilton-Vale has won both rounds while Emily King has been taking part, and doing well in events all over the place, can she keep that pace up? In the 14′ classes podium placings in both events for Crispin Jones see him at the top of the leader board, while Christine Anderson has won both of her races. With several paddlers from the top of the leaderboards heading to Germany for the Lost Mills event at the start of June things are likely to change in the rankings after the next round in Bournemouth.

One prediction that’s easy to make is that junior racing has, for the first time, a series of events that will help encourage and grow talent in our sport without the need for parents to invest in expensive equipment. With backing from Red Paddle Co the Junior series could be the start for a future UK SUP champion…

Words : Chris Jones / SUPboarder

Feature image by Maria Cav / Against the Grain Handplanes