Monthly Round-up of SUP / February 2022

SUP, windsurf, surfboard and wingfoil brand Mistral has been acquired by Dutch equity investor NMG. The Haarlem-based investor will take over 100% of the shares and will take an active role in guiding Mistral in accelerating its international growth.

With 60 worldwide employees, Mistral, founded in 1976, is active in more than 10 countries with a product collection including SUPS, windsurfboards, surfboards, wingfoils, clothing, footwear and lifestyle products. Last year it sold more than 200,000 SUPs in Germany alone.

“The success of recent years can be attributed to the strong brand that Mistral has been for decades,” says Mistral president Ado Huisman. “This heritage allows us to be relevant instantly in new categories while offering many opportunities in a rapidly developing market like watersports. Because of our focus on branding, I selected a partner with a strong brand vision to add the next legendary chapter to the Mistral book.”

Adds NMG’s Arnaud van der Vecht: “Mistral is no longer just the windsurfing brand it used to be. The brand is clearly still surfing a big wave, and we respect Ado Huisman and his team for what they have achieved. Mistral has the stature, radiance and credibility to extend this success even further by building more own business under the Mistral brand. We are looking forward to a great adventure!”

Western Australia’s best stand up paddleboarders (SUP) have mastered truly challenging conditions in Margaret River, as champions were crowned across ten divisions at the 2022 Stand Up Surf Shop North Freo WA SUP State Championships presented by SunSmart.

Competitors converged from across WA in hopes of scoring quality surf, but had to contend with strong and gusty winds, which combined with waves in the 3-4 feet range over the three-day event waiting period. Margaret River’s iconic Surfers Point proved to be a great SUP venue, with Southside’s handling the strong cross shore winds, as competitors battled hard in hopes of qualifying for the Australian SUP Titles to scheduled to be held on Phillip Island, VIC in October.

Rick Jakovich won both the Open Mens & Over 40’s division, Susannah Wilson took out the Open Women’s and 10ft Women’s, Crawford Olney claimed a hat trick of wins in the Over-50 Men’s, 10ft Open Men’s and 10ft Over-50 Men’s divisions, Silvia De Araujo won the Over-40 Women’s, Ryder Vernon took out the Under-18 Juniors and Richard Wain won in the Over-60 Men’s division.

Click link above for full results.

The Lanakilo Classic finished up this past weekend, an annual event held in Redondo Beach, California. The event sees OC1, SUP, Paddleboards and surf skis take to three course lengths with over 100 participants.

Local SUP racer Danny Ching won the SUP division for the Short Course whilst Candice Appleby showed why she is a powerhouse female racer, winning the Women’s Short Course as well.