The fifth Yaka Paddle Festival brought competitors, recreational paddlers, children and people with disabilities together at Larmor-Plage in Brittany, France, on August 29-30. Nearly 500 cumulative entries were recorded across the two-day programme, making the 2026 festival its biggest edition on the water so far.
While stand-up paddleboarding remains at the heart of YAKA, the event has developed into a much broader celebration of watersports. SUP racing was joined by kayaking, outrigger canoe racing, downwind SUP foiling, pump foiling, children’s racing and adaptive introductory sessions.
The combination of high-level competition and accessible activities has become central to the festival’s identity, creating an event where professional athletes, recreational paddlers and first-time participants can share the water.
CHALLENGING CONDITIONS IN BRITTANY
Competitors faced two very different days of weather.
Saturday delivered winds approaching 25 knots and a swell of approximately 1.8 metres, creating demanding conditions across the racing programme. The wind eased to around 15 knots on Sunday, although competitors still faced close to a metre of swell.
The difficult conditions and an overlap between the Technical Race and downwind competition meant that some athletes were unable to contest both disciplines.
LOLA PELLETIER AND ETHAN BRY LEAD SUP RESULTS
For the first time, the festival hosted the Brittany Open SUP Race in partnership with the Brittany Surf League.
Lola Pelletier won the women’s Technical Race ahead of Léna Dumonté and Anne-Sophie Quennesson. Morgan Bénard claimed victory in the men’s event, followed by Alexandre Gault and Yannick Bonnot.
Pelletier completed an impressive double by also winning Sunday’s 12km women’s distance race in 1:10:24. Dumonté and Quennesson again finished second and third.
Ethan Bry recorded the quickest time in the men’s 12km race, completing the course in 56:08. Junior winner Eliott Bry followed in 57:16, with Louka Brard finishing in 58:21.
Alongside the elite competition, an amateur eight-kilometre race gave paddlers across several age categories an opportunity to take part.
FOIL RACING JOINS THE FESTIVAL
Foiling played a major role in this year’s expanded programme.
The inaugural YAKA Neptune formed part of the French Foil Tour and sent competitors on a 20km downwind SUP foil course. Martin Letourneur won the event in 33:51, ahead of Benoît Carpentier and Félix d’Arboussier. Jeanne Courtois produced the leading women’s performance.
A separate dock-start competition brought pump foiling into the festival. Thibaut Raimon took the victory, followed by Romain Geffroy and Brendan Iavolee, with 15 competitors recording results.
MAKING WATERSPORTS MORE ACCESSIBLE
Beyond the racing, some of the festival’s most significant participation figures came from its community programme.
The children’s race attracted 50 young paddlers, while 46 people with reduced mobility took part in adaptive sailing and paddleboarding sessions.
A further 81 participants, forming 27 teams, entered the SAAS Team Challenge relay.
These activities reflect the wider purpose of the festival and its organising association, YAKA: using watersports to support people with disabilities, their families, carers and inclusive community projects.
The event’s fundraising total is now approaching its €40,000 target. Fundraising is continuing beyond the festival, with further activities planned before a closing ceremony at the end of September.
YAKA’S CONTINUED GROWTH
What began as a paddleboarding event has grown into an inclusive watersports festival spanning racing, foiling, music and accessible participation.
Its fifth edition demonstrated that expanding an event does not have to mean losing its community focus. Nearly 500 entries brought athletes of different ages, abilities and experience levels together—with the festival’s success measured as much by who it enabled to get on the water as by who crossed the finish line first.