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Tim Rowe, Aaron Rowe, Chris Bates and Mark Creedan left Jersey Wednesday night to start their 5 hour journey down to the island of Oleron in SW France. The boys are heading off to compete in a World series event with a prize purse of $10,000. This is one of the biggest European events on the year and will attract the biggest names in Europe and the World.

The event is circled around one main race the 30KM distance race from la Plage de Soubregeon to Saint-Denis d’Oléron. The race will start at 2pm on the Friday and they will be going with the current with the added hope that the wind will also be there to  help them along. Last year the wind was against the racers for most of the race.

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Saturday and Sunday will be more fun days with Beach sprint races in a BOP style, Relays and if there’s surf they will run a SUP surf comp.

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Friday 09:18 – Update from Mark

Last night the boys filled up on pasta and got an early night. Last night there was some concern from organsiers that the race may have to be split in to two part due to the wind. This morning the call has been made to run the race in one full stretch as the wind is set to drop. The boys are waiting now for the next update for the race start time.

There is no live coverage but there maybe updates on the FB link.

With a year of practice behind him and a few more comps under his belt the young man from St Brelades is ready to take them all on again.

He’ll be taking his trusty 8ft Naish and his new little ripper of a board the 6’6” Naish soft top.

The action starts Saturday 28th April and runs for a week, watch it here.  La Torche Pro

Here’s some picture of Aaron in action.

waikiki-paddle-festival

If St Ouens is looking too crazy for you then head to Brelades as there will be plebty of fun ones coming in all the way up to the wall.

Happy SUPping everyone

Joey and I are heading to the Paddle Round Pier Beach Festival in Brighton in July and it would be great if we could get a few more people along. It’s run over the weekend of the 6th and 7th July. There are different races as well as beach events and bands. I’m also told the Party is amazing.

Check out more details at http://www.paddleroundthepier.com/

The Opening ceremony was amazing, all the competing countries lined up around Parc Kennedy with their flags, locals and tourists wanting to have their photo taken with us was a very odd experience. For that short walk around the square we felt like celebrities. Everyone buzzing off each other and getting a little nervous as once this ceremony finished we knew it was time to put the game face on.

The competition started on the Tuesday with the SUP Surfing which would last over 3 days with the final on the Saturday. We arrived at the beach super early so the boys could get some practise in on their own boards as by a miracle they arrived the previous night from Madrid.
The surf was perfect the whole day at about 4 ft with light winds and the sun shining and continued that way for the rest of the week, both Gareth and Jim made it through their various heats with some great surfing against some of the best in the world in to the next day of rounds. They would both go on to make it in to round 3 (3rd day) where unfortunately they both got placed in the same heat. They were up against some tuff competition and at the end of the heat Gareth and Jim were out placing 14 and 15th in the world out of 34, a very respectful ranking.

Now the boys were out it was coming up to Mark and I to step up and put all our months of training in to practice as the next day we were due to start the Technical race which was a 3 mile course around markers placed out at sea which would test your ability to turn the board, paddle out through surf and ride the board in surf. Mark and I had been practicing all week so we felt confident but what you can’t practice for is how the other competitors will handle the course. This was evident straight away in my heat, we set off with a beach start running in to the sea with our boards. Straight away one guy fell off in front of me whilst another paddled sideways across me. All this slowed me down and put towards the back of the pack, not the place you want to be so I had to dig deep and pull myself to the front 10 and I was lucky to catch a good wave in on the last lap of the course and finished my heat 8 out of 15 which put me through to the final round later that day. Mark also got through his heat in to the final, so Team GB were still in it!!
The final came far too quickly that afternoon and the ache in the shoulders was starting to set in but we mustered all the strength we had a set off for the starting line where the top 24 from the earlier 2 heats waited to do battle in the final (12 from each heat advanced to the final).
On the horn we set off sprinting in to the water, Mark and I had a good start and were powering it along with the big boys from the USA and Australia but as I mentioned earlier you can’t practise for how others will handle the course and I came foul to others mistakes. On the first lap I caught a wave with 6 others heading for the inside marker but the guy on my left lost control of his board which shot over mine knocking me off. I quickly got back on but the pack started to slip away so I did what I could and managed to grab a smaller a wave to gain some distance. Second lap and I catch another wave but this time the guy to the left of me falls off his board on to me taking us both out. At this point my temper was going and I remember shouting at the guy. So off I went again chasing the pack. On the last lap I was still behind the pack but managed to grab a wave from quite far out which brought me up to the middle pack which Mark had managed to stay in. We both hit the beach at the same time, Mark taking 17th and me 18th out of 24.

That night we hit the carbs with 2 portions of spag bol each because Saturday was the 18KM marathon and we knew we would need the energy to make it to the end.
The marathon course was 3 x 6KM laps starting at a beach further down the coast and ending at the contest site with a beach sprint across the line. We set off at 9am and I found a nice pace that I knew I could keep going for the 18km distance. The biggest mistake you can make in a distance race is setting off too fast and burning out before the end.
After the first lap the racers had all spread out in to smaller packs with some adopting a technique called drafting whereby you take turns to paddle behind someone’s board in the slip stream which helps to pull you along. I unfortunately I was in no man’s land. Everyone in front was too far to catch and all behind were too far for me to worry about so no drafting for me. A marathon is more mental than physical and you have to stay positive to get to the end, it can get pretty lonely paddling for 2 hours and the markers never getting closure. But all that said it does come to an end and as I headed round the last marker and turned my board to face the shore a wave loomed behind me which I caught and rode all the way to the beach. Mark was already there having finished 14th and I came across the line 19th out of 30.

That night Jim and Gareth had to leave for the airport as they both had to be back to work Monday so it was left to Mark and I to fly the flag and attend the Closing Party and Club Waikiki which is the oldest surf club in South America and probably the coolest. Well long story short drinks were drunk, songs were danced to, surf stories shared and new friends made.
The ISA put on an amazing event that was well run and will continue. I’m currently trying to get the Channel Islands recognised by the ISA as being independent from the Surfing GB. My hope is that the Channel Islands can start to compete at all ISA events as their own team. Watch this space.

I would also like to thank the following sponsors for their help as without them this would have been very hard. Sure Mobile, Enhance Group LTD, Pennington’s Solicitors, Penguin Recruitment, 2020 mobile, Naish, Excel, Starboard, Jono’s Water Sports.

To check out more photos and videos from the event go to http://isawsuppc.com/

Here are the link to the photos in my preferred order.

http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/mtr_9872.jpg

http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/mtr_9975b.jpg

http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/4_lifestyle_creditchasenmarshall.jpg

http://isawsuppc.com/wp-content/gallery/day-4/mtr_9817.jpg

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NZ & Australia Training hard!! from Paul Jackson on Vimeo.

Team GB at the opening Ceremony of the ISA Stand Up Paddle Board Championships 2012 from jerseysupclub on Vimeo.