Island style National
Gather a rowdy bunch of like-minded
individuals together, chuck in the
majority of the UK’s watersports industry,
let loose every man and his dog on the
water for some fun/friendly competition,
put on a spectacular display of night time
watery antics and throw in the mother of
all parties and what do you have? THE
must attend event of the year, that’s what!
The National Watersports Festival will once
again be hitting the shingly shores of West
Beachlands on Hayling Island on September
5-7. With a bigger and more action packed
weekend planned, this is THE one place you
definitely want to be whether you’re a SUPer,
windsurfer, kiter or kayaker.
Richard Marsh and his BSUPA team will be
looking after the stand up paddling side of the
event so you can be sure of a professionally
run format with all SUP needs well catered for.
There’ll be plenty of races to take part in and
lots of SUP goodies to demo and try out. Many
of the UK brands will be in attendance, making
it the perfect place to have a blend on all that
lovely, spangly kit as well as rub shoulders with
other paddlers and stars of the sport.
Here’s a breakdown of what
stand up paddlers can expect
this year.
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Clinics.
Introduction to race boards.
Introduction to SUP surf boards.
Paddles and styles.
Comparing inflatable and solid boards –
pros and cons of each.
Taster sessions conducted throughout the
three days by BSUPA instructors.
It is all about like-minded enthusiasts coming
together to celebrate our sport or indeed have
an introduction to this, the fastest growing
watersport, but most of all have fun!
Provisional Schedule of SUP Events at
National Watersports Festival (NWF) 2014:
Saturday
BSUPA Race Series 5km race
Men and women
12.6ft race class only
Five laps of 1km course.
Sunday – Team Day
Teams of five consisting of two women
and three men are invited to take part
in a series of events over the day.
Battle of the Paddle
Men and women
Open class
14ft, 12.6ft Fun Class (non–race board,
both ridged and inflatable)
Five laps of a 1km course. At the end of
each lap competitors will land back at
beach then run a short distance along
to flag which they must round before
returning to their board to complete
next lap.
Saturday Evening Sunset SUP
Open class
We invite all those with SUPs to get on
the water for a mass paddle along the
Hayling shoreline in front of NWF site.
Taster sessions Fri, Sat and Sun
Race Director will be Richard Marsh and
assisting Race Director Paul Simmons.
For more information check out
www.nationalwatersportsfestival.com/participate/stand-up-paddle/
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5km Team Race
Five laps of a 1km course. Mass start.
All members of the team to enter. The
winning team will be decided when the
final and fifth member of the team
crosses the line. So it’s all about
working as a team, not just sending
your fastest person out first or leaving
some behind. Each team limited to a
maximum of 2 x 14ft boards and to
include 1 x non-race board per team.
Junior SUP 2km race
Boys and girls 16 and under.
Open class
Two laps of a 1km course.
Inflatable sprint racing
Heats of four or six (depending on number
of teams) on identical inflatable SUPs.
Simple 100m out to a buoy and back to
the beach. Each member of the team to
take it in turn to paddle course. Top two
teams proceed to next round. Teams with
the highest combined score will be
crowded winners of Team SUP Title.
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