Battle of the Thames – how did
this iconic race come about?
I came up with the idea of a flat water race
on the Thames to try and build the profile of
SUP. The first event we had 50 entrants
which was amazing including Ryan James
and Marie Buchanan who have both gone on
to each win four times over the years. In
2011 the distance was a mere four miles
and in 2012 we increased it to six miles and
in both years we finished off the event with
our legendary knock-out 50-metre sprint
challenge where the emphasis was to win
fairly or just win.
From 2013 to this date the distance has
been two, six or 10 miles. Apart from the
race itself, the last couple of years we have
been including ‘the Grand Tour’ class where
you can paddle the course on any board
and any distance without any racing
pressure, “All the gain none of the pain.”
The 2019 BOTT was an epic event in crazy
conditions - 18-24 mph winds with 40 mph
gusts. For safety reasons we had to scratch
plans A and B and move to plan C. The course
was changed to a two-mile circuit with either
one or three laps which threw our timing
program into confusion as well as our finish
line volunteers, some race numbers blown
away or couldn’t be seen. We spent three
days comparing the two-lap top finish times
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