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SUPJUNKIE REPORTING :
STARTING THE SEASON WITH A BANG !
Words : Sarah Thornely Photos : Antony Thornely for Supjunkie
CIWW Paddlefest
Nothing could have prepared us for the incredible racing on Sunday 1st May at the Cardiff International White Water Centre , with over 220 paddlers registered to race . You always anticipate exciting racing , and some days it ’ s better than others – this was one of those days . The white water centre is such a great venue and had no issues coping with the 174 paddlers who took to the water on the day with their friends and families , volunteers , safety crew , trade stands and the GBSUP team .
The level of exhilaration was high as this was the first race of the series and a chance to see all of the old faces and meet lots of the new ones . Hugs all around this time ; not much holding back !
After registration , paddlers were invited to visit the raffle with some incredible prizes donated , so thank you to all those that did . The raffle raises money for the RNLI , and we were blessed with some sponsorship from PROLIMIT , who are supporting the women ’ s fleet this year with tech gear – all they were asking was for a minimum donation to the RNLI pot . The raffle and Prolimit donations raised an incredible £ 1,350 on the day ! The GBSUP team would like to thank all of those who donated prizes for the event and all of the people who bought raffle tickets and came away with a cool Prolimit tech top .
So , onto the action – I was lucky enough to be on a boat again , which sat at the start line – the first wave was the 14 ’ men , a field of around 80 paddlers ! This year , there was a course change with paddlers going partway up the River Taff , returning past the white water centre , and up the River Ely before finishing right in front of the WW centre .
14 ’ men
A flying start from Bruce Ironsmith , SUP 11-City Tour 2021 winner Joep van Bakel and GBSUP National Champ Blue Ewer set the pace , with the latter two paddlers quickly establishing the lead , and that is how it stayed . Ben Moreham , a UK paddler who currently lives in Spain , recovered from a poor start to sit in third place . Will Keetley and Hector Jessel , two incredible junior paddlers who often battle together , sat squarely at fourth and fifth . Joep and Blue managed to pull away from Ben , who , despite his obvious strength , could not
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