The Gabas Paddle Race took place last week-end in Lourenties, near Pau in France. With the participation of Florent Dode and two top Spanish riders, the second edition of the race appeared to take a strong international outlook. Here is our report on this fun and entertaining race which is gaining momentum as a season opener in Europe.
If you want to go directly to the results: CLICK HERE
The conditions for last week-endâs 2016 Gabas Paddle Race â which is now included in the âChampionnat DâAquitaineâ (South West of France Circuit) â could not have been better: blue sky, mind-blowing view on the Pyrenees and glassy waters. Nothing to do with last yearâs dreadful weather conditions: it pretty much rained the whole day with a 40 km/hour sidewind and 30 cm waves.
In these ideal conditions for both spectators and riders, the 12 km race started at 11 a.m. Right from the start, Spanish rider from Starboard Roman Frejo took the lead followed closely by Florent Dode on new and fast-growing custom brand 3 Bay Paddle and Loris Minvielle. Florent didnât stay behind for long though as he took over the Spaniard 1.5 km into the race. However, Florent Dode was never really able to widen the gap, despite some powerful strokes, with the 2014 Spanish champion who finished the race just 4 seconds behind him. Closing the podium, Loris Minvielle never managed to come back on the leading duo. The top 3 finishing times are:
Among the under 18 competitors, Alexandre Bicrel finished the race in 1h23 closely followed by Tom Villedary and Loïs Chardebas. In the overall leaderboard they respectively take the 6th 7th and 8th places. The grown-ups will have to be keep an eye on this rising youth even though Bertrand Baechler, former canoe champion, managed to contain all three of them with a remarkable 5th place obtained after 1h22 of efforts.
At lunch Time, riders and organizing staff gathered to have a big picnic. A friendly moment that everyone enjoyed â even more so given the perfect weather of the day!
An Australian Style Race took place in the afternoon around a 200m straight line between two sets of buoys. A very fun concept with everyone starting rounds of sprints at the same time and the last 5 riders being eliminated. Spanish Rider, Roman Frejo, shined in this fast-paced race as he achieved first place followed by Loris Minvielle, Alexandre Bicrel , Nicolas Fayol and Fred Gerard.
Worth noting: the strong performance of the young Spanish rider Cyara Palenzuela-Navascues who finished 8th.
âThese victories arenât done alone,â says Cameron Tripney, Junior Sprint World Champion and Starboard Team Rider, that has been dominating his local SUP racing scene in South Africa for a while now. And among some of the most memorable moments in our sport that truly embody this statement, was seeing Cameronâs Team celebrating his win [âŠ]
Over the past month, Starboard has been working hard behind the curtains to present a very competitive line-up of international athletes for 2023. With future recruitment announcements by the Tiki brand still on hold (drumsâŠ), 3 athletes and 1 adventurer have already been announced to make their entrance in the Dream Team: SUP racers Alba [âŠ]
The wait has been longer than usual but it has been worth it! Starboardâs 2023 SUP Race Range is finally out after another very successful year for the Tiki brand with numerous world titles in many age categories and under different federations and competitions. Starboardâs 2023 All Star and Sprint boards won 7 gold medals [âŠ]
âThis year has been awesome and I am so grateful for all the support I have received! Thatâs why Iâve decided to do this giveaway and give back to my fantastic community of paddlers!â said Michael Booth, 6 x SUP World Champion, Starboard Dream Team Rider, Founder and Coach of BOOTH Training. TotalSUP caught up [âŠ]
The 2022 Gran Canaria Pro Am Finals Day, first and only stop of the 2022 APP SUP Surf World Tour had it all. On day 4 and in front of a huge crowd at El Lloret, 17-year-old Kaede Inoue from Japan claimed the World Title on her debut on tour, only 3 days after winning [âŠ]
The below Q&A session is between Aussie SUPerstar and Starboard dream team rider Michael Booth and Chris Jones, administrator of the SUP My Race group on Facebook which was created a few years ago to challenge SUP racers to paddle a little further each month and entice them to post their paddling sessions and mileages. Michael [âŠ]