400+ racers, high-speed SUP action & €12,000 on the line: The Lake Rocks Festival 2025 is fast, fierce & unmissable

The Lake Rocks Festival makes a powerful return to Faaker See in Carinthia, Austria on 29 May – 1 June! As a key stop on the prestigious SUP Alps Trophy racing series and part of the ICF World Ranking Series, this event has quickly become a must-attend for the global SUP community.

With the world’s top athletes and SUP enthusiasts dashing to the start line, it sets the stage for an electrifying season and offers key insights into the year’s SUP racing rankings and competitive landscape.

Photo by Andy Klotz

TotalSUP caught up with the festival’s Boss,  Gerd Weisner, German SUP Champion, lifelong watersports professional, Co-Founder of Light Board Corp, for a quick rundown and the latest hot news on pro SUP athlete previews.

Photo by Andy Klotz

Hi Gerd! Each year, the Lake Rocks Festival sets new standards and raises the bar for the season. What are your expectations for this year’s edition?

Three months ahead of this outstanding SUP race festival we already have 300+ registrations from 15 countries. We expect to get a higher participation than last year and expect a total of 500+ real racers plus local athletes checking in for the fun part of racing.

Gerd Weisner | Photo by Andy Klotz

We are proud to mention that we are a real melting pot of all racers bringing together World Champions, international stars with national leaders and amateurs. The quality of racing in all age groups is at a really high level but the fun part and good vibes are always most important. The Lake Rocks Festival is the highest calibre event of the SUP Alps Trophy series and also collects world ranking points for the ICF World Championships and their overall ranking. Nevertheless it is a nonstop SUP race festival with multiple events over four days which are open to everybody.

Claudia Postiglione | Photo by Andy Klotz

We are starting with the inflatable SUP city race on Thursday afternoon which is a smaller version of a World Championship-style Tech race. The venue in the inner city is a great start into the serious and fun races that will follow over the next few days. All participants get a free ride to the city and we have inflatable race boards to choose from. In the evening we return to our main venue and have a medal ceremony, live music and this year we also plan to have a stage discussion with the SUP race insiders to chat about who is who attending, our bets and what to expect in the ranking which will also be streamed on social media.

On Friday we will have the Technical Sprint with a beach start 100m straight to a buoy turn and 100m back. This year racers can choose if they want to turn left or right as we have two race lines and the best time counts so it doesn’t matter how often you start – Winner takes it all – there is price money of €750 for the fastest man and woman!  We will have a screen presenting the actual top ten timings at least. In the afternoon we will have the Team SUP races. Live music, podium and again a stage discussion with the latest updates before the Long Distance race and some video streams of the day’s highlights will happen at the Central Plaza Restaurant.

Photo by Andy Klotz

Saturday is all about the pro Long Distance racing with a total of € 7.500 for the first top 3 men and women and fun racing. All races will be livestreamed with Mathieu Astier commentating the action. A big party happens after the awards and on Sunday we finish with one of the highlights: a Technical Race at a World Championship level. That’s the non-stop technical racing for around 4 hours until the finals for all age groups.

Lake Rocks is a unique event where participants can compete against national champions and world-class athletes. What makes this event so special for both elite and amateur racers?

It is about the nice vibe of being one great community of SUP race lovers. We are all hanging around for four days at the main venue “Camping Gruber” at the super nice Faaker See with the beautiful scenery of incredible mountains directly at the beach with a main restaurant, stage, music, test possibilities of the most looked after race equipment and sharing insights and gossip.

For all who just enter the scene we have free demos and clinics, world class races at the highest level as well as fun races for those who want to check out for the first time. You will get connected to the worldwide SUP race family with participants from nearly all continents and many nationalities. It is the very special vibe that makes SUP racing big. Open minded, helpful, embracing – simply one of the friendliest sports in the world.

Photo by Andy Klotz

Lake Rocks was one of the most voted events at the TotalSUP Awards – what do you think makes it such a fan favourite?

We are all one team, from visitors, SUP race lovers, racers to the organisers. It is just about the love of getting together and having a good time sharing knowledge and having real racing with respect. The organisational team including Michael Sternig, head of the organisation looking after the tourism office, race office is very professional and care taking, the race organisation with Rudy van Haven, Normen Weber, myself, Lizzy, Volker, Kira, Joerg Bossack, the media team Marco, Thiemo, Dagi, Mathieu… they are all reliable, helping out and racers pay back with respectful and friendly behaviour at an outstanding level. It is as I mentioned a very special vibe…

From left, Rudy van Haven and Gerd Weisner | Photo by Andy Klotz

What have been the biggest perks and challenges of scaling up the event?

With great respect to the local helping hands fulfilling all necessary administrative duties it would not be possible. It is also about the budgets to get an event that size going so special thanks to all sponsors and the local city embracing paddle sports at an incredible level.

Everything else from our side was just natural progression: from growing a team of passionate SUP race lovers willing to build an outstanding SUP race festival. I’m grateful to have such group of clever people around me – and you know who you are!

Photo by Andy Klotz

You’ve recently revealed the prize pot—could you share more details about it?

We share a gender equal prize pot and this year and it is again about € 12.000 with an emphasis on the pro Long Distance. For the Tech and Long Distance races first 3 places get a hand on the price money. For the Sprint race we honour the fastest man and woman. In total, among the event’s best paddlers there will be an opportunity to win € 3.750 each.

Photo by Andy Klotz

Who are the standout athletes to watch this year, and which SUP battles will be the most intense?

I hope to see some surprises in regards to standout athletes. The Juniors kind of “explode” in performance as what we could observe in last ICF World Championship and eight months later they will be for sure even faster.

Still those to beat are the last year’s winners – Donato Freens, Michael Booth and our very own “Dark Horse” Normen Weber who will be very well prepared. On top of that there are some super strong Masters like the 40+ World Champion Joep van Bakel, Peter Weidert (Triple World SUP Master 50+ Champion) and like the same set up on the women’s side.

Peter Weidert | Photo by Andy Klotz

We also got some request from legend like Tituoan Puyo and it would be so great to see him race again. Just to give a glimpse of how competitive the field already is: we have registrations of 60+ SUP racers from Hungary, more than 50 from Italy, 50+ from Germany , 30+ from Benelux a total of 15 countries 3 months ahead! We expect to grow again and we should see between 400 – 500 serious SUP race lovers competing, plus those participating for the first time in the fun race, air-cross and big SUP team races.

Photo by Andy Klotz

The three highlights for sure are the Technical sprint, Long Distance pro and Tech race with a price money of € 12, 000 in total and gender equal. In the Tech sprint race we will have two  lines of a 100m sprint to a buoy 180° turn and back to the beach. Everybody can choose from a left or right turn and start as often as they can – best time counts and the winner takes it all. For the Tech and Long Distance race we will have a split of price money for the podium of three. We will also have a medal ceremony for the Under 12, 16 open class as well as Master 40+, 50+ and 60+ division.

I expect to see some epic battles between the former champions and the youngsters who are eager to take some scalps. Especially in the Tech sprint and the Technical race there is a big chance to see a lot of change. The results will also count towards the SUP Alps Trophy annual ranking as well as the ICF World ranking and seeding.

Could you share which athletes from the Light Board Corp “Army of Amateurs” and the world’s elite will be competing this year?

Our “Army of Amateurs” will give their competitors a hard time and I’m happy to announce we have many paddlers joining. Just a glimpse at who will be at the start line – Normen Weber, Manuel Lauble, Peter Weidert, Hermann Husslein, Olivier Comazzi, Roberto Mandoloni, Fodor Szabo, Balazs Dori, Balazs Scilli and the Juniors: Benyam & Jörg Bossack, Elin van der Saar, Selwyn Pritchard as well as hopefully Torsten & Simone Ahrens, Emmanuelle Marcon, myself and many more!

Manuel Lauble | Photo by Andy Klotz

As mentioned, both Donato Freens and Michael Booth will be the men to beat and we hope to see Esperanza Barreras as well defending her title in the Long Distance race. But do not count out the Italian dark horses like Paolo Marconi, Filippo Mercuriali , Joep van Bakel, Ole Schwarz and the potential registrations from South America. We would love to see again Santino Basaldella, Juliette DuHaime and hopefully the ICF Light Board Corp Vice World SUP Master 40+ Champion  Francisco Giusti. It is still nearly three months to go and there will be plenty more big names.

Santino Basaldella  | Photo by Andy Klotz

Thank you Gerd, we can’t wait to see how it all unfolds in May!

Photo by Andy Klotz

Register for the Lake Rocks Festival here 

To find out more about LIGHTBOARDCORP® designs, visit lightboardcorp.com  and check out our full interview with Gerd Weisner

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