Yster SUP consolidates its position as the go-to-brand for ultra-endurance & adventure SUP boards with the Yukon wins

Nothing tests an inflatable board better than an ultra-endurance paddleboarding challenge. Throw into the mix untouched wilderness, white water rapids and 1000 miles of paddling and you get the idea. With the recent SUP division victories at Yukon River Quest and Yukon 1000, Yster SUP, the premium Swedish SUP brand based in Malmö, consolidating its position in the industry as the go-to-brand for endurance, adventure and long-distance paddleboards.

Göran “Gossa” Gustavsson at Yukon River Quest 2023 | Photo by Janine Schaien

“It has been a pleasure to follow the Yster ultra-endurance paddlers down the Yukon. This year’s Yukon River Quest witnessed Göran “Gossa” Gustavsson clinching the phenomenal victory in the SUP division on his Yster ISUP 14’x 28” Linear. Göran set a goal for himself to be on the podium but ended with the gold medal,” said Per Vallbo, Founder and CEO of Yster SUP. “Add to the amazing SUP duo Craig Sawyer and Scott Skip Innes, on their unlimited Yster ISUP 17’3”x 26” Linear boards, who smashed the SUP division and conquered the gruelling Yukon 1000 race after four long years of waiting to achieve that! This year it was payback time!”

“I am very grateful and humbled that some of the world’s best endurance paddlers chose Yster for carrying them through the wilderness down the Yukon. The board becomes a lifeline from A to B which the Dutch all-girl Team (Janneke Smits and Ella Oesterholt ) demonstrated last year as they were the first team ever to complete the Yukon 1000 Race on an inflatable paddleboard – Yster ISUP 17’3”x 26” Linear boards to be specific.”

Photo by Tanja Ecker

Per added: “At Yster SUP, we don’t make regular all-around boards. Our focus lies in crafting boards designed for adventurous paddlers who seek maximum return-on-investment with every stroke. In long distance paddling you need to distribute your energy wisely to be able to go on for long periods of time. By impeccable glide, outstanding straight-line performance and stability, Yster boards provide maximum yield for every stroke enabling ultra-endurance athletes as well as touring and adventure paddlers to go farther.”

Scott Skip Innes of Team SHAC Yukon | Photo credit: Scott Skip Innes / Yukon 1000

Scott Skip Innes of Team SHAC Yukon, Winners of the Yukon 1000 SUP Division said:

“It truly was the final frontier and the wilderness of that region is incredibly intimidating and awe-inspiring. It has so many different characteristics. I wanted to touch on the equipment that that took us there. Yster SUP created this phenomenal 17’3”x 26”, adventure paddling, ultra-distance paddling, inflatable paddleboard, that carried us safely through 1000 miles of true wilderness and true wild territory. And it did it without pause for thought – in no way did the Yster ISUP 17’3”x 26” that we used, hinder or cause us a problem of any sort. In fact, it was quite the opposite. It was the basis of what ultimately helped us succeed in becoming the first Brits ever to complete the Yukon 1000 on a paddleboard.

Both Craig and I are delighted that we were able to meet Per a couple of years ago, and for him to show his faith, him and the Yster brand to show their faith in what we were doing, and that’s with no known outcome whatsoever, and for the outcome to have been what it has become, you know, we are so delighted… We hope we’ll be able to help raise the awareness of what he’s doing and for the Yster brand to grow and grow and become more and more successful.

The boards have now achieved amazing things. As you know, we were on the start line last year with our great friends, the Dutch girls, Ella and Janneke, who were also using the same Yster boards. But sadly we had to withdraw due to Craig’s illness with COVID. And the girls went off and they smashed it. They did amazing things on those paddleboards.

We were fortunate enough to go back this year and take on the challenge and complete the challenge on our Yster paddleboards and not only complete it but we smashed it too – we won the SUP division the Yukon 1000 on our Yster paddleboards. You know, Göran, earlier in that month had won the Yukon River Quest on his Yster paddleboard! This is massive and it just only goes to show what a great job the Yster SUP Team and Per are doing – an absolute credit to them. Obviously, we’re very proud that we achieved the physical and mental demands as individuals, but always good kit has its part to play and the Yster kit was the good kit.”

Craig Sawyer of Team SHAC Yukon | Photo credit: Craig Sawyer / Yukon 1000

Craig Sawyer of Team SHAC Yukon, Winners of the Yukon 1000 SUP Division said:

So the Yster 17’3”x 26”. I mean, what a board. I mean, that board is the perfect board for any kind of expedition endurance race. You know, from loading the kit, we managed to get the nice low profile Mustang Survival dry bags that attached to the board really well with some added some attachment points.

We had a Peli case behind the standing area where we could put all our food in but it also served as a seat so we could sit back and eat. It also doubled as a backrest and when it was really windy, we could sit in the standing area, sort of lean back on the on the Peli case behind us and continue to paddle. And I think that gave us a big advantage as well. When you’ve got that headwind coming in and you’re on your knees, you can get really uncomfortable, trying to stand is really inefficient when you’ve got those kinds of gusts coming right at you. But being able to get really low down on the board, stretch our feet out in front of us and keep paddling. You know, that was fantastic.

The glide of the Yster SUP boards, I mean, the stats show it themselves, you know, they just glide so effortlessly. We could spread the weight across the whole board with a little bit extra space on the 17’3” board. That nose tracking fin at the front just helps keep them straight and narrow. We also had every faith and confidence in the build quality of the boards, you know as at points you’re suddenly hitting gravel bars and you’re trying to pull the fully loaded boards up onto banks so we just knew that the kit was designed for this kind of thing.

I don’t know what else to say about the Yster boards because they just absolutely epic. They did us proud – they took a safely, flung 1000 miles down the Yukon River. They were incredible. So it’s awesome to see Yster boards winning the Yukon River Quest and we are honoured and proud to bring Yster as first SUPs in the Yukon 1000.

Göran “Gossa” Gustavsson at Yukon River Quest 2023 | Photo by Janine Schaien

Göran “Gossa” Gustavsson, Winner of the Yukon River Quest SUP Division, said:

This year was a little bit easier, apart from the pressure of really wanting to finish top three, because of the knowledge I had of the race. So that was fantastic. I was really happy with the choice of the Yster SUP 14 x 28 providing good balance with the packing really nicely stored on the board and the paddle stacked away. So yeah, really pleased with the board.

It’s always a little bit of a challenge to find the way in the river. You can think it’s easy but the river is quite wide in a couple of places and you have to read it and navigate it all the time.

My next fun challenge is the SUP11 City Tour in September, the non-stop, and it’s the first time I’m going to do it on a hard board, the newly launched 14×24 Yster SUP Basalty board. I still have the same crew that I’ve always had so I’m not worried about that! I’m really looking forward to it and then I’m going to stay on for the five-day tour to help with race. And that’s going to be a lot of fun to just relax and just enjoy it.

The big challenge after that with Yster is the Great Alabama 650 Paddle Race (650-mile paddle race across the state of Alabama) on the 17’3”x 26” board. It’s a new race for me and nobody has finished it on a SUP before and hopefully I’m going to be one of the first ones this year. Yeah, the big challenge with these events is planning, getting all the gear organised and knowing what you do. Hopefully I’ll get big help from Bobby Johnson in Tampa who’s doing the same race but in a kayak and he’s done it and won it before and I know him from the Last Paddler Standing race last year. So Bobby is going to be huge help for me with this race.

Göran “Gossa” Gustavsson at Yukon River Quest 2023 | Photo by Janine Schaien

Explore Yster SUP quiver at www.ystersup.com and follow the brand on Facebook and Instagram

Follow Göran “Gossa” Gustavsson on Instagram  

Follow Team SHAC Yukon 1000 on Instagram and Facebook 

Connect with Craig Sawyer on Instagram and follow The SUP Coach  

Connect with Scott ‘Skip’ Innes on Instagram and follow The Shac 

Follow Team Yukon SUPventure Ladies on Instagram 

Follow Janneke Smits on Instagram

Follow Ella Oesterholt on Instagram