Yster SUP is the official Partner of the iconic SUP 11-City Tour 2024

Photo by Edwin Westra | SUP 11-City Tour

In the run-up to this iconic annual event taking place in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands, and a true staple in the September calendar (the Non-Stop race kicks off on 7-8 September, followed by the 5-Day event held between 11-15 September), TotalSUP caught up with Per Vallbo, Founder and CEO of Yster SUP, and Marije Elgersma, SUP 11-City Tour Board Member, Athlete Manager, community builder and a key figure in the event, to chat about the announcement.

Known as a keen endurance paddler, we’re also stoked to unveil that Per will also be competing in the 5-Day event himself!

Hi Per, welcome back to TotalSUP – We’ve heard you’ve got some exciting news!

Indeed! I am excited to sponsor the SUP 11-City Tour, a premier event that embodies the spirit of endurance and long-distance paddling.

SUP 11-City Tour is an iconic ultra endurance race and it seems like a perfect fit for the Yster SUP brand. Could you tell us more about your decision to sponsor the event?

The SUP 11-City Tour is a test of stamina, strategy, and resilience, making it the perfect event for Yster SUP to showcase our boards. Designed specifically for long-distance and endurance paddling, our boards provide stability, speed, and comfort over extended periods on the water, making them the top choice for serious long-distance paddlers.

Photo by Mayola Dijksman | SUP 11-City Tour

The SUP 11-City Tour is renowned for its strong social component, bringing together paddlers from around the world in a celebration of camaraderie and shared passion for the sport. This aligns perfectly with Yster SUP values, as the event welcomes participants who want to challenge themselves without the pressure of competition. It provides a unique opportunity for paddlers of all levels to connect, exchange experiences, and build lasting friendships in a supportive and inspiring environment. I believe the SUP 11-City Tour is a perfect platform for celebrating and promoting these values.

We saw some amazing achievements last year in the Yster Team – with Göran Gustavsson and Craig Sawyer smashing the non-stop race, both competing on the new Basalty! Has the Basalty board been designed with these ultra-endurance formats in mind?

Göran Gustavsson on Yster SUP Basalty | Photo by Edwin Westra | SUP 11-City Tour

The Basalty series is a high-performance all-water touring board that offers exceptional stability, speed and comfort, which are crucial for the challenging and long-distance nature of the SUP11 City Tour. As the canals get messy from boat traffic and wind, you really want a board that supports you through the conditions and keeps you going. The board’s shape and outline ensure efficient glide and reduced drag, making it suitable for the varying water conditions encountered during the tour. These attributes make the Yster SUP Basalty series the optimal choice for both race and touring paddlers looking to excel in the SUP 11-City Tour.

Craig Sawyer on Yster SUP Basalty | Photo by Edwin Westra | SUP 11-City Tour

You’re a high-level SUP competitor yourself. Have you considered taking part in the tour?

Yes, I will be participating in the 5-Day tour this year. While I enjoy racing, I’m really looking forward to the unique challenge and camaraderie of this event. It’s a great opportunity to connect with other paddlers, push my own limits, and enjoy the incredible experience that the SUP 11-City Tour offers. I’m excited to be part of such a prestigious and demanding event.

Photo by Mayola Dijksman | SUP 11-City Tour

Will Yster demo quiver be available at the event?

Yes, we’ll have the Basalty Series, including the 14′ x 22.5″, 14′ x 24″, and 14′ x 26″ models, available at the event.

Photo credit: SUP 11-City Tour

Hi Marije, SUP11 City Tour is an iconic ultra endurance race and it seems like a perfect fit for Yster SUP that has established its position as the ultimate long-distance SUP brand. Could you tell us more about your partnership this year?

After introducing partnerships within our rental fleet of boards, we discovered after trying this out how good it actually is. As it gives a brand visibility on the water and there are the iconic photos of our Frysian waterways.

When Per approached us, we realized even more that brand owners are also seeing the value of that. As we have a large group of ‘overseas’ paddlers coming to our province for the challenge, we always get requests about board rentals, as we are not a SUP rental company but as the challenge organizer we have to be creative.

Photo by YASL Photos & Stories | SUP 11-City Tour

As we want to keep our athletes close, we came up with the rental idea. Athletes can book their boards online from a variety of boards in widths we allocate them.

With Yster SUP we hope to set a long-term relationship, as that’s what we always have in mind when we’re starting new partnerships and we hope with our world wide spread of SUP 11-City Tour paddlers to give Yster SUP a bigger name in the long distance paddling.

What specific aspects of the Yster SUP brand resonate and align with the SUP 11-City Tour vision?

When I met Per digitally for the first time, I could see already the same passion for the paddle sport as we all have within our organization. Passion is needed if you run a fully voluntary challenge like ours. Passion is also needed when you run your own brand and above all you need to like it!

With Per visiting us in SUPtember 2023, he realized how many things we had in common and I was glad to receive that email about partnering up!

Photo by YASL Photos & Stories | SUP 11-City Tour

Goran said that SUP 11-City Tour is more than a race – it’s a unique experience and he feels like he’s reuniting with his SUP family each year when he competes. What in your opinion makes it special?

The SUP 11-City Tour is a one kind of  a challenge. After being a Board Member for 11 years I can indeed say that it can change your life. When you paddle it, you only have to paddle, eat, sleep and repeat. No phone, no distractions, just you and the nature.

Photo by YASL Photos & Stories | SUP 11-City Tour

When you are a volunteer, it is hard work, specially when the weather isn’t the best, but being part of a group and creating something for a large group of people who never experienced a week like this is special. On the last day, when we are ‘back’ in Leeuwarden, where it all started, you can see that not only for the paddler something changed, but also for the volunteers. The business of long days can be left behind when we have everyone safely over the finish line. Remember that school trip when you were young, something like that, but for adults :-)!

Photo by Mayola Dijksman | SUP 11-City Tour

What can participants expect this year?

The week before is always that moment when we start to look closer at the weather. As the weather is the biggest player in our ten days of running the event. So let’s hope the weather will be stable without  too much rain or wind. In the entire history of the event since 2009, we only had to cancel one day, and that was the first day in 2017, where it was blowing like 8 bft and there was no way we could send out anyone to paddle against that wind.

What is always athletes who are participating for the first time will be nervous, but we hope to take that away by the prologue prior to the start. This is a small round through the city of Leeuwarden, where we all paddle together with our safety boats, volunteers and athletes. It’s to shake off the nerves and get to know each other.

Photo credit: SUP 11-City Tour

The ones who booked a bed on our boats, have an easy one, the boats are literally staying at the start line. Staying on the boat, makes it original as this has been an option since the beginning of 2009. It’s not like a hotel room, with few bunkbeds in the room, you share the living room and that is the place where all the stories are being told every evening after a long day of paddling.

Then after the Non-Stop and the 5-Day event we hope to have everyone safely back in Leeuwarden and the after party can start! With the media hype around the event, we hope to create the biggest FOMO (*fear of missing out) for the ones who aren’t there. Because if you like to paddle, you like a bit of challenge, then SUP 11-City Tour should be on your bucket list. See you in SUPtember!

Thank you once again for your time and wishing you an epic event – Per, go smash that 5-Day Challenge!

Photo by YASL Photos & Stories | SUP11 City Tour

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

To find out more and register for SUP 11-City Tour, visit sup11citytour.com 

*Images courtesy of SUP 11-City Tour