Ryan James wins SUP Race at Paddle around the Pier in Brighton

On the weekend of July 2nd, Europe’s biggest Beach Festival took place in Brighton. There were lots of different events and competitions on and off the water and the watersports industry was showing the latest products on the festival ground. 

There were booths of Starboard, Red Paddle, Fanatic, ION, Jimmy Lewis, XPaddles and the likes where you could check out and try the latest equipment. There were Swim Races, Surfboard Paddle Races, Selfmade-Raft Races, Outtrigger Races, Surf Ski races and of course the SUP Race. T

he Enduro long distance race was unfortunately cancelled, but there still was a 5 Mile Race at 9:40 AM on Saturday. This meant an early start for Annabel and myself, taking a bus to London Bridge at 6:30 AM. But we were greeted by the most gorgeous weather, it was hot and sunny and it should stay like that for the whole weekend.

29 Paddlers (only 2 women) had come to Brighton to compete in the SUP Race.

Start of SUP Race at paddle around the pier

Ryan James won the 5 Mile (8.05km) Race on his 14’ Starboard Ace in 37:45, that is well below 5 Minutes per km. Wow! Congratulations! We spoke with Ryan right after his victory. Here is the video:

Mike Ellicock came in 2nd and was welcomed by his daughters upon arrival, and he ran the last part of the race (up the beach) hand in hand with them. 

mike ellicock 2nd Paddle around the pierNext was Nidecker Team Rider Elliot Dudley, who was fastest among the 12’6” boards. Pete Holiday finished 4th  (2nd in the 12'6"class) and Annabel Anderson came in 5th overall among the men  (there were only 2 women competing), on a 12’6 board, also a very impressive result. She said:

„It was a beautiful day here in Brigthon, when the weather is good, Brighton is one of the places where you want to be. We had a bit of cross-chop and funny conditions in the race but it was good. It was a chance to get back out on the water after quite a bit of travelling this week. It went ok, finishing fifth, among the men, against the elements and the 14’ boards is an OK result.  It ist he last stop on the European leg of my tour, so it was great to be back in the UK, catch up with friends and see some familiar faces, plus the weather was great“

Full Video is here:

Charly Grey, who is recovering from 2 broken ribs, finished 5th among the 12’6" Boards on his Fanatic Fly Race Carbon. He was actually racing with sneakers. When asking why he said: “yeah for the last part of the race, where you have to run up the beach on the rocks, but also when I paddle for a long time, feet tend to get numb, it is better with Sneakers” Smart Idea.

Results&Times (TOP 15 Racers):

  1. Ryan James 14’ 37:45
  2. Mike Ellicock 14’ 39:34
  3. Elliot Dudley 12’6” 41:24 (Winner 12'6 Class)
  4. Pete Holiday 12'6" 41:55 (2nd 12'6 Class)
  5. Annabel Anderson 12’6 42:55 (Women's Winner)
  6. Jack Patterson 14’ 43:24
  7. Nick Watt Unlimited 43:31
  8. Neil Riley 14’ 43:43
  9. Zac Tharton Unlimited 43:51
  10. Shawn Talyor 12’6”  43:57 (3rd 12'6 Class)
  11. Chris Barnes 12’6” 44:02
  12. Charly Grey 12’6” 44:06
  13. Stevie Carter 14’ 44:52
  14. Tony Peters 12’6” 45:49
  15. John Ellman Brown 12’6” 46:21

All in all a great sunny weekend. SUP only played a small role among all kinds of different contests, the participants kind of  limited to the UK and the girls presence was very sad. So let's hope there will be a long distance race again next year, with more international racers as well as women!

For Annabel and myself it was a very memorable weekend as thanks to Adam Chirney and the amazing thebrigthonwatersports.co.uk we could stay in a camper right on the beach. We had a fanatastic BBQ Saturday night and were very sad when we had to return to the big smoke on Sunday….

First pics are here http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.205183952861027.49558.163985233647566

More photos will go up soon, like us on www.facebook.com/supguide for updates!