|
I've always read about these international Surfski races being held all over the most beautiful parts world and at the end of each article i would always say to myself ”flip i want to be there!”.
A couple weeks ago Daryl from THINK kayaks in Canada contacted me wanting to know if i would be keen to hop on board and paddle for team THINK at the Euro Challenge in Spain.
Good joke was my first reaction but just 4 short weeks later i was sticking my barefoot Saffa toes into Spanish beach sand! Wow this is unreal i thought to myself.
Tom Schiperoort (Witness the Fitness) a good friend and training partner of mine from South Africa with a huge amount of talent (luck) was to also paddle for THINK.
THINK kayaks has recently launched their new craft the UNO to their already very successful fleet of boats! The UNO was to be our weapon of choice for the race. I was very excited to try it out as i had read lots about it but still had no idea how it would go. The boat is a top level racing boat with speed at the top of the prioritie list
Straight out the belly of the plane minus our paddles which went missing in action and into a 20km down wind run. Excuse me i said out load, but the wind was blowing and who are we to be rude and just let it blow away without it being used? When we got to the start mother nature had other ideas and had switched off the wind button. No worries said the energetic team let's hit it anyway! After a good couple hours in the air conditioned plane all you want to do is stretch your arms and breath fresh air.
The Spanish are very keen on their paddling! Surfski is just starting to take off their but the guys are super keen to learn. They've got a huge pedigree of flatwater paddlers in their country with big potential for ocean racing.
I was to stay with Jonathan and Vio who run a local adventure tourism business Aqua Ventura. Wow what cool hosts! Jono being a ex Cape Town boy made us feel at home straight away.
We were their a couple days before hand which allowed us to get used to our new racing snakes and to explore the near by towns. I was impressed with the speed the boat has when you put that extra bit of effort in to get it over or onto a run.
Race day came very quickly. We had been hoping for some wind to help us get the upper hand on the other Europeans who are very quick on the flat stuff, but that was not to be! The water was like glass the little wind that was blowing was going in the wrong direction. HOW BAD! I muttered to myself at the start. The race started in the la mans format were you place your boat on the sand and line up 10m away. I think that's the only was they can have a formal, start in Spain as even while on dry land the guys hustle on the line trying to sneak forward. Tom and i had lined up a couple meters away from the main crowd so we could get in with less carnage. We both had a good start and managed to hook the front bunch. From there on i don't remember much as i was more trying to concentrate on keeping my lungs from popping out my mouth then sight seeing, but from what i remember the course was amazing running along the coast for 18km then out to sea and around a island for another 7km. Race rules say that for every 8 competitors there must be a powered rescue boat on the water so you can imagine the all the waves these boats kick up when coming past. Dawid and Matt hooked a couple good runs and just left the rest of us picking up scraps. Tom, Busto(Spain), Jaka (Italy) and myself had a good ding dong battle for most of the way with non of us wanting to give in. I managed to get the upper hand on the way home and finished 3rd overall. Tom 5th behind Busto.
I was over the moon after the race! Very tired but stoked beyond belief.
Spain is a awesome place! With very relaxed but hard working people. Everyone says hello to each other on the streets which we don't get back here at home.
I will definitely be back next year! |
