Super SUP Sunday in Brighton

Lagoon Watersports held their first Stand Up Paddle board event on Sunday 12th. Stand Up Paddle boarding (SUP) is an up and coming sport; which is exciting to watch and accessible to all, it uses long surfboard style boards and long single bladed paddles and instead of lying down you stand up and paddle! It has worked really well at the Lagoon as we use them for surfing, fitness, distance paddling and racing. Sunday’s event was a massive success with a mixture of first time racers to pro riders getting involved. The morning started with demos and coaching from the pro coaches Sam Ross, Jay Manning and Tony Peters. Races started at 12.00 being held both on the sea and on the Lagoon. Hove Lagoon’s “Battle of the Paddle” was on the sea and comprised of two categories – round nose boards and a 12”6 race class. The 17 competitors had to sprint with their boards down to the water and complete a triangle course; a challenging upwind leg was completed by the pros in record time, finishing with an action packed downwind leg! In the 12″6 Class 1st place went to Ryan James, 2nd was Charlie grey and in 3rd place was Sam Ross. In the Round Nose Class 1st place went to Phil Plume, 2nd was Michael Herbert and in 3rd was Pedro Miguel Gaiolas Pinto. After completing the sea race we moved onto races on the lagoon, which gave every one a chance to watch the action close up. The first event held on the lagoon was Ocean Sports Head to Head Sprint Elimination. There were heats of 4, with the competitors having to race around a marker at the end of the lagoon and back to the finish line. The race was intense and everyone was showing his or her competitive streak. After the semi finals the final 4 went through to the nail biting final, with pro rider Ryan James coming out on top, Charlie Grey took 2nd place and in 3rd was Nik Baker. For the guys that had never raced before we held Surfladle’s Mega fun Sprint challenge, which involved competitors racing around a zig zag course. 13 racers, some of whom had only learnt to Paddle board this year, took to the start line and raced round the markers in a super quick time using their impressive paddle skills. In 1st place was Michael Herbert, 2nd place went to Steffan Eliades and in 3rd place was Gemma Goobs Goodyear. To finish the day off the kids took to the water, proving to the adults they were ones to look out for in future stand up paddle races. In 1st place was Lukee Mepham, 2nd place went to Brandon Baker and in 3rd place was Big Jake. The event was a massive success and all had fun. Big thanks to Ocean Sports and Surflädle for sponsoring the event. Thanks to Fanatic, ION, Starboard and Sam Ross for bringing all the boards down, Charlie for making the trophies and for everyone that turned up and competed! Keep tuned for more Super SUP Sundays