The Australian National Surfing Titles were held this year from the 11th to the 24th of August in Port Macquarie hosting the Longboard Titles, Stand-Up Paddleboard Titles , Alaia and Surfing Masters.
SUPLOVE team rider Erin Dark, as the current Open Women’ s NSW State Champion in both Longboard and SUP, competed against the best in the country in both events.
Erin had a great week , starting it off with her 18th birthday followed by making the finals in the Open Women’s Longboard event against tough competition.
Erin achieved 2nd in the Open Women’s Longboard final, a fantastic result.
The SUP event was equally as competitive. Erin surfing very well through Rounds to make the SUP Open Women’s final.
The final was very exciting in difficult windy conditions. Erin, for much of the final had the top spot, though the lead did swap between her and the actual winner a few times. It was only in the last 10 minutes she was beaten by Shakira Westdorp.
Congratulations to Erin on coming 2nd in the final
Shakira Westdorp, Erin Dark, Terrene Black,Kristiana Paige
Well done to all finalists.
We had great weather and waves all week.
The competition was mobile at various beaches in Port Macquarie from North Haven, Middle Rock,Diamond Head and Shelley Beach.
Southern Cross SUP Surfing Festival presented by d\’Albora Marinas was held in the Port Stephens area at beautiful Birubi Beach on May 24-25.
Surf Conditions - Thursday May 24 - Birubi beach is one of the gateways to the Stockton Sand Dunes, the largest moving coastal sand mass in the southern hemisphere.
Conditions cleaned up and the offshore winds and perfect sets arrived just in time for the finals on the Friday although very cold for surfers and spectators. I am sure the wind was coming straight off the snowy mountains !!
Erin achieved a double crown winning the Open Women’s title over Terene Black (2nd), Alison Fullagar (3rd) and Hanna Finlay-Jones (4th) and the Junior Girls Title. This win for Erin off the back of her win last month at the SUPA Nationals is a great achievement.
We are so proud of her. Her next competition will be in two weeks at the Manly classic where she will swap the paddle board for her Longboard.Following this at the end of June with the NSW State Longboard titles where she will be defending her State Longboard title from 2011.
On the 26th and 27th of April the first ever SUPA National Surfing titles were held in Newcastle – Australia.
Open Women's - 1st Place
SUPLOVE Team Rider Erin Dark competed in the Open Women’s division gaining entry through the NSW Titles held last year.
Day 1 was held in very challenging conditions at Nobby’s Beach. Large surf , strong winds , strong currents, even the Open men found the conditions difficult. After catching a wave you had to come into the beach and run/walk about 100 metres back up the beach to paddle back out.
Erin was focused and did well placing 1st in her Open Women’s semi although exhausted from the conditions.
Day 2 was very different. No wind and smooth conditions with a beach change to Stockton Beach.
Erin paddle surfed very well in conditions that suited her perfectly, with a convincing win over Terrene Black 2nd, Lynda Lim and Hannah Finlay-Jones 3rd and 4th .
Suplove Team Rider – Cam McKay is lucky enough to live in beautiful Perth, Australia. Famous for “The Doctor” a wind so famous that this could be the next SUP down winder hot spot. Watch Cam’s Blog over the next couple of weeks as he puts the Suplove Stingray through it’s paces.
“The Doctor” will push Cam and his Suplove Stingray 28km’s from Rottnest Island.
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As with many places around the world different seasons bring trade winds, here in Perth, Australia summer means off shores in the morning with a sea breeze coming in everyday around mid morning. The Fremantle Doctor as it is known is considered so reliable you could almost set your watch to it.
With the winds come the races. In the next two weeks we have the Mandurah Duel, an extremely unique event where it is a race not only between crafts but ocean vs estuary, and the BIG one The Dr. The Dr is fast becoming one of Australia’s premiere down wind events with a 28km ocean crossing from an outer island (Rottnest) back to the mainland.
Having received my 12’6 Suplove Salt the week before Christmas I have been eager to get it out in all conditions and this would put it to the test and Monday 2nd of January was shaping up to be a good day and it did not let us down. The wind came in as predicted, the car shuffle was organised and off we went. What looked like 20knts from the shore felt like a lot more when bobbing up and down through the troughs and at times almost felt like it would blow you forwards off the board.
Let me tell you this board is FAST! With an average speed of just over 10km/hr with a peak of 16.1km/hr I have the data to prove it.
Checking the graphs when we got home it was plain to see our run between 4-6 got the peak of the wind.
What a great start to the New Year with plenty more to come.
I shaped my first race fin today and I will race it this Sunday. You get plenty of time to think when you make a fin, its kind off meditative as you imagine water running over its surface and as if water your movements over the fin begin to flow and so does the mind.
It reminded me of why I first got into Stand Up Paddle. The joy of the ocean. The joy of sharing it. We are really never alone. Though sometimes we feel it.
I chose to be a specialist in Stand Up Paddle after years of surf education. I started the Sup lifestyle company, Suplove. I loved that the barriers to entry to Sup where low and that it is inclusive. I could bring the ocean experience to a whole new community. Some saw surfing as too hard but could see the idea of standing on the water looked a buzz.
That is what I loved about it. I loved it was not a surfing sport. Surfing was one of the things that you could choose to do. It’s not canoeing it’s not kayaking it’s not outrigging it’s not dragon boating its not short boarding it’s not long boarding it’s not surf ski it’s not surfing and that’s the buzz. Sup, it’s unique and universal. It is stand up paddle.
I looked into the future and dared to dream. I looked 5 years then 10 then 20 then 50 then 100 then 200. I have a vision. This sport is stand up paddle and stands the test of time. It’s not surfing it’s not paddling it’s not racing, it’s not competition, it’s not a land grab, it’s the joy of sharing the ocean. Its sup it’s unique and universal.
No offence to any club, association, organisation and whatever, I am not loyal to you. I am loyal to Stand up paddle. The pie is large, very large. In fact the pie is so large, resourceful and sustainable that It’s bigger than you can imagine. Bigger than any club, association, organisation and you or I. For there will be people standing on a SUP for the first time in blissful ignorance of this prose I write and falling in love right there. Right then. It’s out of our hands people. We are stand up paddle.
So two hundred years go by and the crazy has been crazy and the love is still love and the core of the sport, the heart of the sport still beats to the rhythm of the ocean. You do not own us, we are unownable.
Suplove team rider 17 year old, Erin Dark, cleaned up at the first SUPA NSW State Titles for stand up paddle surfing. The titles were held on the NSW Central Coast and Erin claimed first in the Junior girls and second in the Open Women’s,
Spectators and surfers all enjoyed a wonderful weekend of great warm sunny weather, fun and friendship.
The surf was small but fun. Erin paddle surfed really well at these Mystic NSW SUP Surfing State Titles
On Saturday Erin won her Open Women’s Heat and surfed in the Junior Girls final. On Sunday Erin won her Open Women’s semi final and surfed in the Open women’s final.
The Open Women’s final was extremely close with less than 1/2 a point between 1st and 2nd.
NSW State Paddleboard titles were held at 1 Mile Beach, Anna Bay, NSW, Australia. Stand Up Paddlers from around Australia gathered to battle it out for the title. Suplove team rider Erin Dark took up the challenge in the Women’s Open Event.
The event also acted as the qualifier for the NSW Stand Up Paddleboard Team (Open Men and Open Women only) which will represent the state at the Australian Stand Up Paddleboard Titles being held from 21-24 August as a part of the Australian Surf Festival at Port Macquarie.
The conditions at Anna Bay were extremely challenging with huge sets coming in a very regular intervals, not providing much break in between to paddle out.
The women’s event was postponed to the Sunday with the hope of more manageable conditions. It was marginally smaller and the sets not as often, or for as long but none the less bigger conditions than Erin had ever paddleboarded in before.
The conditions for the more experienced paddlers were ideal as there were some great clean big sets to select waves from. The conditions provided amazing surfing for the spectators to watch.
The women’s event was scored over two finals (so 4 waves). The first final was frustrating for Erin as much of the final she spent being pounded by sets as she tried to get back out the back after catching a
wave. She however kept focus and put in a couple of good wave scores. A collision with another competitor who was on her way back out resulted in Erin’s right fin box being broken, though it did not affect her performance.
A few hours to breathe, refocus on a strategy that would make paddling in the conditions easier next time, a make-shift repair with Solarcure so the right fin was stable and Erin and her board were ready for the next final.
Erin surfed well in the next final choosing to take on the more manageable sets that she knew she could confidently handle and handle well. So for her it was good wave choices and good use of her paddle which scored her enough points to put her in 2nd place. Choosing to come in and run down the beach
rather than paddle straight back out in the impact zone proving to be the better choice for her this this time as she did not get battered as much.
Erin’s 2nd place qualifies her for the NSW Stand Up Paddleboard Team which will compete in the Australian Stand Up Paddleboard Titles in August.
What an amazing privilege for Stand Up Paddlers to be invited by the San Diego Canoe Kayak Team (SDCKT) and USA Canoe Kayak to be part of the Silverblades Regatta which was held during the USA Canoe Kayak Junior and Senior National Team Trials. The event which was held at the Olympic training center in Chula Vista, San Diego. We here at Suplove were so excited about this event and it did not disappoint.
The format for the Stand Up Paddle races included a 200 metre sprint, a 2000 metre distance race and a mixed relay. The races were fiercely contested and hugely entertaining. Suplove’s Kristin Thomas had an amazing day winning the 200 metre sprint in a time of 01:18.284 about three seconds ahead of the rest of the field. For all the results and times please go to http://www.sdckt.net/usa-sprint-team-trialssilver-blade.html.
In general the Suplove Stingrays proved their speed with both Dan and Michele Shoemaker from San Diego switching to Suplove Stingray’s after their heats. Both racers shaving 4 seconds from their time over 200 metres. Seriously, these boards are crazy fast and everyone at the Olympic training centre could see it. It is so exciting for us here at Suplove as it has been a massive team effort to get to where we are today and we cant thank everyone enough for supporting us.
A huge thanks to Chris and Gerry Barlow of the SDCKT and their team who made everything from races to lunch run smoothly and without who, Stand Up Paddle would not have had the opportunity to participate.
Finally a huge thanks to all the athletes who’s dedication and commitment shone through and who provided some of the most amazing racing I’ve ever seen. I am so excited for the 2012 Olympics, to see some of the incredible paddlers I met, achieve their dream and I’m even more excited for the future of our sport…Olympic or not, the SUP stars shone bright this weekend.
Suplove team rider and amazing paddle athlete Ozzie Clarke took some time to share his knowledge about how he gets the most power out of his paddle stroke. Ozzie is paddling the new Suplove Stingray Salt 14′ at Dana Point, CA in the video.
Ozzie took 1st place a the recent Hovie Paddle festival in Newport Beach on the Stingray Salt 14′. He also commits his time to training the junior teams of outrigger paddlers who race out of the Newport Aquatic Center.
Ozzie details his “triangle” paddle stroke technique allowing more power and less fatigue from each stroke.
The video was taken and produced by Andre and Eric from Sup Connect who are creating so much in the world of SUP and who are also incredible people and family men. We here at Suplove are privileged to get to know and work with them on many levels. We invite you to look at their amazing body of work at www.supconnect.com.
When Stuart “Salt Dawg” Murray and Erin Dark decide to go catch a few twilight waves it makes for a perfect opportunity to show off the Suplove 8’10″ Challenger.
The challenger was designed to be right at home and and perform well on the surf break. We also designed this board to glide well and be light, check out Stuart balancing on this board in the flatwater!
In the word of one of our Challenger riders
“I have had the chance to surf it again in much better conditions and I gotta say that the two words to best describe it (Suplove Challenger 8’10″) are “easy” and “fun”. Anyone who has been toying with the idea of trying something under 9ft but don’t want to struggle paddling around on a rice cracker then give this little beast a try – guarantee you will love it”. – Bill
Get your feet on a Challenger by call (02) 88989323 in Australia and 1 855 SUPLOVE in the USA.
Suplove 8'10" Challenger without traction padErin Dark - Suplove 8'10" Challenger
n coming 2nd in the final
