KZN HOSTS A WORTHY SA SUP CHAMPS 2025

KZN HOSTS A WORTHY SA SUP CHAMPS 2025

by | Jun 13, 2025 | Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing

SPRINT RACING

REPORT BY MURRAY JAMES

​The 2025 East Coast Challenge & SA SUP Champs had a great kick off on Friday evening, 30th May  at the Point Canals with some night sprint races. The gusting Westerly wind failed to deter the sprinters who had travelled from as far as Gauteng and the Western Cape to compete against their KZN rivals.

The winners of the men’s and ladies’ events were Capetonians Dylan Frick and Tarryn King.

KZN still held their own, with three of the top six spots going to local KZN paddlers.

Jackie de Billot, Lande Swemmer, Dave Maxwell & Murray James completed the sprint podium positions.

SUP SURF CONTEST

On Saturday morning, the paddlers made their way to North Beach to compete in the SUP surfing event. With sunny skies and small but clean surf, the competitors had to work hard to showcase their skills – and the Western Cape’s Tarryn King and Dylan Frick once again secured themselves first place positions.

Matt Maxwell, Brandon Ribbink & Peter Cambanis rounded out the men’s podium, with Danica Bartho & Jackie de Billot on the ladies’ podium.

DISTANCE & TECH RACES

Sunday morning again brought sunny skies, low wind and perfect ocean conditions for racing.

8:30am saw the start of the 10km distance race, followed by the 5km fun race.

Conditions made for a gruelling 10km with little assistance from wind or swell –  KZN’s Matt Swemmer, Murray James, Jackie de Billot & Lande Swemmer secured positions in the top six.

Winners again were the dominant Tarryn King and Dylan Frick.

Janette James won the 5km race followed closely by Jess Jansen van Rensburg and Raeesah Vawda.

After a short break the course was reconfigured for the Technical Race which started just after 11am. This challenging course saw competitors having to paddle parallel to the bumpy swell created by the draining tide coming over Vetches reef.

Tops spots went to Dylan Frick, Henco Scholtz and Matt Swemmer in the men’s race, and Tarryn King, Lande Swemmer & Jackie de Billot in the ladies’ race.

The organisers would like to thank DUC as main sponsor, as well as for providing invaluable logistic support and water safety.

Huge thanks also to The PumpSmith for their sponsorship.

CLICK HERE FOR: Distance race results

CLICK HERE FOR: Technical race results

The Winter Warrior Time Trial Challenge

The Winter Warrior Time Trial Challenge

by | Sep 8, 2024 | Uncategorized

An effort to get the winter blues out of our paddlers and get SUPS onto the water, grew into a much bigger event than we ever thought possible!

The Winter Warrior challenge went countrywide, involving experienced and beginner paddlers alike, all of them churning out 5km laps around a number of buoys each week.

The points system was based on position, time AND attendance, just to level the challenge up a bit. This meant that even the usual speedsters had to actually be there each week to earn points – not just arrive once in a while to beat the pack. A valuable example of the rewarding factor of consistency was set by this process.

The Winter Warrior challenge took place across the country – the images above show the venues: Durban Canals, Dabulamanzi Canoe Club in Gauteng, Waterfront Canals in Cape Town, and East London’s Nahoon Valley venue. In the process, paddlers earned some valuable technical skills by doing multiple buoy turns and improved their SUP fitness, all while racing to beat their own times each week.

Racing and social categories were set up, which allowed paddlers with both race boards and regular SUPS to take part in a group that suited their capabilities and equipment. Some people did so well that they need to upgrade categories in the next event!

The final prizes were customised event paddling shirts for the top 5 in each category, and medals for those who had completed 3 or more out of the 7 allocated sessions. There’s no prize more valuable than one that has been earned! 

A single “Spirit of Winter Warrior” rash vest prize was awarded to our paddler in East London. Jonathan managed to motivate himself to paddle each session solo – in winter – and maintained his place in the top 3! Inspiring stuff Jonathan!  

We added a single “catch-up session” at the very end of the series for those who had missed out due to life’s inevitable curveballs, and a few took advantage of this to shave a few seconds off their PB’s.

Our two junior girls in Cape Town, were rewarded with medals and mini-merch t-shirts for their stellar efforts as absolute beginners! In the future, we hope to add a junior division so that paddlers can bring their kids along to help us grow the sport!

The results of the national challenge were tabulated and released each week, with a growing anticipation as to who would be the overall winner. Durban really rose to the challenge, with a large group of paddlers taking part each Saturday morning. Gauteng, as small as their group was, even had some late entrants who enjoyed it so much that they carried along to the very end.

Here are the results for the Racing and Social categories:

We are indebted to our generous sponsors; OLYMPIC , RACEFOOD. and MOCKE PADDLING, as well as the Western Cape hosts – SUP Cape Town –  for allowing us to hold each weekly meet at their venue, and for the fabulous prizes, as seen in the images below. These were a delight each week in the lucky draw, and you could only win them by your paddling.
We are extremely grateful for your unwavering support to SUP and PRONE paddling!
The races were arranged by Stand-Up Paddleboarding South Africa (SUPSA)
Photography by athletes and organisers.

Should you wish to enquire about getting involved in this sport or joining our events, please contact us at supsasecretary@gmail.com.

At the end of the season, the participants were all in agreement that it was a worthwhile series, and we are happy to carry it over as an annual challenge.

You have been forewarned – prepare yourself now for next year’s Winter Warrior Time Trial Challenge. It will be fierce, but fabulous!   

Back to Back SUP at the BERG & VLEI CLASSIC

Back to Back SUP at the BERG & VLEI CLASSIC

by | Jul 25, 2024 | Uncategorized

The Berg & Vlei classic – a spectacular weekend-long SUP competition which turned into a mini-reunion!

The Berg and Vlei Classic spanned two days, showcasing Cape Town’s vibrant Stand-Up Paddle (SUP) community with a mix of surf and flatwater competitions. Day one kicked off with an exciting SUP Surf competition at Muizenberg, a popular SUP surf spot. On day two, the action moved to the flatwater venue for a series of races. The event’s name, “Berg and Vlei,” reflects these two iconic locations, both cherished by Cape Town’s SUP paddlers. This year’s Classic brought together competitors and fans for an unforgettable celebration of SUP sports across diverse settings.

In attendance were some paddlers from bygone days who came out of their self-imposed exile to churn up some serious wave riding scores, just as if they’d always been in the business. This was especially noticeable in the SURF OPEN MEN’s division, where we had some champs from previous years competing against each other: Henco Scholtz (SA SUP Team 2018), Dylan Frick (SA SUP Team from 2013-2019), Tom King (SA SUP Team 2015-2023), Gary van Rooyen (SA SUP Team 2017, 2021) and Jethro Johnson (SA SUP Team 2023). It was a real feast of SUP surf on display! The judges were lapping it all up, saying “This is what we want to see… it’s ticking all the boxes!”

A new ladies social section was introduced which turned out to be a hit.

All levels of SUP ability were able to join as they went into the surf. The leaders of the local Saltwater SUP Squad, Tarryn King and Missy Volker, taught some basic competition skills to get a feel for the working of surf comp heats.

The ladies also got to practice with the workings of the “lollipop” sign that controls the timing of heats. Getting comfortable in the competition zone is a huge paddling asset!

All the paddlers enjoyed it and we will certainly endeavour to keep it as a permanent fixture in SUP surf events.

Rarely does a weekend competition have predictable weather – but this time, the weather could not have been better on both competition days!

Sunday rolled in as a dazzling day on the Zandvlei canals and the paddlers warmed up with the ladies and gents’  technical races. After a short break,they undertook a variety of longer distances ranging from 5km, 10km or even the brave 15km route for those looking to qualify for the ISA World champs later in the year. 

Two local Prone athletes – also previous achievers, joined in the mix for a chance to earn some points towards ISA world champs team qualifications. As can be seen by the images to follow, it was better to not get in their way!

 

Our sponsors, Olympic and Race food – were more than generous with incredible gifts of apparel and edibles for every spot in the rankings.

In addition we held a late handover of the SUPSA President’s award. This floating trophy was awarded earlier in the year to our SUP athlete Jethro Johnson for his contribution towards the growth of SUP in his hometown in the Eastern Cape.

The races were arranged by Stand-Up Paddleboarding South Africa (SUPSA)
Sponsored by OLYMPIC  and RACE FOOD.
Incredible photography by Billy Ackerman.
We are extremely grateful for your unwavering support to SUP and PRONE paddling!

Should you wish to enquire about getting involved in this sport or joining our events, please contact us at supsasecretary@gmail.com.

King Of The Bay 2024

King Of The Bay 2024

by | Jun 27, 2024 | Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

REPORT BY MURRAY JAMES

This year’s annual King of the Bay race in Durban took place under sunny skies with a low wind, and paddlers had to work against the clock to finish before the predicted heavy Westerly arrived.

With roadworks at the port entry, the organisers had a land-based race of their own. They were pressed for time to exit the harbour, make their way across the city and to arrive at the finish line on the beach before the first paddlers did. They made it in the end – arriving just in the nick of time. The race was well attended by SUPs, surf-skis and even a surfboat, which was first to set out, followed by the SUPs and then the surf-skis.

The busily-working harbour also provided some thrills, with paddlers having to contend with ships leaving the harbour and the inevitable churn from ships and tugboats.

The woman’s race was won by a charging Lande Swemmer, followed by Jacqui de Billot in second and Jutta Dedekind taking third on an inflatable race-board, the first time someone had completed the race on an inflatable!

Murray James came first in the men’s race, followed by newcomer Ralph Jansen in second and Mike Holland in third.

A fantastic, challenging race was had by all, and a huge thank-you goes out to the organisers who are always keen to include SUP’s and other disciplines in what is traditionally a surfski race, as well as making sure everything ran flawlessly.

The return to Century City – a SUP DASH!

The return to Century City – a SUP DASH!

by | Mar 14, 2024 | Uncategorized

An old favourite was revived this year, with the return of SUP racing to the Century City Sports Festival –  a weekend full of active and competitive fun in all sporting disciplines.

 
The SUP DASH was a 750m technical course on 14-foot racing boards,  involving a mixture of straight sprints, left or right turns around buoys and bridge piers. It’s a real lung-buster, and tests the fitness of the paddlers, along with their technical expertise right from the starting gun.
 
The sprint course was split into two 100-metre sections with a turn in the middle; requiring an explosive start and good balance at the turn so as not to lose the speed and cadence the paddlers gained in the first section. These 200m sprints count towards ranking points for our athletes who will be travelling to Europe to paddle the SUP racing circuit for the next few months.
Cameron Tripney, our Open Men’s Sprint winner, is also the 2022 ICF Junior World Sprint champion. He will be joining the elite Starboard Dream Team this year to paddle in some of the European circuit races in Spain, Italy and Austria, testing his vigour as he moves into the  very competitive Open Men’s section internationally.
 
Tarryn King, our Open Ladies’ Sprint winner, is no stranger to international competition, with a few world championship medals to her credit in both SUP and surfing. She keeps a healthy balance between being a young mom with her SUP and surf training and also runs a SUP coaching squad in the Muizenberg area.
 
The balance of our athletes are dedicated local paddlers, who train in the southern and northern areas of Cape Town.

During the SUP DASH event, we also held a “learn to SUP” programme.

This offer was thoroughly enjoyed by an entire family who came along to “get their feet wet”. There were also a few keen  family members of regular racing paddlers,  who could not wait to try out the paddleboards alongside the very capable instructors from SUP CAPE TOWN. They all agreed it was an enjoyable session, and the smiling photos certainly confirm that! We were so grateful for SUP CAPE TOWN coming alongside us in this event, and look forward to many more with them. Keep your eyes open for further paddling opportunities by following us on social media and via our event calendar 
 

The race results are detailed in the table below:

 
The races were arranged by Stand-Up Paddleboarding South Africa (SUPSA)
Supported by SUP CAPE TOWN
Sponsored by CENTURY CITY as well as  OLYMPIC  and RACE FOOD
We are extremely grateful for all the assistance!
 

Should you wish to enquire about getting involved in this sport or joining our events, please contact us at supsasecretary@gmail.com.