2020 Events (Feb – April)

by | Feb 8, 2020 | Prone, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Uncategorized

Upcoming Events

 

The 2020 SUPSA Calendar has been loaded on the website. Make sure you do not miss out on any of these events. SUPSA is hosting the first Sanctioned event on 1 March 2020 in Cape Town. The SUPSA Century City SUP & Paddleboard Challenge 2020 will take place at Century City, with a 7 am registration and 8.30 am race start. More details will follow – please register before 23 February 2020. You can register here and continue with your payment with the Quicket link. All SUPSA hosted event fees will be divided between SUP Development (50%) and Fundraising for the SA Team for Worlds (50%). 

It is important to note that all SUPSA Sanctioned races requires all racers to wear a SAMSA approved life jacket. This life jacket must be “fit-for-use” and meet the requirements of SAMSA. Read more, here.
Prone athletes do not have to wear a life jacket, but leashes are required.

 More Upcoming Events 

SUP The Crossing Best conditions are chosen within a window period between Saturday the 22nd February to Sunday the 15th March 2020. All weekend days will be possible days choosing the best weather conditions forecast by the safety officers. Make sure you do not miss out on this incredible paddle from Small Bay to Robben Island.
The High Altitude Surf Ski Championship 2020 The HASSC is taking place on the Emmarentia Dam in Johannesburg on 14 March 2020. Speed boats whizzing around, surf ski’s cutting through the waves and SUP’s strong and steady making their way past it all. A fun Johannesburg event!

Paddle For The Paw A fun charity race to take part in. 14 March 2020 at the V&A Waterfront with SUP Cape Town. Bring your boards, swimsuit and pet food (for a raffle ticket) and enjoy the water with family and friends.

Pili Pili Family Fun SUP Race Pili Pili always brings people together on the water. Join us for the Pili Pili Family Fun SUP race on 28 March 2020.

SA Championships in Port Alfred SAVE THIS DATE!
The SA SUP & Paddleboard Championships will take place in Port Alfred this year. It will take part of the Port Alfred Amanzi Festival. The SUP & Paddleboard Championship will start on the 17th of April with distance races and sprints for both SUPs and Paddleboards and continue with the SUP surf event on the 18th & 19th of April 2020.

The Freedom Paddle Celebrate the freedom of surf ski paddling by taking on the challenge of racing around South Africa’s Symbol of Freedom – Robben Island. The Freedom Paddle is a 27km race / paddle from Oceana Power Boat Club around Robben Island and back. On the 27th April 2020, Freedom Day, line up and be a part of a race around one of the most iconic islands in the world. A great surf ski event inviting SUPs and Prone boards to take on the challenge.

 

Extra Important Events 

2019 Annual Prize-giving and SA Squad Announcement
We have a great deal to celebrate for all that happened in 2019. Join us at the 2019 Annual Prize Giving on 1 March 2020, 1.00 pm, after the SUPSA Century City SUP & Paddleboard Challenge. Make sure you send in your nomination for the President’s Achievement Award to supsapresident@gmail.com . Final details will be sent to you throughout this week. The SA Squad (athletes, Team Manager and Team Coach) will also be announced at the Prize-giving. If you are interested in applying for either the Team Manager or Team Coach job, please send your name, surname and motivation to supsapresident@gmail.com .

and last but not least…
The ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2020 

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Monday, 2 March 2020 at the V&A Waterfront at 7.00 pm. The specific location will be communicated to you by email. Please RSVP, here with the names, surnames and email addresses of the attendees.

EL SALVADOR 2019 – That’s a wrap

by | Dec 4, 2019 | El Salvador World Championships, ISA, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

And that’s a wrap for the 2019 El Salvador Surf City ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championships. 

We ended the last day with eyes fixed on the men and women’s surfing final where France took gold for both men and women – Benoit Carpentier scored an 8.90 on an incredible final wave and Justine Dupont continued to showcase her skill on each wave she surfed. The closing ceremony in the boiling hot sun followed at 13:00 where Tyra Buncombe took to the stage for her gold medal. South Africa placed with an overall 8th and with a proud Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika we ended the 2019 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championships. 

A word from Anja

Sitting on our last flight from London to Cape Town I though it best to introduce myself. My name is Anja Burger and I have been the Team Manager for the SA SUP Team for the 2019 El Salvador ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championships. I have been making most of the arrangements for the team to get them where they have to be and have what they need. I also wrote this blog on a daily to keep our family and friends up to date on this trip. 

The trip has been a great privilege in my year. Not only was this an opportunity to travel with incredible athletes but it was an opportunity to travel with good-hearted, extremely funny and caring people and share our love for the greatest water sport. I get extremely excited to see the sport grow in our country and got a real kick out of experiencing the sport on an international platform.

We have great plans to make next year as great if not 17 times better. Makes sure you know what’s going on. 

 

 

 

EL SALVADOR 2019 – Surfing at Worlds

by | Dec 1, 2019 | El Salvador World Championships, ISA, Prone, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

Surfing – Day 3

Great excitement filled the breakfast room with Matt, Dylan and Khara taking to the waves again. Dylan was up in heat 2 and Matt in heat 3, while Khara would showcase her skills thereafter. Dylan had a great round with scoring a 5.37 on his second wave and a 6.10 on his fourth wave. The waves were cooking and allowed Dylan to surf them from the back to the front. With great excitement – Dylan exited the water with the top score in his heat. 

Little did we know that the next heat would include top wave scores from Matthew Maxwell from South Africa. After a 5.40 on his second wave, Matt scored a 4.40, placing him third behind Daniel Hughes. Matt waited for the last seconds in his heat, and with a shock to Daniel’s system, already being interviewed for his second spot, Matt got onto his last wave – 30 seconds from the end – and landed every turn from the back to the very end of the best wave up until then. He scored an 8.73. The vuvuzelas reflected these scores with great and loud blows. 

Khara’s heat was coming up and she entered the water with a great excitement after the previous day’s great heat. Khara had a tough heat with Candice Appleby and Lara Claydon from the United States of America and Aline Adisaka from Brazil. Khara had difficulty in getting waves while the others had priority with good sets that came through. She surfed until the end but was not able to place in the top two in this repo round. 

It was time for repechage round 4 for Dylan and Matthew. Matthew was up against Zane Schweitzer from the United States of America, Gabriel Salazar from Chile and Juan de los Reyes from Spain. Matt scored on great waves throughout his heat, with a 4.23 on his second wave. With great disappointment – the commentator announced an interference call after wave two – saying that Matt was warned that he was prone paddling more than five strokes and received the interference penalty on his second warning. This was massively disappointing especially with his fourth and fifth wave scoring 6.2 and 5.10, which would’ve placed him in second place but knocked him down to 3rd because of the penalty. This meant the end for Matt’s surfing at Worlds. Great surfing Matt! 

Dylan was next and up against Clement Roseyro from France, Guillermo Carracedo from Spain and Jefferson Tascon from Columbia. With some difficulty in finding waves, Dylan scored 5.63 and 5.10 on the two waves that he caught. It was two great waves but was unfortunately not enough to move him from third place.

And just like that – El Salvador Surf City 2019 ISA World SUP and Paddleboard Championships was done and dusted. So what did we do next? We had burritos, organised a bus, packed our boards and found our way to Playa Punta Roca where there were a couple of locals and fun waves. Great fun was found, here. We ended the day with burgers and pasta at our favourite restaurant with the Danish Team. 

What is left for today? Closing Ceremony at 1 pm on Sunday and a Closing fiesta at 6 pm. You can also watch the surfing finals this morning (afternoon in South Africa), which has just started.

Just a massive thanks to Ben Reed and Sean Evans for the great photos throughout the World Championships.  

EL SALVADOR 2019 – Repo Rounds and Vuvuzela’s

by | Nov 30, 2019 | El Salvador World Championships, ISA, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Surfing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

Surf – Day 2

With yesterday’s round 2 Men being moved out to day 2 meant that we had Dylan’s round 2 and repo rounds lined up for us. This had the South African team start their Friday – relaxed and ready for a surf-filled day.

Dylan’s round two didn’t go exactly as he would’ve preferred. He had a few great waves with scoring the highest scored wave in his heat, but the last seconds of the heat did not provide the expected set that only arrived after the cut off time. Dylan placed third behind the Peruvian – Dave de Amas – and the United States of America’s Zane Schweitzer, getting him into the repo rounds.

Three South Africans in repo rounds offered great entertainment for the crowds – with a lot of vuvuzela bellows and waving of the South African flag on classic rock ‘n roll oldies, including Thunderstruck, Eye of the Tiger and a Man’s World. Matthew Maxwell and Dylan Frick were sorted in the same repo round 1 with Sean Hovell and Jamie Andrew, both from New Zealand. Our objective – 1st and 2nd place. Matt had a great first wave, scoring him a 5.33 followed by Dylan with a 5.17. The two Saffas kept on ruling the score board until the end with Dylan ending first and Matthew in second place. They will be surfing in round 2 of the repo rounds on day 3, without having to face each other until the very end. 

Khara’s repo round followed with battling it out against Alejandra Brito from Mexico, Natalia De La Lama from Argentina and Laura Del Pont from Italy. The swell had grown throughout the day with great sets coming through, paired with a cross wind and pulling rip. Khara ruled the score board from her first wave until the very last, with Argentina, Mexico and Italy battling to keep up. Khara ended the heat with first place and Argentina with second. 

Our day 3 will have an 8 o’clock start when Dylan battles it out against Moritz Mauch from Germany, Jose Gomez from Peru and Geronimo Rogers from Argentina. He will start at 8:20 am (16:20 in South Africa). Matthew is in heat 3 of day 3’s repo rounds (H39) going up against Jefferson Tascon from Columbia, Franco Bono from Chile and Daniel Hughes from the United States of America. Matthew will be on directly after Dylan at 8:40 am (16:40 in South Africa). Khara’s next repo round will take place at 9:40 am (17:40 in South Africa) against Candice Appleby and Lara Claydon from the United States of America and Aline Adisaka from Brazil. 

Remember to check in with us on Whatsapp and on the ISA Live Streaming page. 

Great images taken by Ben Reed and Sean Evans. 

 

EL SALVADOR 2019 – Let the surfing begin

by | Nov 29, 2019 | El Salvador World Championships, ISA, Prone, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Surfing South Africa, Uncategorized

Surfing – Day 1

A good, great, sunny day in El Salvador and the surfing is getting everyone hyped up and ready for the entertainment. Matt, Dylan and Khara had their first round in the World Championship Surfing. All surfers had quite a challenge to get waves in their heats because of the swell that died down throughout the week – so it was all about getting waves where you could and showcasing as much skill as possible on the waves you got.

Matt started off with a great first wave with a few critical turns on the below average conditions and managed to hold second place until the last 20 seconds where the New Zealand surfer got a great set and jumped from third to first. Matthew will be partaking in the repo rounds on day 2. Dylan was up next and got to surf a few killer waves keeping a steady second place behind Tamil Martino from Peru. The commentators enjoyed Dylan’s board swimming below sea level but this didn’t stop him getting great turns on every wave he went for. Khara partook in heat 5 with Hannah Finlay-Jones from Australia, Takayo Yokoyama from Japan and Viania Torres from Peru. Khara went for the first wave and scored well with 5 turns placing first in the first 5 minutes. Vania from Peru got the second wave and jumped the scoreboard to first place. Khara ended her heat at third place behind Australia and will be going through to repo rounds with Matthew.

Today is Surf Day 2 where Dylan will take part in round two at 9:20 am and Matt and Khara will take part in repo rounds this afternoon. You can stay up to date on the live streaming on the ISA website, on our Whatsapp chat (let Anja know) or on Instagram live on the SASUPTEAM profile.

EL SALVADOR 2019 – Technical Race Finals and favourite restaurants

by | Nov 28, 2019 | El Salvador World Championships, ISA, South African Surfing Championships, Stand Up Paddle, SUP Events, SUP Racing, SUP Surfing, Uncategorized

Early mornings are met with the most beautiful sunrises. We wake up, walk out on our balconies, look left and see a spectacle of colours as the sun rises. Some go out for a morning surf and are met with a crowd of SUPs and surfboards already catching waves before 6 am.

Wednesday started early with a 7:30 am start for the Technical Race Finals for Prone boards, Juniors and Open Women and Men. The technical race consisted of 5 buoy turns in a lap, which the athletes repeated three times. Tyra and Ethan showed up with skill and endurance with Tyra placing 7th and Ethan placing 9th in each of their races. The Junior Technical Races followed the prone board racers. Migael, finally, got on the water to race. Migael was the youngest athlete by three years out of all the athletes. Some double his size but he was ready nonetheless. Migael rode a brilliant wave in the first lap but could not find any other waves in the last two laps. He placed 11th out of the junior boys. Congratulations Migael, you have learnt and grown so much this year, and we are incredibly excited to see where Stand Up Paddling takes you. Dylan Frick competed in the Men’s Final Technical Race to end off the day. This race was a very fast Technical Race. The waves died down and the wind picked up. He caught some great runs on the down-wind, overtaking the 11th spot but when he got to the wave area, he could not manage to catch any wave. Dylan placed 12th in the Men’s Final. Well done Dylan, what a great race!

The SA SUP Team has a few favourite lunch and dinner spots. Some of our favourites: Burrito Café for burritos, Dale Dale Café for smoothies and veggie burgers or the pesto and prawn pasta, Taco Surf for their incredible burritos and pasta’s before race days, Point Break Café for the best coffee in El Tunco and the Italian Bistro for pizzas.

The Surfing starts on Thursday where Khara, Dylan and Matt will showcase their skills. They will start with Men Surfing from 8:00 – 12:00, Women from 12:00 – 14:00 and the Men again from 14:00 – 16:00.

Thank you for the support from South Africa – we can feel it out here.