Joanne Hamilton-Vale continues her series of reports from the UK SUP race scene. Despite lots of wins the past months this one was pretty sweet for us as it was the first time she had raced with her new EPIC Pro 95 Premium Carbon paddle. This race hosted by H20 Watersports was combined with a demo event which is great to see.

“Last weekend was my local race and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to do a race with my training buddies.

It was a 6km race, the course was 1km upwind and 4km crosswind legs. The crosswind legs would be tricky with my Starboard Ace. This was the first race I was using my new Black Project EPIC Pro 95 paddle and Maliko Black Ed. fin combo.

I decided to do a quick run across the start line and was thankful I did. The water was not even knee deep so with one hard stroke I buried the blade into the sand and I kept moving – without my paddle. Luckily due to the strength of my paddle blade there was no breakage! 

Time to start the race. The start line was crowded and difficult to get going due to the shallowness of the water. I broke away quickly from most of the pack and was in 4th position then I made a big mistake, I rounded the buoy too close and got my fin caught on the buoy’s securing lines. I slowed quickly and my friend Will hit the back of my board knocking me in. Got back on the board quickly and soon realized my leash was wrapped around the board so had to get back down unwrap my leash and secure it back to my ankle. By the time I was back standing I was in 10th place. Time to paddle strong. The side wind legs were difficult and my board successfully threw me in the water 3 more times. If I was going to win this race I was going to have to get a lot of strength and power through every paddle stroke.

I started overtaking the boys and taking places back. I pushed right to the line and finished 1st female and 6th overall.

I was really pleased with the performance of my new paddle and fin combo ” Jo 

Missing this weekend was Ryan James who was on a training trip to Portugal, he will be back in action at the next race. Great to see a bunch of riders using the new paddles at the race at H20, more will be available in the UK soon, if you are keen to get one and experience the difference for yourself please contact us.

More to follow…