TRANSLATE TO YOUR LANGUAGE

European Championships 2014

European Master’s Champion 2014            &         Bronze in the Open Category at the championships 
10603991_723353187728631_3442209062878027826_o10604548_723353104395306_7071991531408278683_o












Over the weekend of the 15-17th of August was the inaugural European Surfski Championships and it was held in Vila Do Conde, Portugal. We stayed in a quaint B&B in the town along the river, awesome views. I  have been looking forward to this race all season – Andre, Marisa and the team at Nelo really know how to put on a great event.
10486460_10154561001215595_2876504595279314607_n
We arrived on Thursday and a representative from Nelo was waiting at the airport to transfer us to our accommodation. We settled in and headed straight to the beach and race venue. The wind was blowing, always a good welcome to race! So I set my boat up and went out for a paddle to get a feel for the conditions, the swell was a fair size and the wind was making the larger swells fun to catch. Andre always wants to run this event with the best conditions possible, he is always dreaming of racing in the perfect downwind conditions. The wind was forecast the best for Friday and Saturday, but Saturday was not as good, not easy to call. Andre made the call to bring the race forward by one day to race on Friday. The course was an 18km downwind (A-B) race from a beach near the town of Apulia and finishing on the beach at Vila Do Conde.
The schedule for race day was to meet at the race venue at 11am for the Opening Ceremony and briefing, followed by a massive spread for lunch and then the buses would arrive to take us to the start. Start time of the race would be 14:30.
So after a bit of lunch we all headed to the buses…..a short journey up the coast to Apulia, then to find our boats and get down to the start line. What a great call from Andre……standing on the beach about to go for a warm up, the wind was picking up and it was now looking like we were going to have an awesome downwind:)
The course would take us about 2.5km to our first turn buoy and then it would be downwind all the way to the finish. Our paddles are locked in gates, this makes it a fairer start, the gates open and we run down to our boats. It must be so great for the spectators to see near on 200 people running to water line and dashing out to sea.
10498328_698615226890000_8779952912153037337_o
So the start order……paddles locked in the gates with about 10min to go before the start,…..then “ONE MINUTE TO START”….then “READY GO!!!!” the gates slam open and we are off. I was off to good clean start, with Angie Mouden leading the way then Sara Rafael and then myself. It felt like a long way to the turn buoy but once we turned to go downwind it was great. The downwind section was quite technical so concentration was important. The wind picked up as the race went on so the runs just got better, from what I can gather the shallow line didn’t pay off unless you really know the area. So not too deep and not too shallow was about the best line to take, it was the conservative line but I think it paid off. I was on the same line as Angie and she was having an awesome race, I was just trying to close the gap on Sara Rafeal, who was in second, but in the end I just could not catch her. Still very happy to finish with a Bronze Medal at European Champs.  Well done girls it was a great race between us.
10496057_698667606884762_3435848198233359236_o
Well done to everyone who finished as it was tough out there, especially the last few hundred meters to the finish with a strong side wind.
10395824_10154561010065595_3815629713220303567_n

Results of the first European Championships :
  1. Angie Mouden (FRA)
  2. Sara Rafeal (POR)
  3. Chloe Bunnett (GB)
  4. Sofia Coelho (POR)
  5. Emma Levemyr (SWE)
  6. Sara Trujillo (ESP)
  7. Amaia Olaberri (ESP)
  8. Aurora Palomeras (ESP)
  9. Joana Moura (POR)
  10. Lucia Ortuna (ESP)
Overall Men’s Results
  1. Yannick Laousse (FRA)
  2. Benoit Le Roux (FRA)
  3. Daniel Viloria (ESP)
  4. Esteban Ojeda (ESP)
  5. Joep Van Bakel (NED)
  6. Walter Sanchez (ESP)
  7. Neo Pelliza (FRA)
  8. Florent Nowakowski (FRA)
  9. David Fernandes (POR)
  10. Valentin Henot (FRA)
A big thanks to Andre, Marisa, all the volunteers and the team at Nelo for a fantastic event, see you next year for sure:)
Below are couple of pictures from our day out on Sunday when ventured on the metro to Porto and had an awesome day in the city, such a beautiful place.
10569085_10154557244265595_8403548729415271588_n
10552615_10154557242550595_8268886447055881398_n

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Great start to 2015

Image
I have had a whirlwind start to 2015, lots of travelling. I have learnt about how to plan our travel and more importantly, how not to plan our travels I kicked my 2015 European racing season off with one of my favourite races, The Eurochallenge in Villajoyosa in Spain. I felt good for the race and quite prepared. The race was hot and flat, great wind on Monday and Tuesday and then it just disappeared. So it was a really tough race and I placed 2nd, being very competitive I always want a win, but I raced well so I am pleased with my race. Then a week later I was in Sweden! I was invited to coach the Ladies on the Swedish Surfski Spring camp. With over 60 Surfski paddlers here for a camp and a pre-season get together, it was so great to see. There were lots of keen ladies from total beginners to canoeist who have been bitten by the Surfski bug. It was great to pass on any knowledge I have gained over the years on to some really enthusiastic paddlers. Thank you to everyone who made
Read more

Travelling, airport lounges and Booking.com

I thought I would write about my travelling as I am always doing write ups on races and we do travel a lot so this should help anyone else who travels a lot. Booking.com Booking.yeah Firstly I have used booking.com 48 times, so my profile tells me. This booking site is the best hotel booking site I have used and it is the only one I use. If, which has only been once, I have a problem they do their best to resolve it. So if you want to get a discount off your first booking click on the link below and follow the steps. We will both benefit so give it a go. https://www.booking.com/s/b0c43e15 We stayed in 4 different booking.com  hotels last week and we had great stays in all of them, I am not sure who or how they check their hotels but they are doing a great job. Airport Lounges This is by no means an insight to cheap travel, but more a way to find value for money and convenience whilst passing through many airports. Pete (my partner) bought a Priority Pass, which for a sma
Read more

Swedish Downwind Camp

Image
There is only one spot left for the Swedish Downwind Camp, see below for details. Chloe Bunnett from South Africa is our coach 2018. Welcome to Aterra Surfski Experience in Helsingborg/Skalderviken Sweden. Chloe is one of the worlds best surfskipaddlers and she will help you to take your paddling to the next level. We will work in small groups during the day so that you can get personal coaching. Aterra arrange camps for surfski and kayaking in Sweden, Gran Canaria, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. For the first time we arrange a longer camp in Sweden and invite you here so you can explore our exciting environment. We have fantastic conditions for surfski downwinds. Most of the summer is normally windy and that gives us nice wavy experiences. Click here to find out more and book  DOWNWIND in Sweden
Read more