Images with the kind permission and great thanks to Anja Hoekema @anjahoekema, Jessica Nijenhuis @jessicanijenhuis, Verity Thomas @veejaypaddlesjsy and FrangipaniSUP.com
What fantastic battle we had!
I was stoked to compete in the first Frisian SUP Battle event in Makkum in Friesland in Holland, hosted by the awesome Jorg and Paulien, family, friends and crew from SUP Kids Makkum. On the shores of huge Lake IJsselmeer and part of the Camping De Holle Poarte holiday complex we were hosted at the Watersport Vereniging Makkum club on Makkumerdiep, with its beautiful Dutch barges and multiple yachts. IJsselmeer is freshwater and covers over 400 square miles. Friesland is dreamy and beautiful, with windmills, winding waterways, pretty cows on luscious pastures and people sailing and cycling everywhere. Wind turbines are part of the natural environment. We can’t wait to return.
We left the UK on Thursday morning on the Stena Line ferry from Harwich to Hook of Holland and then had a 3 hour drive to Makkum to the lakeside campsite, catching a great dinner at the Strandbar Thuishaven on the beach just before the kitchen closed at 9pm. We then had a day to reboot and register, before racing started on Saturday.
In my experience SUP races are usually dominated by adult racers, with juniors in the minority and sometimes sadly relegated to side-show status. But not here! The juniors are the main focus of everyone’s attention, they are cherished, they are trained, they are supported and they are awesome competitors!
I watched Race Director Jorg sit on the finish line on a board with a small but mighty little racer who appeared upset by their performance…and they talked. They talked and we waited. The next race start could wait until this little racer had been helped. I felt truly humbled to watch this.
The SUP Kids Makkum legend and Race Director Jorg Bossack
At the Long Distance race briefing I asked if the adult and juniors would start together or separately. Jorg looked at the juniors and asked them what they wanted to do and they replied that they wanted to start with us. So “SUP Kids” is not just a label, it is a truly genuine approach to putting the juniors in the forefront of our beloved sport. Bravo! A great event that aspiring British juniors should be sign-posted to and should put on their bucket lists as a great first step in overseas racing. English is widely spoken and we were all made to feel very welcome.
Talking of aspiring British juniors, huge congratulations to podium finishers Jacques Thomas Jersey/GB (Mixed Juniors U15) and Selwyn Pritchard Holland/GB (Junior Men U18) who both battled very hard in their classes. And to all junior paddlers, really well done for your racing.
Jacques having crossed the Long Distance race finish line having given it everything. Well done!
Selwyn, on the right, with his prize money. Congratulations to him and all!
None of this, however, was to the detriment of the adult racers; we were given brilliant racing with multiple heats over 2 days in 3 disciplines in Open and U40 male and female classes, all managed by the super organised hard workers in beach race control. Thank you.
On Saturday morning we had 150m beach Sprints with a standing start at a gate in the shallows, left or right round one of two buoys and back to the gate. Buoy turn choice was decided by prior mutual agreement or a ‘coin toss’ (actually a shell!) After lunch we turned our attentions to Technical racing with the same gate start/finish for the heats over 1 lap with 6 buoy turns – and for the finals over 2 laps with a beach flag run and 12 turns.
Beach runs through the gate and flag with the super fast Anouk de Veer from the Netherlands chasing me down.
Beach starts with others close up are so exciting…I just loved doing them again and again. The bay is shallow enough to stand up across much of it and this helped me to push myself, knowing that I could pop quickly back into my dugout board. My great race buddy and team mate Verity Thomas VJ, from Jersey (furthest from the camera on the start line below) dominated in both Sprint and Technical disciplines, superb paddling buddy, well done!
After a rest in the campsite, during which Volker Ebermayr from Light Board Corp came round on a bike towing a cold beer trailer and handing out free beers (thank you!), a generous BBQ was provided for us all on Saturday night at the watersports club. Selwyn’s dad Marc provided a range of delicious organic vegetables from his garden Op ‘e tun “At the Garden” The best tomatoes ever!
Frangipani SUP in the campsite.
Alcohol free this time, gotta race tomorrow. Thank you!
The delicious Op ‘e tun toms!
On Sunday for the Long Distance race (3/6km for juniors and 12km for adults), the wind was pumping and some changes were made to relocate the start to the sheltered club and bring the course in closer to the shore for the juniors, with the adult’s race being shortened from 3 laps to 2. It was definitely challenging in places and below is me having a refreshing dip with the board pointing the wrong way after a huge gust encounter at number 9.
Points were aggregated over the two days and the lovely Sandra Hinkel from Germany and I were racing for event overall 1st /2nd in the U40 women class, with her entering the second day with a two point lead. As we got further out in the first lap of the Long Distance race I was just ahead of her when we both decided to call it a day due to the wind and conditions, along with lovely Sven who was also close to us. We decided to enjoy a downwinder back to the beach and we whooped and laughed. Well done Sandra, it was great to do battle with you!
A real highlight of the event for me was seeing German SUP racer and Para SUP Athlete Kathy Rusbuldt. We have been cheering on each other over social media for a while and it was amazing to see her and race against her. She completed the full Long Distance race – she inspires me so much.
After prizegiving on Sunday afternoon sadly we had to make hasty goodbyes and haul out for the 5 hour drive to Kassel in Germany, to deliver boards to Prowave for shipping to Abu Dhabi, for the ICF World Championships at the end of October. Then back to Holland Monday and then the ferry home on Tuesday, knackered but relieved to have got the boards to the drop off point by the shipping deadline. We just loved Holland – so much water to explore, such a lovely place. Can’t wait to come back.
Thank you so much to everyone who worked so hard to host this great event. We will be back next year and we’ll definitely stay for longer!
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