The date is the 20^th April 2013, the time is 14:17,  its high tide, the sun is shining, and there are 98 Sup racers lined up 5 deep across the width of the river Dart outside Totnes rowing club. We’re on a three minute countdown to the start of a 10 mile race down the beautiful river Dart in south Devon.  This my friends, is the start of the annual Head of the Dart Sup race, which from this point forward will be known as the HOTD.

HOTD is traditionally a rowing race with a long history. SUP’s were invited to take part 4 years ago, with 12 competing in that first year. It has grown steadily over the years culminating in this year’s record entry, believed to be the biggest SUP race ever held in the UK.  There are now plans afoot to get this event added to the international SUP tour in 2014.

The mix of competitors this year ranged from serious athletes on full carbon ultra lightweight race boards, to recreational paddlers on all-round inflatable’s and everything in between. There’s something for everyone in this race.

I first heard about HOTD just before the 2012 race and decided there and then that I would be competing in the 2013 event.  I now have a 14’ race board and have been getting out more and more, but without a structured training program.  So I wasn’t feeling too confident about this particular event. Added to that I had just had three full on SUP sessions and one windsurf session earlier in the week, that had left me with painful elbows, and I thought that my chances of doing well in this race were slim.

So there I was on the start line, the format for the start was a 3 minute countdown to a rolling start across the line. The claxon went and we were off. I knew that with 98 paddlers on the water the start was going to be super choppy, and I was not disappointed! My ocean paddling and super stable board helped me out here as I didn’t fancy a dip right at the start of the race. My strategy was simple; a full on start that would enable me to gain speed quickly and be up there with the lead pack. This was a superb strategy and I joined the pack behind some pretty decent paddlers, in fact some of the best in the country!  I was stoked just to be up there with those guys and holding my own, considering how unprepared I felt at before the start.

We soon settled into a rhythm, drafting off each other in a chain of 10 paddlers. Drafting enables you to save energy for an attack later in the race, 15-20% for the second in the chain, and 20-40 % for everyone after them.   I stuck to this chain for quite a while; I’ve no idea how far as one of my failures in this race was not taking a GPS watch with me so I found it difficult to pace myself.  The draft chain snaked its way down the river, cutting the bends very close at times to the point where the water was so shallow our paddles were digging into the river bed. I found out later that there are numerous branches and logs just below the surface in the shallow meanders, so I was lucky my fin didn’t catch and throw me off. That would have been hilarious, not!

At times I managed to catch the small wake coming off the safety boat. This gave me a welcome burst of speed, but also resulted in me loosing the draft. The pack started to pull away from me, and I started to accept my position in the race.” Not good!” I thought, “I can’t give in now!” I gave myself a stern talking to and started to dig deep in an attempt to catch up with the pack.  By this time Crispin Jones, a strong local paddler had caught up with me on his K15. Knowing that he knew the river and was closing faster on the pack than I was, I hopped into his draft and took a slight breather. Up ahead, another paddler, Ben Swails,  had lost the lead pack and was in no man’s land paddling on his own.  The two of us caught up and overtook him. Then we reeled in another strong paddler, Andy Joyce, which gave me a massive psychological boost! I kept telling myself to dig deep and just keep paddling.  Not knowing how much further was left to paddle caused me some problems, as  I didn’t know when to make my break on Crispin and I allowed him to get away from me. By the time I realised we were at the finish line and it was too late to make my break.  Crispin beat me by 7 seconds in the end, which was very frustrating.

Over all I finished a very respectable 8th and achieved a 5th place in the 14’ category.  More encouraging than that though, or maybe disappointingly; I still had fuel left in the tank. Lessons have been learned ready for the next race in May.

HOTD was a great race for me. I don’t have an athletic bone in my body, or at least I didn’t used to? Can they grow in later life?  If you love a chase, thrive on competition and love being on the water; then maybe Sup racing is for you.  You don’t have to have the latest race equipment; I didn’t when I started, and most events have a cruising or fun board category so you can just turn up and give it a go.

You can get involved at the National watersports Festival at the end of August, or if you just can’t wait till then check out these links for more info on race events near you.

www.supboardermag.com

www.standuppaddlesurf.co.uk

Check you on the water

Phil

Pictures courtesy of  www.supboardermag.com and Roger Hopper.