In the morning of Tuesday 1 september the Councelar of Sports of Leeuwarden gave the startshot for the first SUP 11-cities tour. The international field of competitors listened to a speech of the chairman of the SUP fryslan organization and to Anne Marie Reichman. For her a dream came true with the start of the event. Last year she proved that the ultimate challenge is doable so this year she invited 25 other sportmans to join her on her trip around the eleven cities in the northern part of Holland.
The paddlers started well, but with the tough southwest wind ahead the whole fleet got behind schedule. De fastest competitor Byron Kurt come into Sneek around twelve. There he had to take an official break of an half an hour for some food and drinks. Not unnecessary because you cannot eat that much when you’re paddling. After the break in Sneek the contender waited the greatest challenge near the finish in Sloten. They had to cross the lake of Sloten. That is tough with a full force wind ahead. Around 15.00 Byron Kurt was the first to arrive in Sloten. We had a little chat with Byron just after his massage. “ I was prepared for the worst but I enjoyed it. Everything went according plan and now I have gained some time on Xavier. It was a constant battle with the chop and the wind. This is by far the biggest challenge I ever did. And we have 4 more days left. But the support of the spectators keeps you going.”
Top 3: Etappe 1: Leeuwarden-Sloten
1. Byron Kurt (Amerika) 6 uur 54 minuten en 22 seconden
2. Xavier Masdevall Garçon (Spanje) 7 uur 3 minuten en 43 seconden
3. Eric Terrien (Frankrijk) 7 uur 4 minuten 29 seconden
Finishing last was Patrick Smits from Amsterdam, it took him 9 uur en 33 minuten en 55 seconden Jan Fokke Oosterhof, who stepped on the SUP for the first time quit. And Donna Badone Raaphorst her board got full with water and she had to get support from the support boats. Also Kevin Langeree was supported by the boats and could finish officially. Both will go on tomorrow but till now it is not certain what the jury will do with their time.
The competitors are awaiting a very tough challenge during the next five days. Normally SUP contest are one day events but now the contenders have to paddle for over 200 kilometers in five days. This is the ultimate challenge in SUP Boarding.
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