SUP 11 Cities Race Report

The SUP 11 Cities event took place for the 17th time in Friesland in what has been renamed ‘SUPtember’ by the event organisers.

Words: David Partridge
Photos: SUP 11 Cities Tour

The SUP 11 Cities event took place for the 17th time in Friesland in what has been renamed ‘SUPtember’ by the event organisers.

This year, once again, there was a pretty good entry from the UK with the indomitable tandem duo of Allistair Swinsco and Alison Rennie racing both in the non-stop (their 4th) and the 5-day event (their fifth). They achieved an incredible 27 hours and 36 minutes on the non-stop run in good weather over the weekend. They followed this up by winning the battle of the tandems over the 5-day event to enable a UK podium moment.

Nottingham paddler Suzy Rigby also participated in the non-stop and 5-day event. Unfortunately, she missed a cut-off time in the non-stop and retired after an excellent 88km or so paddle. However, she came back to complete the 5-day event.

There was an eight-strong team from Nottingham who certainly livened up the briefings and massage queue with their team, which included a good few supporters and assistants. Their feedback highlighted similarities between the event and their home Race to The Castle event, noting a great sense of encouraging participation. 

Other UK entrants included Fabio Barbosa (a UK south coast paddler entered under his native Portuguese nationality), Ryan Owens, Scot, and Niall Colquhoun. 

So, how does it feel to take part in one of the classic SUP races, rubbing shoulders (literally) with some of the world’s best distance paddlers? 

The first thing you notice is the volunteers. A huge team of people make up the Race committee, land logistics and water safety with a fleet of safety boats. Portaloos and tents appear at each of the destinations as if by magic. Volunteers, many of whom take a week’s holiday to support the event, create lunch stops, transport bags to the midpoint and finish, look after administration, check trackers, and everywhere the media team is lurking in bushes and on bridges, capturing the action.

The volunteers are incredible; several have officially ‘retired’ from duties but still attend and support us. It was great to see Henk Den Belder cheering on the Brits (and everyone else). Jack Hoving, a retired mariner, pilots a safety boat and sent some wonderful pictures of our upwind battles on some of the open water. 

The daily briefings are delivered on a chat group, and then a final brief, weather and hazard update is provided. Trackers collected, and paddlers get onto the water for their start times (divided by gender, age, and a separate ‘Tour’ start).

Ritske Merkus summarised the 5-day event at the prize giving, “Well, it was windy, the first day not too bad, and you got comfortable, the second day was windy and more windy. I was out in a 2-tonne boat, so I wasn’t too scared. However, if I had been on a 14-foot SUP, the situation might have been different. After a good battle, we had tail winds for days three and four. This made the organisation interesting because everyone arrived at the finish two hours earlier; the ground team had never had to move so fast! And today was a shorter day, only 27km, so the headwind wasn’t bad, or you have learnt to paddle strongly, and you all made it here!”

Catching up briefly after the event, Ritske did note that the wind limit for the event is a Force 6, and we hovered close to that on day two. But the organisation has contingencies, and he has already mapped out the potential rerouting to keep us on sheltered canals and off open water. Day two includes a long, very sheltered canal affectionately known as ‘The Jungle’. The conditions here were reasonable, and Ritske had imagined using this if necessary.

The event is all about the spirit of ‘Ohana’ family. The organisers just want to put on a safe, fun event, and it is a testament to them that so many people keep coming back. There have been a few changes, including the addition of new Board members and changes at the helm, but the spirit of the event continues to grow year on year.

One of the differences has been a growing number of Tour paddlers, and one group in particular stood out. A US charity, Flatwater (flatwater.org), set out to raise money to provide mental health counselling for people living with cancer and their families. Around 20 paddlers travelled to the event, many from Austin, Texas, where they host fundraising SUP events on a local lake. They massively surpassed their fundraising goal, actually raising more than $300,000. Others were fundraising for cancer research or building awareness of rare medical conditions.

What’s the paddling like?
Well, it depends! This year was ‘super windy’, so everyone had to adapt to hugging the windward shores of rivers and canals, swapping weeds on fins for relief from headwinds. Drafting teams quickly evolved in the Race categories. It is amazing how in tune you become with wind direction, trying to work out where you’ll get the best shelter and when to cross. Downwind, especially on the larger canals, it just became a blast with speeds often up to 10km/hr.

I think everyone will remember the third lake on day two!  After a crosswind crossing to Galamadammen, you start to paddle directly into the wind up a river, as it widened out, the chop grew, and suddenly you face De Moarre, a paddle across around 3km of windswept water before thankfully lunch and turning to head to the end of the day with a downwind section. The safety team picked up a few who were beaten by the weather, but most just gritted their teeth and went for it!

The enthusiasm and support of Friesland, a fiercely proud region, are palpable everywhere: blue and red flags, people on bridges, and residents watching the race on the ‘legends tracking’ system, cheering you on by name. The paddle itself takes you through 11 cities, where you ring a bell, admire historic houses, churches and wonderful old boats. Safety boats provide music, support and security. The scenery is amazing: windmills, Friesian horses, vast open skies with rainbows and dramatic clouds. Lovely, almost medieval towns where the canals you paddle on are like the main streets. The social media team have captured each day and provided excellent short videos summarising the route and scenes. Please take a look at their work to be really inspired.

At the finish this year, the organisers hosted meals in local restaurants or put on buffets with plenty of carbs and options. NGS provided a team of masseurs who definitely have excellent knowledge of SUP sport physio.

Accommodation is either on a fleet of traditional wooden sailing barges or in shared houses (with a minivan provided to each for transport).

I stayed in a house with Fabio and Ryan, along with SUP legends Peter Mulhauser (winner grandmasters), Andrea Forrer women’s winner, Henrik Carston (3rd Grand Masters), Karl Eugster from the US and Dorthe Nielsen (2nd Grand Diva) with husband Lars, a volunteer at the event. The atmosphere is very special with everyone sharing training regimes, nutrition and hydration advice. The mornings in the kitchen resembled an alchemist’s studio with hydration packs and powders, gels and finger taping.

The competition is divided into age groups:
In the open competition, winner Tim Oliver (CAN), Paulo Marconi (ITA) and Wietse de Boer (NL) jostled positions day by day. Tim completed the event in 22 hours and 40 minutes. After the event, he posted: “WHAT A WEEK… I’m still in a bit of shock that I was able to deliver a big performance and get the most out of myself at the Sup11citytour. To say that this event is hard would be the understatement of the century. My @starboardsup Sprint Zero 14 x 23 was the perfect weapon to tackle the wind and water of the Netherlands this past week. After I took the overall lead on stage 2, a super strong and cunning @paolomarconisup threw all he had at me for the remaining three days. An equally strong @wietseb pushed a crazy pace on the final day to keep me honest. Huge thank you to my dad and Margo for their daily support. This win feels really good. I think I’ll take a day or two off from training now, ha!”

In the masters (40 plus), the results were even closer, with just seven minutes separating winner Michael Barron USA from Andras Chlebovics HUN and Arnold den Ouden (NL). Mike is on his way over to Scotland for the Great Glen.

In the Grand Masters 50 plus, Peter Mulhauser SUI dominated with a total time of 23 hrs 48 minutes, followed by fellow countryman Stephane Guillermin SUI and housemate Henrik Carstens (DEN). Niall Colquhon posted an impressive 27 hours 28 minutes, putting him into 7th place in the strong Grand Masters category.

Further down the fleet, there were personal competitions each day. In my case, there were ‘three musketeers’. Each day, we crossed the finish line in sight of each other. We waited on the water for fist pumps and back slaps, thanks to Martin Luitwieler, NED, and Marcus Pozzetta, USA I think we encouraged each other to keep battling to come in under 31 hours (in my case, just behind Martin and into 10th place).

In the women’s competition, Andrea Forrer SUI dominated, winning day by day, followed by  Froukje Wichgers-Marien NED and  Hanneke de Jong NED.

In the Divas (a relatively small category this year), Sietske De Wit-Steenbeek NED won, followed by Juliane Neumann GER and Suzanne Den Hollander NED.

The Grand Divas (women 50 plus) had a strong field with Emmanuelle Marcon FRA beating last year’s winner Dorthe Nielsen DEN  and Anita Bruins NED. Notably, the UK’s own Emma Adams came in 4th.

Crown of the UK entrants, Team Loch SUP on the tandem, won the five days in 25 hours 38 minutes (amazing considering they had just done it all non-stop)

In the ‘Tour fleet’, many competitors were thoroughbred racers. Fabio Barbosa, who is well known in the UK, achieved an incredible 6th in the Tour and under 31 hours on an inflatable SUP.  This was Fabio’s first experience of 11 Cities, so how was it? “Absolutely amazing, I 100% recommend this as the best challenge. What a course – great views, but mostly the people. I knew it was going to be good, but not this good. This has been my best paddling experience. It’s also a great value. I’m amazed by the food, support, and excellent massage. I’m already coming back next year.” 

Ryan Owens from Sussex, a Red Paddle ambassador, was pleased to compete on an ISUP as well. “It is an exciting adventure better than my expectations. I thought it would be gruelling, but each day I seemed to want to paddle more”.

For the finishers, Anne Marie Reichman, the founder of the event, who had also decided to compete at the last minute, described the “Cross of Honour”, the finishers’ medal. This is a tradition from the original 11 cities ice skating event.

“Every mile we paddle together is important. We are all a family, as someone said, ‘we are the Tribe of 11 cities paddlers’”.
Anne Marie

My thanks go to a great set of housemates, who provided a week of SUP stories and chat, all the fantastic volunteers and organisers, all of whom do this for love and lastly to Marcus and Martin, fellow musketeers, thanks for pushing me along!

Full results and loads of detail can be found on the SUP 11 Cities website and socials: sup11citytour.com

Personally, all I can say is if you have ever thought about it, just do it. I hope some of the others will add their thoughts in the comments. Come along and join the Tribe!