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| Overall women |
I made a last minute decision to get myself to Germany for the third stop of the SUP World Series. I was in Colorado working with SeasonFive and despite it not making much sense I had four days of flying ahead of me. I headed to Maui for about 24hours where I was lucky enough to spend it with Sonni and Belar. We enjoyed good food, beach runs, a Maliko downwind run, and sun. It was definitely difficult to leave Maui so quickly but at least I knew I was coming back:)
Although I flew for pretty much 1.5 days it was actually quite okay. I slept most of the time on the planes and had perfect amount of connection times... I left Maui Wed night and arrived into Hamburg Friday morning where Phil, the SIC Rep for Germany kindly picked me up and we made our way to the island of Fehmarn. I didn't have time to get accommodations worked out but luckily, Mike from Season Five lent me a tent, I had brought a thermorest already, and Branislov kindly lent me a sleeping bag: I was set for a weekend of camping, racing, beach time, etc etc. Luckily the weather was perfect and so tenting totally worked out. I actually love sleeping in a tent and was pretty zonked that I just passed out both nights despite loud music surrounding us... haha
Friday Day 1
Charity Race.
We arrived at Camp David SUP WORLD CUP and the set up was pretty unreal with loads of tents, stages, beanbags, volleyball courts, BMX tracks, lights, booths... etc etc it felt really professional. We arrived just in time for me to be signed up for the charity team relay races. I had no idea these were going on but decided to join. My team consisted of Dominic Boeer, Tobias, Bertl, and myself. Each team had one professional racer and three "celebrities". We were all on inflatables: My team was on the SIC 12.6 x30 inflatable which worked out great as there were people with different comfort levels and slightly wavy conditions.... In total because we rocked it we raced four times... To make a long story short we won all the races and therefore won the overall and even made the front cover of the local newspaper:) We also got to donate 3000 euros to entertain sick children at a local hospitals. It was a great start to the weekend and was a great way to meet new people and get new people on boards and get ppl stoked. Really well planned and laid out:)
Sat Day 2
Sprint racing. I usually find sprint racing fairly stressful, as little mistakes can really affect the standings. It is short and can last the whole day... so nerves keep building and building as the day goes on... I really like waking up racing and then being able to enjoy the rest of the day so mentally these short, many heats over the entire day events are tough for me and something I need to work on managing mentally. The course was an M shape course about 500m long with a run to finish it off due to shallow waters. The ladies had three rounds and the best of 2 counted. Luckily there was a good headwind section to start where I was able to gain a lead and then a small downwind with a tough turn followed by headwind and downwind to finish it off. On all cases I was able to get out in front at the beginning and with the first two rounds hold on. The last round I don't know what happened to me but I fell 3 or 4 times and just couldnt pull it together.. Maybe as i won the first two something in my brain shut off? Not sure but I need to work on that:) it all matters:) haha. I managed to win the sprints for the pro women!
Sun Day 3
With strong winds, last minute changes were made to the course to ensure the use of the conditions were properly used to showcase the amazingness of the island. The course ended up being a 1km up/crosswind, 4km downwind and then 2x a triangle of 800m upwind, 200m sidewind, 1km downwind. I was happy to have the variety in there but did not expect such a challenging upwind section. I didn't mind it too much but it sure hurt and was pretty extreme. Basically, I went backwards every time I tried to switch paddling sides.. haha... it is one of those times where you just have to put your head down and paddle. I managed to win the distance race and therefore the overall title.
MOre PICS HERE
Thank you Phil Mandeau from SIC for all the help! I could not have done it without you!
Thank you to SUP World CUP, Watermanleague, and all the people organizing the event! I look forward to next year!
Back on Maui getting ready for M2O!
live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina
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