8.565 km. That is how far the 400 participants of the biggest 24-hour SUP relay event in the world, the Red Bull Midsummer Vikings in Copenhagen, Denmark, paddled this weekend under tough viking conditions!
After a great sunny day Saturday, the weather changed Sunday. In this, the 3rd edition, 400 paddlers in 80 teams from 21 countries battled through wind and heavy rain and also had to endure a 2-hour halt of the race due to safety reasons as thunder and lightning were looming in the area.
“I’m absolutely stoked and speechless that so many happy faces created a great atmosphere here at the 3rd edition of the Red Bull Midsummer Vikings. We had a great start to the race with great weather, but unfortunately had to stop the race for safety reasons and restart it Sunday morning due to bad weather with the risk of thunder and lightning. All the participants were great about it and took on the conditions as true vikings. We had a blast this weekend,” Casper Steinfath says.
Our Charity Project: SMILfonden (the SMILE Foundation)All teams were supporting the SMILE Foundation which helps chronically ill kids and teenagers to have a better life. The SMILE Foundation arranges summer camps and activities at the hospital – and some of the kids visited the Red Bull Midsummer Vikings at the start where they were out paddling with Casper Steinfath.
A total of 71.614 DKK (9.627 Euro) were collected by the participants and presented for the SMILE Foundation.
The event:Over 400 SUP paddlers from 21 countries in 80 different teams participate in the biggest 24 hour SUP relay race in the World!
The big midsummer festival took place at the Amager Beach Park in Copenhagen on a 5 km loop with both shallow waters in the lagoon and by the sea, Øresund, with a peak over to Sweden.
The paddlers started at 14.00 (2pm) Saturday afternoon and reached the finish Sunday at 14.00.
First and final lap
The Grand Depart (first lap) is for all 400 paddlers. Like at the Tour de France, all paddlers paddle the first 500 meters together before the actual start for the competing paddlers. The final lap, called the Champagne Lap, is also for all paddlers. At 13.00 Sunday afternoon, we set off at a low speed to finalize the Red Bull Midsummer Vikings.
The Naish Super Sprint at the Social Friday
A new event this year was the Social Friday where teams on Naish mega SUP boards battled on a 200 meter course around the lagoon, a nice BBQ
The course is a simple 200-meter dash down the official runway with a few obstacles on the way. Five people per team. It’s going to be a ton of fun! It’s free, and no booking is needed. You just show up and put you and your team on the list.
| Laps | ||||
| Rank | Teamname | First race | Second race | Total |
| 1 | Kona Race Team | 32 | 8 | 40 |
| 2 | Team Locals | 31 | 8 | 39 |
| 3 | Alster-Canoe-Club in Crazy Socks | 31 | 7 | 38 |
| 4 | SUP my race Team Pelikaan | 29 | 7 | 36 |
| 5 | Team Baltic Lifejackets | 29 | 7 | 36 |
| 6 | TEAM ONE | 28 | 7 | 35 |
| 7 | Team Vanlife | 28 | 7 | 35 |
| 8 | The very hungry caterpillars | 27 | 7 | 34 |
| 9 | Supbinckies | 26 | 7 | 33 |
| 10 | Bryggen SUP Club | 26 | 7 | 33 |
| 11 | Yster SUP | 26 | 7 | 33 |
| 12 | The Fearless GermanS | 25 | 6 | 31 |
| 13 | ACC-ALSTER-HEROES | 25 | 6 | 31 |
| 14 | Twins and T’s | 25 | 6 | 31 |
| 15 | SUPERFRONT | 24 | 6 | 30 |
| 16 | United SUPPERS | 24 | 6 | 30 |
| 17 | Sup Club Kiel | 24 | 6 | 30 |
| 18 | Southampton SUP Club Gungnir | 24 | 6 | 30 |
| 19 | Kona Team | 23 | 6 | 29 |
| 20 | Wessex Warriors | 23 | 6 | 29 |
| 21 | SURF’s SUP | 23 | 6 | 29 |
| 22 | Helgos Unleashed | 23 | 5 | 28 |
| 23 | Paddle to the metal | 23 | 5 | 28 |
| 24 | Mañana, Mañana | 22 | 6 | 28 |
| 25 | Paddling Puffins | 22 | 5 | 27 |
| 26 | Team Skymonster | 21 | 6 | 27 |
| 27 | Last Supper | 21 | 5 | 26 |
| 28 | Fabbey | 21 | 5 | 26 |
| 29 | Team Pleasant | 21 | 5 | 26 |
| 30 | Team SUP ´n SHAKA | 23 | 3 | 26 |
| 31 | Brudis | 20 | 6 | 26 |
| 32 | HS SUPerwoMEN 1 | 21 | 4 | 25 |
| 33 | Enø Vandsport | 20 | 5 | 25 |
| 34 | Can’t SUP beer stop | 20 | 5 | 25 |
| 35 | Padler Bedst i Blæst fra Vest | 19 | 6 | 25 |
| 36 | The Usual SUPspects | 19 | 5 | 24 |
| 37 | Aarhus Viking SUP | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| 38 | Saxon raiders | 19 | 4 | 23 |
| 39 | Kajakhotellet Rockstar | 17 | 6 | 23 |
| 40 | Kilted warriors | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| 41 | Team Leave a Mark | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| 42 | My Padel Club Gerlev TWO | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| 43 | Surfing Sharks | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| 44 | Helgoland Pirates | 18 | 4 | 22 |
| 45 | Bellevue Team 2 | 22 | 0 | 22 |
| 46 | Still cant SUP, beer stop | 17 | 4 | 21 |
| 47 | Team Turtle | 15 | 6 | 21 |
| 48 | Fanatic Danmark | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| 49 | Southampton SUP Club Gram | 21 | 0 | 21 |
| 50 | Stand Up | 19 | 1 | 20 |
| 51 | De Få Rå | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| 52 | Team Paddle Party | 15 | 4 | 19 |
| 53 | Team SUPpedasen | 19 | 0 | 19 |
| 54 | Young Guns and Old Barrels | 15 | 3 | 18 |
| 55 | Just smile and paddle | 12 | 5 | 17 |
| 56 | Cruising Turtles | 13 | 4 | 17 |
| 57 | SUP Sport Club Lübecker Bucht | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| 58 | ELB-SQUAD | 12 | 4 | 16 |
| 59 | Køgedrengene | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| 60 | Gentlemen’s | 16 | 0 | 16 |
| 61 | Fem Fine Frøkner | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| 62 | SUPtimist | 12 | 3 | 15 |
| 63 | Bellevue Team 1 | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 64 | Team NorthShore | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| 65 | Baltic Water Drops | 10 | 3 | 13 |
| 66 | Surfrider Foundation Baden-Pfalz | 11 | 1 | 12 |
| 67 | Team Hamburg | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 68 | The Aussie and the GerPo’s | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 69 | HS SUPerwoMEN 2 | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 70 | My Padel Club Gerlev One | 9 | 3 | 12 |
| 71 | Flittigmyre | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 72 | Bellevue Team 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 73 | Klitmøller Sup Sistas | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 74 | Helgoland Spotter Crew | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| DNS | Red Bull Danmark | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DNS | SMILfonden | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DNS | Smilfonden Heroes | 0 | 0 | 0 |