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SUP Alps Trophy Legend of Ox

Great race weekend in St. Gilgen where the Legend of OX SUP Race took place. The organizers can be very happy there were over 100 paddlers participating in the race. Looking at the top finishers it turns out there was quite an international field of athletes particularly with the women.

On the men side the podium was German affair only. Normen Weber once again won, but this time is usual rival Peter Weidert was not present. Manuel Lauble how ever came dangerously close to beat Normen in this one and missed the victory only by just over a second. Third was Ole Schwarz another German powerhouse who we have not seen racing much this season yet.

We are hoping to get more detailed results from the organizers as soon as possible.

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Ladies Longdistance Top 10

  1. Iva Dundova – CZE – 1:11:41.19
  2. Susanne Eder-Meyer – BRD – 1:11:50.94
  3. Marion Seebauer – AUT – 1:12:40.47
  4. Andrea Forrer – SUI – 1:13:19.38
  5. Andrea Kämmerer – BRD – 1:1:13:32.68
  6. Yvi Mahoney – SUI – 1:1:14:28.75
  7. Mandy Lehmann – BRD – 1:15:10.52
  8. Maja Dolzan – SLO – 1:16:28.46
  9. Reka Slekta – HUN – 1:1:16:33.08
  10. Anna Hykova – CZE – 1:16:38.50

Men Longdistance Top 10

  1. Normen Weber – BRD – 1:00:13.58
  2. Manuel Lauble – BRD – 1:00:15.19
  3. Ole Schwarz – BRD – 1:01:57.96
  4. Christian Taucher – AUT – 1:02:37.34
  5. Petr Rohiena – CZE – 1:03:43.50
  6. Hermann Husslein – BRD – 1:03:50.15
  7. Andray Kraitor – BUL – 1:03:59.43
  8. Vojtech Saidenglanz – CZE – 1:04:12.80
  9. Dominik Blasko – HUN – 1:04:18.28
  10. Karsten Pötschk – BRD – 1:04:52.82

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Legend of OX Stand Up Paddle Race

The Legend of Ox takes place this year already for the 5th time. In recent years, the Legend of Ox developed into an increasingly popular event at Lake Wolfgang.

The Legend of Ox has already hosted the Austrian SUP National Championships, the SUP Alps Trophy and this year we are happy to be part of the ICF World Ranking League for the first time. The ICF World Ranking League is a worldwide league created by the International Canoe Federation, in which the world’s best Stand Up Paddlers can collect points for participation in the World Championships.

The Legend of Ox officially starts on Saturday, June 4 with the Technical Race, followed by the Team Technical Race, in both events the athletes & relay teams compete against each other in heats to advance to the finals. This will be followed by the award ceremony and after race party at the lido in St.Gilgen.
On Sunday, June 5, the event day starts with the Long Distance Race over 12km, followed by the Kids Race for children up to 13 years. In the afternoon the Legend of Ox will end with the eponymous main competition, the Legend of Ox Race, which will start at the lido St.Gilgen, go around the Ochsenkreuz Island and back to the lido St.Gilgen. A distance of 3 km is mastered.

All competitions are open to professionals and amateur athletes alike.

On all days there is plenty of entertainment, so each day starts with a warm-up yoga by regional yoga experts. Throughout the day there is a small but nice expo area where it is possible for all interested to test boards and SUP equipment. But also for the physical well-being is provided, so all visitors are supplied by our team with cool drinks and food. The days end with an after race party at the lido St.Gilgen, with moody music and time to enjoy a relaxed early summer evening.

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Legend of Ox Results

The SUP community couldn’t be happier: The ASF (Austrian SUP Federation) and the organizers of the Legend of Ox at the Wolfgangsee had a successful start of the season. We could almost call it a post-pandemic start.

We have just received the results and are happy to see that the SUP community came to Wolfgangsee in droves after a long break. In the main discipline of the Longdistance Ole Schwarz won. Congratulations! Hats off to Peter Weidert, Peter is 25 years older than Ole, so he could be his father and Ole beat him by just 21 seconds. Also outstanding the achievement of Gerd Weisner, the man starts in the Ăś50 class and gets 7th over all. That is a clear message to the youn guns!

With the ladies Iva Dundova won the longdisance with a respective 35th place over all.

The ASF is then also very satisfied with the race and summarizes the two days like this:

Day 1

Very successful ASF Tour start 2021 at the Wolfgangsee. The organising team of the LEGEND OF OX has set all the levers in motion to offer the international SUP community an exciting paddle event. Yesterday was the technical race as a highlight on the program and the athletes had to fight not only through several heats, hope rounds and finals but also had all 4 seasons alternately as opponents. From a local point of view Marion Seebauer, who starts for the SUP Club Burgenland, was able to climb the podium with her 3rd place. In the men’s race Mika Mayerhofer showed an impressive performance and increase compared to last year and was able to hold his ground just before Christian Taucher (both Sup Club Graz) and behind two absolute top paddlers from Germany on 3rd place.

Day 2

Second day of the LEGEND OF OX, and also today it was a coherent, well attended and very well organized event.on the program today was the long distance with and then the actual race exclusively on Isup for the Legend of OX Trophy. On the long distance, Christian Taucher, the reigning national champion of this discipline from the SUP Sportclub Graz, was able to paddle his way onto the podium and reached 3rd place. In the women’s classification, Marion Seebauer, currently the strongest lady in Austria on the long distance, delivered a hard but fair fight for victory until the finish line and finally took 2nd place. The race for the Oxen Trophy was dominated and won by Marion Seebauer in the women’s race and in the men’s race her club colleague from the Sup Club Burgenland, Michael Frosch, also showed a very strong performance and missed the podium as the best Austrian by just a touch. The ASF family and its numerous friends would like to thank the organization team of this great event and all those who made it possible for this competition to take place under difficult conditions.

Long Distance 2021 Men

PlaceNameNat.Time
1OleSchwarzDE01:07:38.98
2PeterWeidertDE01:07:59.62
3Christian TaucherAT01:08:07.10
4Manuel Lauble DE01:09:12.15
5OndrejPetrak CZE01:09:44.93
6Mika MayerhoferAT01:10:33.29
7GerdWeisnerDE01:10:44.37
8Michael HacklAT01:10:45.49
9ThomasStraubelDE01:11:01.40
10Alexander StertzikDE01:11:58.82
11ThomasKreiselDE01:12:20.82
12Jan MönchDE01:12:53.07
13PhilippReinerAT01:13:09.64
14MIchael FroschAT01:13:14.41
15Michael Durchschlag AT01:15:06.06
16MicheleCapizziDE01:15:08.93
17Wolgang KennelDE01:15:21.71
18TimoHageDE01:15:24.25
19AndreasKämmererDE01:15:41.99
20HolgerHassenpflugAT01:15:44.68
21ArminZeitlerDE01:15:55.33
22AndreasPortenschlagerAT01:15:58.80
23Klaus Dedial DE01:16:30.50
24Michal KopeckyCZE01:16:33.46
25AlexGäblerDE01:16:36.06
26ArndDĂĽnzingerDE01:16:42.89
27JochenBäckerAT01:16:49.35
28NorbertHödlAT01:16:54.99
29Christian JavernikAT01:17:03.01
30HemeryEperaniaFR01:17:05.67
31StefanWendtAT01:17:11.09
32JakobMarketzAT01:17:46.18
33AdrianCahenzliCH01:19:03.67
34Georg SchöpfDE01:19:47.21
37David MĂĽller AT01:20:46.66
38MichaelMarketzAT01:20:53.00
39Helmut GottsbergerAT01:21:21.88
40GisoMerklDE01:21:29.86
41RudolfVan HavenAT01:21:50.01
43Michael SchubertDE01:22:13.42
44Matthias SchöningDE01:22:23.84
46TorstenLangeDE01:22:36.84
47AndreasWĂĽlfingDE01:23:43.97
48Roman GartlgruberAT01:23:59.87
49JulianGottwaldDE01:24:47.27
50ReinholdWeiĂźDE01:25:23.53
52Axel DineklmeyerDE01:25:39.61
54Michael Karst DE01:27:25.43
55Klaus KsanderAT01:28:18.38
56FredyFinkAT01:29:25.60
58Clemens Aufschlager AT01:31:39.30
59JĂĽrgen Einfalt DE01:32:52.53
60RobertWeisnerDE01:34:45.32
61MichaelMessmerDE01:35:06.49
62Dominik GrieĂźenböckDE01:35:23.94
64GlennSchelzig DE01:35:50.94
65ManfredHocherDE01:35:57.35
66FranckDouradFR01:41:58.84

Long Distance 2021 Women

PlaceNameNat.Time
1Iva DundovaDE01:20:23.71
2Marion SeebauerAT01:20:25.50
3AndreaKämmererDE01:21:59.95
4SusanneEder-MeyerDE01:22:31.16
5Petra PyfffraderAT01:25:33.26
6IsabelleJatzkoAT01:27:17.31
8MandyLehmannDE01:30:09.63
9DagmarTaucherAT01:35:43.37
10JanaCervinkovaCZE01:51:55.51

Technical Race Ladies Finale

PlaceNameNat.Time
1SusanneEder-MeyerDE00:06:11.10
2JosephinaKarstDE00:06:22.39
3Marion SeebauerAT00:06:33.35
4Victoria HoppeDE00:06:34.40
5IsabelleJatzkoAT00:06:39.67
6SonjaSteineder AT00:06:41.45
7DagmarTaucherAT00:06:53.65
8Petra PyfffraderAT00:07:14.61

Technical Race Men Finale

PlaceNameNat.Time
1OleSchwarzDEkeine Angaben
2PeterWeidertDE
3Mika MayerhoferAT
4Christian TaucherAT
5Jan MönchDE
6Manuel Lauble DE
7TimoHageDE
8PhilippReinerAT
9GerdWeisnerDE
10Michael HacklAT
11Michael Durchschlag AT
12MicheleCapizziDE
13Alexander StertzikDE
14Tristan De-KlerkDE
15JakobMarketzAT
16NorbertHödlAT

SUP Alps Trophy Legend of Ox

September 28 @ 8:00 September 29 @ 17:00 UTC-7

This race was cancelled in 2023 but is now back in 2024. We are waiting for details.

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SUP Alps Trophy Interview after a great 2022 season

At the end of the 2nd season of the SUP Alps Trophy under the new leadership of Gerd Weisner, we wanted to hear how the season went and what plans Gerd has for 2023.

Hello Gerd, thank you very much for taking the time for the Stand Up Magazine. It is now the 2nd year that you are running the SUP Alps Trophy.

For those of who are newer to the scene, please tell us again what motivated you to take over the tour from the founder Alois MĂĽhlegger 2 years ago.

I came from Action Sports and got to know Endurance Sports and SUP RACING is a prime example of the drugs the body releases as a reward for Endurance Sports, a real healthy drug that fascinates me.

The SUP Alps Trophy is one of the few race series in Europe that delivers quality. There was no doupt for me lead the tour of Alois into the next decade.

But let’s now look back at the 2022 season. Can you draw a conclusion for us and give us an outlook for 2023?

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Gerd Weisner and Rudy van Haven

After the 2 difficult “Corona years” we had more than 350 participants in the Longdistance Pro and Funclass 2022 and we are happy that we represent the top of SUP RACING in the German-speaking area in terms of quantity and quality.

We are especially pleased that we have now attracted top athletes from CZ, CRO, SLO, HUN, ITA to the Trophy. We are running 6 events where the top 3 results are brought in. This makes the ranking very honest and the best are on the podium at the end.

In terms of spectators and band width we had exemplary at the season opening ” The Lake Rocks” in Villach 20 local Big Sup teams introduced to racing and from the dentists, to the judges, the diaconia, the sports clubs additionally 160+ participants who have tasted in and we plan here very much more 2023. 

What did you take from your first year into the second?

We want to set up real SUP festivals. My team Rudy van Haven, Normen Weber, Hermann Husslein, Volker Ebermayr are so important. Without them, none of this would be at this level. Together we have a lot of expertise and can implement competitions at a high level. Add to that our experienced organizers and great venues and that’s our foundation. Next season we will offer an additional format and make the entry into SUPRACING more attractive for newcomers.

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For the season opening “The Lake Rocks” at Faaker See / Villach 18.05-21.05.2023 we will offer 4 days of Racing & SUP Festival. On Thursday evening the new format will take place an Aircross Race (Boardercross) on up to 14’ISUP in an ascending and descending system. With this, all participants will race the same number of heats and no one will be eliminated. Up to 16 paddlers go at the same time on the narrow buoy course and everything is allowed only no paddle against paddler and board but board contact is allowed.

On Friday we will introduce up to 40 local Big Sup teams and 20 school groups, to 1,000 paddlers to SUPRACING.

Saturday will be the highlight – the Longdistance Pro and the Funrace. Sunday we organize the Tech Race at the lido with hundreds of spectators. I believe that in 2023 we can welcome international top paddlers at the season opening and celebrate together with all participants and spectators Abendas at the lido.

When I look at the results of 2022 and also in general the SUP Alps Trophy is 90% occupied by Germans and Austrians. But the Alps go through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and France.

Yes you are right Mike, Europe is big and we have participants from GER, AUT, CZE, SLO, CRO, ITA, THA, POL, HUN but e.g. none from FRA and ESP. Germany and Austria are central and attractive for many nations.

The “Tour de France” attracts many nations and takes place only in France. 

Our Trophy takes place in Germany and Austria. However, we can imagine Slovenia, Italy… as venues in the future.

The most important thing is that our participants can bring 3 results from 6 events to represent a real, comparable ranking. The top 3 results count, whereby the season finale is decisive in the event of a tie.

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How difficult is it to find venues in Italy, Switzerland and France? Are there ambitions to expand the tour to these countries?

Switzerland has its own Sup Suisse Tour although top racers like Peter Mühlhauser and Adrian Cahenzli or Guido Donzé have competed in our tour.

My gut feeling is that there will be a lot of additional paddlers from Hungary, Slovenia and Italy in 2023. The season opener at “The Lake Rocks” at the Faaker See will be equipped with a solid prize money for the Longdistance Pro. This will attract the Euro Elite.

Each of our races should attract 150-300+ supracers. We are open to interested venues / tourist regions in the Alpine region. But it is not easy to coordinate this with the national organizers.

I always see the Alps Trophy a little bit as a counterpart to the EURO TOUR but only in the alpine region. How could we manage to attract more EURO internationals to the tour? There are many strong and well-known paddlers in Europe. How do we bring them to the Alps?

Mike, let us surprise you with the season opener of the SUP Alps Trophy with really top prize money. This will attract the elite.

Make our mouths a little watery so that we can already look forward to 2023. Rumor has it that Villach on Lake Faak will be the place to be in 2023?

The season opening at Lake Faak will be a MEGA SUP FESTIVAL, 4 days around the Ascension Day holiday with races for beginners and the elite and party, live music . The event area is directly at the lake a large campsite with mobile homes, gastronomy…and an insane mountain scenery and turquoise water. As mentioned above, the Air Cross is new. After that we have the next event at Whitsun at the Wolfgangsee “Legendofox” and then 14 days later the SUPALOT at the AltmĂĽhlsee.

That sounds like a real festival with a great supporting program. I just had a look at our interview from March 2021. When it came to your visions for the future, that’s what you said back then:

“At the Trophy events we also have testing opportunities and a nice general program and provide more than a race – festivals of SUP sport. The Legend of Ox at the Wolfgangsee is already a festival of SUP sports.”

Is the concept of SUP Festivals a guarantee of success?

That’s right. It is a gathering of SUP RACERS, SUP RACE LOVER, their families, moderation and photos at top level and testing opportunity of boards, paddles of our sponsors Fanatic, Starboard, JP, Light, Braca and Sic and 2023 possibly other brands. The most important thing is the sport, but apart from that at the events we offer a gathering of the paddling scene, music & food and a great time. All visitors and participants are the “GOOD TIMES CREW.” Paddlers are friendly, humble you know it only comes out what you put in and really fit at any age. And in a healthy body is a healthy mind. I know few sports that are so gracious to deliver high performance without stress on joints. SUP RACING keeps you young.

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Finally, a question that probably reaches far into the future: are you watching the foil trend? Have you seen that there are people who can paddle themselves into “foil flight mode” with a SUP foil board in shallow water using a paddle.

Do you talk to people around you about this? Do you know people who are interested in learning it?

We’ve been following that, of course, and I think in cconnection with wing and waves it makes sense, but it’s a very different sport.

If there are enough people who can do this, could you imagine integrating SUP Foil Flatwatersprints? That would be something for the spectators.

Ich glaube an reines Pump Foiling im flachen Wasser noch nicht.

Ich weiĂź momentan ist das wahrscheinlich eher eine rhetorische Frage, ich will aber in ein paar Jahren zurĂĽckschauen und sehen was passiert ist.

I may be wrong and am currently skeptical.

Finally, very briefly into the near future: can you already share the complete 2023 tour schedule with us?

  • 18.05-21.05.2023 „THE LAKE ROCKS“   Faaker See / Villach
  • 27.05-28.05. 2023 „LEGENDOFOX“  Wolfgangsee /  St. Gilgen
  • 10.-11.06.2023 „SUPALOT“ AltmĂĽhlsee / Gunzenhausen

+ 3 weitere Events tba

Thank you for everything and a successful 2023 season. Stand Up Magazin is always happy to assist the tour as a press partner.

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SUP Alps Trophy Insider Story

Its been a while we heard a story of some paddlers taking the wrong turn. In this case our paddler(s) managed to paddle 200m in the wrong direction and still end up on podium.

Thank you Gerd Weisener for this Insider Story:

Gerd-Weisner-SUP-Racer
Gerd is passionate SUP Racer, founder of the brand light corp and head of the SUP Alps Trophy. (This man is busy.) Foto ©ICF

SUPRACE LOVERS – INSIGHTS OF THE LONGDISTANCE PRO –  2. TOURSTOP SUP ALPS TROPHY – LEGEND OF OX

The first SUP Alps Trophy tour stop, THE LAKE ROCKS at the beautiful location in Kärnten, Faaker See, has been a great success and many new faces from Slovenia, Hungary as well as some friends from Italy competed against the Austrian and German SUP racers.

The 2nd tour stop was hosted at lake Wolfgang in the beautiful town St. Gilgen and is as well a real SUP FESTIVAL – LEGEND OF OX – an iconic event. Besides many elite paddlers from Austria, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia we have been happy to see a huge participation from Czech Republic and Poland including some of their top youngsters and legends as well as international elite paddlers like Andrey Kraytor starting for Bulgaria, paddling against Ole Schwarz and Normen Weber.

Allow me tell you some insights of what happen from my perspective in the men’s pro longdistance race:

The SUP Alps Trophy Top Ten 2022 will be a hard catch. The number of participants and quality of paddlers is getting better and better each year. This race series will be the breeding ground for future top athletes in our territory as well as the largest gathering of SUP racing enthusiasts.

At the start line we saw former Olympians in canoe sports, hungry youngsters, national champions and proven masters that have won medals in the last ICF World Championships.

The race course has been like a large tech race with many buoys. Each round was around 3,4 km in a total of 3 rounds. Start line to the first buoy has been 550m and as expected the top paddlers  as Ole Schwarz, Normen Weber and Andrej Kraytor have been at the forefront with a new face that did impress quite a lot, Manuel Lauble.

Austrian champ Christian Taucher followed with Bransislav Sramek and Hermann Husslein not far behind. In the next pack there have been many paddlers including me and it has been a big mix of new and old faces. After the 4th buoy, rock´n roll started and the 2 leading paddlers Andrey and Ole took the wrong direction forgetting about one buoy and had to take 200m extra not to get disqualified. Normen Weber and Manuel Lauble did not make that mistake.

In the field behind it has been a new and occasionally happy circumstance to find a lucky draft from Ole and Andrey to split with their usual competitors. 

My favorite new paddler in this longdistance was Manuel Lauble. He was improving most this year as did my friend and dark horse Hermann Husslein who had a fall in front of me at the first buoy and did paddle hard to finish with a strong 6th place. The podium has been earned by a clever Normen Weber, a heavily improved Manuel and a superfast Ole in 3rd.

Funny story behind Oles’ wrong turn: At night we have had dinner with Ole, Normen, Hermann and Olaf Schwarz (father) and I asked: “Ole, why didn´t you hear your father scream when you turned the wrong direction?“ Simple answer, he was paddling with earbuds, paddling with the beat. No complain it works, he is fast but 3rd.

Cheers

Gerd

P.S Excited to hear your impressions about your race – doesn´t matter fighting for top ten or top 30… and what happened in the elite women’s field ?

SUP Alps Trophy LEGEND OF OX Longdistance

SUP Alps Trophy Ranking 2022 after the 2nd Tourstop

Next Tourstop SUPALOT 18.-19.06.2022

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Sports Camps SUP Training and Rentals

Welcome to Sports Camps Group. We offer and organize highly effective sport camps for professional athletes in canoe/kayak, rowing and stand-up paddling (SUP) to provide competitive and high-level training to athletes, prerequisite for their good competition achievements. Our top camp locations are in Turkey, Portugal, Italy, Bulgaria and Croatia.

The locations, facilities and infrastructure we suggest are adaptive and could meet all athletes’ needs for an effective sport training. The Sport Camps Group offers variety services from logistic to great training and outdoors conditions such as:  

  • Airport transfers
  • Water courses
  • Gymnasiums
  • Canoes, Kayaks, SUP boards
  • Accommodation
  • Food
  • Recovery areas
  • Speed boats for coaches.

Events

  • ICF Flat Water events
  • ICF SUP events
  • FISA official events

Sports Camps is working with leading international boat manufacturers, such as Plastex, Nelo, Starboard.  and already is working with a number of large international sport squads. Our services come from athletes to athletes and because we know what the important ingredients for a complete training are, a number of international federations and large international sport squads have trusted our expertise.

Sports Camps is the official partner of International Canoe Federation (ICF) and is authorized in providing all types of boats and stand-up boards to competitors in the upcoming World Cups and World Championship events. We are very happy to be working with the International Canoe Federation (ICF) and be their partner and are looking forward to joining them at canoeing competitions to showcase the love for all water sports and the pleasant emotions they bring not only for professionals but to everyone that would like to participate. Sports Camps also offers camps for SUP lovers of all levels, which are run by our highly – experienced SUP coaches.

OUR MISSION AND VISION

“Our long-term goal is to make life easier for paddlers and their coaches. If we can take away the worry about what happens off the water, it will translate into better competition results.”

RENTALS

Sports Camps is the official partner of International Canoe Federation (ICF) and is authorized in providing and renting all types of boats and stand-up boards and logistics to competitors in the upcoming World Cups and World Championship events.

  • COMPETITIONS RENTAL
  • CAMP RENTALS
  • LOGISTIC
  • StarBoard SUP / LightCorp SUP /LiquidCItizen / QB

Inquiries:

manuel@sports-camps.net

+61 433 269 359 WA/Viber

www.sports-camps.net

2022 EVENTS

  • May 7-9 Thun, Switzerland
  • ICE Race Lake Thun
  • May 28-29 Prague , Czech , PRAGUE SUP RACE
  • June 4-5 Austria ( Lake Wolfgang) , “Legend of Ox” SUP RACE
  • June 17-19 Budapest, Hungary , SUP FESTIVAL
  • September 7-11 , Gdynia / Poland , ICF SUP World Championship 2022

Sport Camps will be at the race in Thun and we had some questions:

If I rent a board from you guys for Thun online. I like to know somethings:

  • Where do I pick up my board?
  • Who do I talk to about it?
  • Where do I drop off the board after the race?
  • What about the transportation you offer?
  • For EUR 300.- does that mean I can bring my personal board to Thun and you transport to Prague, Lake Wolfgang, Budapest and Gdynia?
  • Or: I can rent a board at each race for EUR 350.

Answers:

  • You will pick up your board at the Sports Camps Tent at the competitions site, our team staff will provide all what you requested.
  • You can book your board at our web site www.sports-camps.net or contact by email manuela@sports-camps.net or WA/Viber +61 433 269 359
  • Depending on the venue and the finish area, you will either leave your board in the Sports Camps tent or a member of our staff will pick it up.Also, if you plan to go to other stages of the ICF World Cups and World Championship, we can transport your personal board, please contact us for details.
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ASF President Christian Taucher Interview

Hooray we had the first SUP race in who knows how long. We already have the results online and so we thought why not do a short interview with Christian Taucher from the ASF (Austrian SUP Federation) to round off the Legend of Ox SUP Race.

Aloha Christian, thank you very much for your time. The SUP community was very happy to finally race again. Tell us briefly how the atmosphere was at the Wolfgangsee?

Hello Mike, hello Stand Up Paddle World!

The Legend of Ox in St. Gilgen at the Wolfgangsee, has been one of the SUP event highlights in Europe for years and the organization team, around mayor Otto Kloiber and the event professionals Rupert Hödlmoser, Thomas Auer and Valentin Hödlmoser, have managed to carry out sensational races with supporting program also this year.

The atmosphere was excellent despite, the for this time of year extremely untypical really cold and bad weather!

We all athletes were incredibly happy to participate in a race again and to meet other paddlers with whom you otherwise only had contact via social media.

It was a bit like a big family reunion after a long time. It was wonderful!

Let’s talk briefly about the performance of the paddlers: Could you tell that people were able to use the lockdown for training? Was the performance level like it was before the pandemic?

Oh yes, you could see that very well. The athletes used the time of the lockdowns in Europe very well to train. In most countries in Europe stand up paddling was allowed during all the lockdowns, people had less work, less social obligations and more time for sports and nutrition

The performance level has risen sharply, the performance density has become much higher, the gaps smaller. Especially the athletes in the midfield have come closer to the top. Only 2min. distance between place 30 and place 15 shows already what has happened on the 11.2Km of the long distance race!

How have you personally prepared for the race and kept fit over the last few months?

Personally, I was able to train really well last year and I spent more time on the water than ever before. My focus was clearly on basic endurance which was and still is a little bit the weak point of my athletic performance.

Do you take a structured approach to preparation with training planning and analysis or do you just try to spend as much time on the water as possible?

I studied sports science and have been coaching athletes from various sports for many years. Last year I joined forces with Philipp Reiner, who runs Personal Peak, a large coaching company specializing in triathletes and endurance athletes. This year, Dr. Sunsanne Eder-Meyer, another highly qualified coach, joined us. Together we coach Stand Up Paddle athletes under the name SUP.Training which is also the homepage domain. Of course we also make a structured training plan for ourselves. Especially amateur athletes like us benefit a lot from a structured training week, because you can achieve more performance with less time.

Tell us briefly how the Long Distance race was from your point of view you were just 30 seconds behind the winner Ole Schwarz and 8 seconds behind Peter Weidert. After that the gap was over a minute to the 4th place. How did you 3 fight for the victory?

The start of the race was very fast until the first buoy after 700m… we paddled the first kilometer in 5:22min including the first buoy turn.

Nevertheless, there were a good 10 paddlers. First at the buoy was the Czech champion Ondrej Petrak, I was in 4th position.

After about 1.5km a boat with photographers crossed in front of us. This caused quite a bit of chaos. Everyone sprinted to surf the boat waves. Ole Schwarz was the only one to catch them and surfed 50m ahead, Peter Weidert with his incredible sprinting strength also opened a small gap on Ondrej Petrak and me. Behind us a small gap opened up, which we were able to increase.

I felt good and wanted to close the gap to Peter Weidert, which I did in lap 2. Ondrej Petrak could not quite keep up the pace and had to let go. He was later even overtaken by the onrushing “Dark Horse” Manuel Lauble.

Peter Weidert and I then took turns in the lead work to catch up with Ole Schwarz. We came quite close to him from time to time. But Ole controlled the race very well and never let us get too close to him.

In the end, Peter Weidert and I were pretty exhausted. Peter didn’t give me a chance in the finishing sprint and deserved 2nd place. It is incredible how strong he is despite his much older age! This deserves great respect and also shows nicely how long you can still remain competitive in the SUP sport!

You are not only an active athlete, but also president of the ASF. How do you see the future of SUP events in 2021 nationally and internationally?

2021 will still be a difficult season due to the different restrictions and regulations in the various regions of the world.

As in many other areas of the economy, the crisis shows which event organizers are really good. They find solutions and ways to hold events at a high level.

Other events, which were already on the brink without Covid19, will disappear from the race calendars. Unfortunately, there are certainly also cases of hardship in particularly hard-hit regions of the world that work great, but still have no chance to organize a good event this season. But these events will come back in 2022 and be successful!

Nationally, we have it a bit easier than some other nations because we have a very lean federation structure with top managers like Rudy Heriszt, reliable organizers and a very good cooperation with ISA and ICF and their Austrian representatives.

The ASF SUP Tour even took place last season with several tour stops and will be a great success again this season.

Thank you Christian for everything and still much success, thank you for the good cooperation.

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SUP Alps Trophy 2021 Interview with new organizer

GERD WEISNER

Gerd Weisner is now the new man behind the SUP Alps Trophy. Many already know him as an active SUP racer. We talked with Gerd about the future, his plans and the SUP sport.

Aloha Gerd, thanks for your time.

First of all, I would like to thank you on behalf of Stand Up Magazine and probably the SUP community for saving the SUP Alps Trophy with your team. Is it even allowed to say that? Did you have to save the Trophy or were there other contenders?

Thank you Mike for the kind words. Yes, I think there were also groups among the participants who wanted to continue the Trophy. To keep the level, it needs courage to invest, event and media experience, contacts in the scene and the industry. I had given Alois the sign that if no successor could be found, we could do it. Then it went very quickly and I could plan the Trophy 2021 with the help of Alois, Cornelia, many paddlers and organizers quite uncomplicated. I was especially pleased that the Prime Board sponsors have also agreed promptly and that we can make a professional media appearance with the budgets. Among other things, all events are accompanied by a professional scene photographer. And no surprise Klotzi is on board. Furthermore, we have experienced moderators & race director in the team and can support organizers if necessary.

What are the biggest changes in the tour under your management?

We have not made any changes to the clear structure and the points system. 6 events and the best 3 results count in the annual ranking. New is an additional event.

Grundlsee Trophy . Thus, the Austrian participants can bring with the season finale at Pilsensee easier 3 results.

The scoring system is so sophisticated that a paddler with e.g. 2 wins ends up ahead of the paddler with 3 fourth places. Thus, the SUP Alps Trophy forms the best possible representation of the performance in the annual rankings.

We have simplified the board classes and all disciplines Fun Class (short distance 3-5km) as well as the Pro Class Longdistance (8-13km) can be contested by all participants with free choice of board up to max. 14′ hardboard or ISUP (exception short distance at Legend of Ox (ISUP)). Also the youth can freely choose the material.

At the season finale there will be podiums for the top placements and podiums for age groups . In addition, there will be a podium for the best participants on ISUP.

The events of our Trophy are SUP festivals. Here all SUP race enthusiastic paddlers can participate, watch, test and get tips and tricks on technique at clinics.

The new web portal looks very good, it is noticeable that you see many faces. You can create your own profile and also in general you seem to focus on a lot of content. Tell us a bit more about the “Meet the Paddlers” concept.

The SUP Alps Trophy competitions are open and we invite all participants to get a taste of the SUP racing world. At the same time, the races are usually very well staffed and we have National Champions competing here. Paddlers and all friends of SUP Racing can upload their paddler profile and get to know the participants in advance. We are one big family and that’s what the website is supposed to represent. But behind the concept of “Meet the Paddlers” is more than bios of the participants. We have interviews with athletes in the “Paddler Cast” that we present on the portal. In addition, we post a new interview every Friday on FB. Here you can find out how they found their way to SUP racing, news about training, equipment, strategy but also a little gossip. I had the first 3 interviews with Normen, Weber, Joep van Bakel and Christian Taucher – all champions in their nations. The next guests are Carsten Kurmis, Hermann Husslein, Rudy van Haven…and we will also have a Masters talk round. Until the first events we will keep you entertained. The concept “Meet the Paddlers” also includes clinics at the events. In about 30 minutes kids, beginners and newcomers to the race world get tips on masterial, training and technique…

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What are your visions for the future of the Trophy and SUP racing in general?

SUP Racing embraces grassroots and elite sports alike. In the races, beginners compete in the field of top athletes. The more the better, best example is the GlaGla Race in Annecy with 600+ paddlers on the start line. At the Trophy events we also have testing opportunities and a nice general program and provide more than one race – festivals of SUP sport. The Legend of Ox at Wolfgangsee is already a festival of SUP sports.

Wir haben in Deutschland einiges an SUP Rennen eine Deutsche Gesamtwertung scheint aber noch im Hintergrund, kann die SUP ALPS TROPHY hier Abhilfe schaffen?

The Trophy brings together paddlers from many nations. The largest number comes from Germany, Austria. But we also have starters from the Czech Republic, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland and Benelux. Certainly our year-end ranking gives a good and fair overview of the performance level. A Trophy victory is something special and well on par with a national championship. After all, not only national top athletes compete here, but also champions from neighboring countries. I think the federations should include the races of our Trophy in their overall ranking. Partly this is already happening, when I think of the ASF / Austria. But as far as I know there is no German overall ranking yet. Here is a lot in motion, but before 2022 I expect no solution in Germany.

Political question: The German SUP sport is still fragmented. How do you feel about the organized SUP sport in Germany?

The SUP Alps Trophy is organized by paddlers for paddlers and we are independent.

DWV and DKV are multisport associations and had not focused on SUP so far.

But now that the Olympics are beckoning, things are moving. However, it seems to be difficult in all the committees to bring topics such as regulations, races, team, annual ranking list promptly to a common denominator, if everything is done on a voluntary basis.

The ICF has brought in a big template and this is the direction it will probably go. DWV and DKV cooperate in Germany in the best sense. In Germany we have 1000+ canoe clubs. If they open up more to the SUP sport SUP racing can explode. The possibility to store boards, direct access to the water, organized training and youth work will then become much easier.

A quick word about you and your work, looking at your company’s website you seem to be knee deep in the surf and skate world. How natural was the step to SUP?

In fact, SUP was not a topic with us until 2015. Skateboarding is its own world and far away from water sports with overlaps into the core surf scene. Surf and SUP also did not have much contact – rather friction. We as a distributor for many core surf brands and as a manufacturer of LIGHT SURFBOARDS this was not a question for a long time and although I myself had more and more fun with wave sup, we sat out the first boom phase of SUP. In 2016 I was at a meeting in Sydney and we were presenting collections and testing surfboards. Tom Carroll Mr. Pipeline was there and we had a good time surfing and SUPing. He is a big wave surfer, real Waterman and has been addicted to SUP. Well and then we got LIGHT-SUP off the ground. I went from fitness SUP training for the next surf trip to the race scene and caught fire. We designed raceboards and were the first on the market with hollow raceboards. By now LIGHTBOARDCORP is well established and I have more and more friends from the core surf world, Watermen who keep fit on the Race SUP. You wake up and look at the Atlantic – small waves SUP surf and race, wind – downwind, perfect waves with Juice – down on the surfboard.

You distribute a lot of core brands, so it would be obvious that we will see more core brands in SUP sports in the future. How do you see the situation that one day we will still see lifestyle clothing labels that target the SUP enthusiasts?

Surf is very dominant and the Clothing brands will not dilute your marketing. I think SUP brands bring products that reach into the lifestyle..

You are also very active in SUP racing yourself. Tell us briefly how you got into the sport and what fascinates you about SUP racing?

In 2017 I had my first SUP race, but have always paddled a lot to keep fit for the next surf trip. My first race was after a boat trip 2 weeks through the Indian Ocean and I thought there I’m quite good. There was something on the ears and that has awakened my sporting ambition. 4 months later I was fit and won my first race and joined the SKG Hanau canoe club. Here I can train with Peter Weidert and Hermann Husslein, among others. In 2018 I then became German Masters B champion in the long distance and I managed to do that again in 2020. In 2019 and 2020 I competed in the SUP Alps Trophy and came 3rd in the Trophy in both cases. However, also because a few of the top guys did not bring in 3 results. I always had quite good placements so mostly 4-7th in the races. But my favorite result is a TOP TEN placement at the Eurotour Pilsensee 2019 . Normen, Ole and Peter were the only Germans ahead of me and the rest were all young internationals. I love racing and competition !

Now that you are the tour boss or owner. Will you still find time to join in yourself?

Of course – nothing changes. We are the organizer of the Trophy and maintain and market the Trophy, select the best organizers and events. On the race weekends, my job is done and I can look forward to racing. We have a team of contributing photographers, race director, presenters who are available to the organizers on request.

If so, are there any conflicts of interest in participating in the tour that you organize yourself?

Sportsmanship and fairness are at the top of the list. Nothing is more honest than racing against the clock. We don’t have any judging. That would be something else.

SUP Racing – you only get out what you put in.

Thank you very much for your comments, it is an honor for me to continue to support the SUP Alps Trophy with the Stand Up Magazine.

MY thanks goes to you Mike ! YOU do a good job and also look behind the scenes.

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2024 APP World Tour debut in India

Clever move into emerging markets or desperate to find new locations?

Prior to the announcement of the entire 2024 season, the APP World Tour announced their presence at the India Paddle Festival by sending several pro-athletes to compete in South Asia alongside the local legends. While it’s questionable how many athletes will be ready to race overseas this early in the season, it will be interesting to see how far SUP racing is already developed in this places of the world as Europe still holds the space of SUP racing epicenter.

The APP anticipates a significant growth in the region over the coming years, so let’s see how far SUP racing is already developed in India with the expected event happening in March.

Read the full press release here:

The APP is proud to be supporting India’s first International SUP event prior to the launch of the 2024 APP World Tour

Taking place from the 8th – 10th March, the India Paddle Festival will be the first step in an exciting new development journey for the organization, as we anticipate significant growth in the region over the coming years.

Presented by Karnataka Tourism, the India Paddle Festival will welcome a selection of athletes from the APP World Tour, as well as other aspiring pros from the region, to Sasihitlu Beach in Mangalore for a weekend to remember.

It will also encourage up and coming local athletes to step up and be counted giving them the opportunity to learn from the visiting Pros in a unique and intimate environment. 

“We are thrilled to host some of the top international athletes, media and APP team for the first time in India”, says Kishore Kumar of Surfing Swami Foundation.

CEO of the APP World Tour, Tristan Boxford added: “We are excited to make our first step in India with Surfing Swami Foundation and Karnataka Tourism for what is an ideal kick off to an exciting future for the sport in the Country.”


Written by Anna Tschirky.

Anna-Tschirky

Anna Tschirky is a respected SUP Athlete with many great results under her belt. She joined the Stand Up Magazin Team at the beginning of 2024.

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Jimmy Lewis – a living history book

Published in Stand Up Magazin #23

Text: Mike Jucker
Photos: Jimmy Lewis and Friends

It’s a privilege to meet, interview and tell the stories of so many different people with Stand Up Magazine. The number of people we have written about over the last twelve years is not in my head, nor does it matter. What does matter is how different these people are and yet they all have something in common: a passion for water sports. Some of them are young and full of dreams, others are in the middle of their lives and still others can look back on an eventful past at their age. One such person is Jimmy Lewis. Jimmy has been a board shaper for longer than most of us have been alive. Jimmy Lewis’ eponymous brand and logo is well known. So well known, in fact, that others have copied it and even used the name in a modified form. The year is 2023 as I sit with Jimmy on the stairs of his workshop and he tells me his story, which began in the 1960s:

I grew up in southern California in the sixties. My older brother and I listened to the “surf music” that was just becoming popular on the radio. I was about twelve or thirteen years old and we loved this music. My brother then wanted to start surfing and of course I did straight away. I was in 6th grade and had to do what my brother was doing. I still remember how we went to the beach with my mother during the summer vacation between 6th and 7th grade. There was a “surf store” with a shaper. I took some of his scraps home with me and made a mini surfboard out of the remaining foam. Then I cut the surf logos out of magazines and laminated them onto my mini boards and thought that was the greatest thing.

When I was in 7th grade, I wanted to make a real board out of wood. Back then, we had small boards that you could ride on your stomach. So I really wanted to make one of those “bellyboards”. But the teacher in the shop class said it was far too big a project and I would have to wait until year 9. Waiting two years until I was allowed to do it was an eternity and I still remember that for two years I couldn’t think about anything else but finally getting to year 9, being able to make myself a board and go surfing with it. Of course, we were already surfing before that. I finally got to year 9 and was able to make this board. However, work lessons weren’t every day, so it took from the summer until the Christmas vacations until the board was finally finished. I could hardly wait to go into the water with it.

But the teacher told me to show the class how to finish the board. That was very annoying, because the carpentry lessons weren’t every day and that would delay my project even further. What’s more, the school carpentry workshop is not suitable for working with epoxy and fiberglass. So I hid the board behind the door and on the Friday before the vacations started, I simply took the board home with me.

The teacher didn’t like it at all and failed me in class. I always got top marks in handicrafts, but this board earned me an “F” for fail. But my goal was more important to me: the board had to be finished by Christmas so that I could get into the water.

In 1967, we moved north to Berkley, where my mother went to university. I thought my surfing days were over. I just knew it was very cold in Northern California and thought there were icebergs in the water. After about six months, my brother came to visit, we went to Santa Cruz and went surfing. I was very surprised! It was cold, but not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. I then met other kids at high school who surfed. We often went to a beach north of San Francisco with them. One day, back in 1968, I saw a homemade surfboard on the beach. It was a short board and I immediately realized that I could build something like it. I grabbed my mother’s car and drove to Santa Cruz to O’Neill (they also had surfboards back then). I bought a “blank”, resin and fiberglass there and went back home to make my first real surfboard. That led to me making a few boards for my colleagues. I graduated from high school in 1969. My brother was already on Maui and I really wanted to go there too. My colleague Tony wanted to come with me, so we worked all summer to save money for the trip. So after the summer we went to Maui. But life there wasn’t very easy. I was 18 years old and away from home for the first time. I barely made it three months and then went back home to my mom in Berkley. I made myself a new board, stayed with her for two months and then moved to Santa Cruz, where I set up a “shape room” in the bedroom of a house.

In the spring of 1971, I was ready to make another attempt on Maui. I was older now and had been away from home for over a year. I knew what to expect on Maui and was a lot better prepared. I had a few jobs at surf stores and lived on the west side in Lahaina for four years. I kept my head above water there as a waiter and painter. But the priority was making surfboards and of course being in the water as much as possible.
Like so many surfers, we were very unreliable. I mean, we worked to keep our heads above water, but our priorities were surfing. A good story comes to mind:

My friend and I, he was even more unreliable than me… so one summer we were surfing in Lahaina after a very long time without waves. We were literally craving waves. But as waiters, we knew we had to show up at work at 3pm to set the tables. It was time to go, but we told ourselves we still had time for a wave. That turned out to be the case: It’s not so bad if we’re a bit late. So we surfed for a while and then just decided to call in sick for the day. Even before we paddled back to shore, we said to ourselves: “Fuck it, we’ll just quit.” All within one surf session! From “we’ll be late” to “fuck it, we’re not going to work at all.” That was the surfing life on Maui.

At the end of the seventies, windsurfing was really popular. There was Mike Walze and Fred Haywood, who were out on Hoyle Schweitzer’s boards and they had the idea of founding “Sailboards Maui”. Mike was here a lot and discovered how good Ho’okipa was for windsurfing. Anyway… in 1979 I was working in a surf store called Mana Surfboards. One day Mike Walze came to the store with his colleague and wanted a custom windsurf board. The store owner was also a shaper, but for some reason he let me make the board for Mike. That was the moment when I thought that I could earn my living with windsurf boards. Making surfboards was always something I did on the side and I wasn’t very serious. I could have made money with it much earlier, but as I said, I wasn’t serious enough. Most of the people I made a board for charged me 10 dollars. I thought that was the only way they would come to me and I just liked the work so much. So Mike Walze and Fred Haywood started their company, Sailboards Maui. Fred’s family had a house in Kahului from where they set up store. I myself lived in Kihei and built a shape room. But the landlord didn’t like that and told me I had to take everything down. Fred and Mike were kind enough to offer me the chance to install my shape room in their house.

Later, a guy from the mainland who worked for Hoyle (Schweitzer) arrived. He wanted some shorter boards that he wanted me to make for him. It was a 9′ foot board and an 8′ foot board in two different shapes. That became the Rocket 99 and the Rocket 88, and there were a few windsurfing races at the time. The PanAm Cup on Oahu was the biggest event there was. Robby Naish was still a kid and amazed the world with his talent. Then someone came along and brought a windsurfing race to Maui. I think it was called the “Grand Prix” and it later became the ALOHA Classic. Mike and Fred organized it, if I remember correctly. A lot of people came here and everyone saw how much better Maui was for windsurfing than Oahu. So Maui became the epicenter of the windsurfing world. I was the guy for Sailboards Maui who made all the custom boards for the brand. That made me and my work known all over the world.

During this time – and even a few years before – Dick Brewer was one of the most influential shapers in the industry. Dick Brewer had a concave dent shaped into the back of the tail of all his boards. I’m not quite sure what it did, but it was definitely a big feature of his boards. One day I was at work and accidentally sunk my grind block into the foam of the board. I thought “What the fuck am I going to do? To save the board, I also sanded a concave dent into my board.

Anyway… so that was my board, which I thought it became unsellable. At some point, Pascal Maka came to Maui and also to the Sailboards Maui store.


Info: Frenchman Pascal Maka is one of the most influential and best windsurfers of his time. Pascal Maka broke the world sailing record in 1986 with 38.86 knots. It was the fastest speed ever set by a sail-powered watercraft. Previously, only catamarans had been able to sail that fast.


There were speed races around the world at the time, one in England and one in France. Many of us wanted to take part in these races and they became more and more popular. It was about who was the fastest over a distance of 500 meters, powered only by the wind. There was a catamaran called “Crossbow” that held the world record in sailing. All the windsurfers wanted to beat this catamaran. Of course there were different classes, but “Crossbow” held the “absolute” record and everyone wanted to set a new record.

Now Pascal Maka bought this board with my dent and a Maui Sail. He took it to Weymoth in England and sailed 27.82 knots. I still have a T-shirt from it. I’ll show it to you.

It was just incredible, the whole windsurfing world was in an uproar! So you remember Arnaud De Rosnay? He was a Frenchman, first a surfer and then a windsurfer. He made a name for himself with channel crossings. He sailed across several straits and in 1984 he disappeared with his windsurfer between Taiwan and China. He sent me a telex when Pascal set the new absolute sailing speed record on my board.

Now everyone was interested in speed sailing. That was in 1982 and in 1983 Fred Haywood also wanted to go to England for this race. So I built him two special speedboards and changed the concave dent a bit.
Fred went to England and was then even faster than Pascal. Fred managed to sail over 30 knots. Pascal was there too, of course, but he had a new board from a French shaper. Fred left him in the dust. That showed that my boards were the best. After Fred’s victory, my board, still with Sailsboar’s Maui, was on the cover of every windsurfing magazine in the world.

But I already had my logo on my business cards back then and laminated the logo from the business card onto the board in very small letters. Around 1984, Sailsboards Maui was bought out and the factory was already in Paia and no longer in Fred’s family home. The new owner hired a second shaper who was now also supposed to make my shapes. I decided that if someone else did my shapes, I should receive a commission. The new owner wasn’t keen on this idea. He thought I had too big an ego. I didn’t care what he thought and built my own store and shape room in Haiku. Now everything was under my brand and I was producing windsurf boards with the “Shark logo”. Although I had already had the logo since the seventies, the brand became independent. My brand was actually called “Mud Shark” back then – named after a song by Frank Zappa. As a joke, I called my boards “Mud Shark” and my brother drew me the shark.

Jimmy Lewis SUP Surfing

I was once sued by Levis Jeans in Belgium for my lettering. It cost me 15,000 dollars to prove them wrong. There’s a watch brand in Germany that made their logo very similar, they sponsor the windsurfing speed race in Namibia. People always think it’s me. I don’t mind that. I see it as a compliment.
(Info: In the US the big box store sells foam boards under the name „Jimmy Styles“.)

„I’m going to take a brief pause in the story here, because now the question of how Jimmy Lewis survived the decline of the windsurfing industry is burning inside me.“

I bought land here in 1989. At the same time, my priorities shifted somewhat. I was now a landowner and my son had just been born. When the waves were good, we’d all meet up at Ho’okipa, but when there were no waves, we’d go to Spreckelsville and do laps on our slalom boards. At some point, however, fewer and fewer people came to the beach and doing laps alone was very boring. I got to the point where I wondered whether I should mow the lawn or go to the beach. I decided to mow the lawn. I had enough work, but it’s true: the factory boards became less and I started to lose interest in windsurfing. That was all back in the early nineties. I had this land and built a house on it. I was also able to build my own workshop for making boards. There were three of us and we also made surfboards, but at some point my brother and my employee had to go looking for a job. I started surfing again, but only on longboards and made a few of them.

That went well until the end of the nineties, when I met Lou Wainman. Lou was a kiteboarder and I always told people that if they wanted a board of me, they should just say so. So one day Lou came by and asked for a kiteboard, so I made him one. Within a few months he improved his skills and he had lots of ideas on how to design a kiteboard.

I was in the right place at the right time with the right person. We produced a lot of boards and my brother came back to work with me. We made so many kiteboards that I had to contact my factory. I had been in contact with a factory since the eighties thanks to a royalty deal with another windsurfing brand. But the windsurf brand disappeared and I stayed in contact with the factory people. So I contacted them and asked if they could make my boards. I was one of their first customers and had known them for a long time. They accepted my request and started producing my twin-tip kiteboards. One day I was in the factory and saw surfboards from other brands. Then I thought, since I’m already making surfboards, why don’t we try out some “production boards”. I made longboards, minimalibus and also shortboards. A little later, the SUP trend came along and we added SUPs to my collection. From then on, everything just got bigger and my production shifted towards production boards and less custom boards. But that was fine with me. So my brother had to go looking for a job again and the other guy quit because there wasn’t much left to do here.

But I have always shaped boards and will always shape boards. I do everything myself, from shaping to polishing, it’s all me. But I don’t like sandwich boards or vacuum boards any more, I don’t do that anymore. I’m retired now and if someone comes and wants what I do, then I’m happy to do it. But if a customer wants something else, he/she has to go somewhere else. It’s always a compliment when someone comes and wants what you do. But I’m at an age now where I only want to do what I want to do and when I want to do it.

„I am very fascinated by Jimmy’s life story and just listen. However, now that Jimmy is an older gentleman and we are counting down to 2023, I would like to inquire about his wishes for his legacy. Jimmy Lewis’ brand and logo is as well known as other great brands. But unlike the others, it’s still just Jimmy behind it all. No big offices with marketing and sales departments. It’s still Jimmy who pulls all the strings and the man is 72 years old.“

If I were dead tomorrow, the only thing that would make me happy would be if my son Marlon kept the whole thing alive a little longer. I tell him you can continue with my existing shapes for a few more years. But if Marlon doesn’t want that, then so be it. When I’m dead, I’m gone. I don’t look down from a cloud and say: “Oh, why doesn’t anyone buy my boards anymore?” When I’m gone, I’m just… gone. There’s nothing you can do. Sure, the people who still have my boards can’t buy new ones, but I have no control over that anymore. My son can then decide what he wants to do, that’s up to him. I mean, I grew up in the golden age of surfing. Many people don’t even know the big names from that time. Names of people who were my heroes. New generations are coming and my name will also be forgotten at some point. Especially in the times we live in now. Back then we still had photos, now when Jaws breaks we have hundreds of pictures on the internet. Tomorrow the pipeline breaks and people don’t give a shit about what happened at Jaws yesterday. Who’s going to remember me ten years after I’m dead? We live in a time where we’re inundated with news and content. I’m not in the mood for that. I post pictures on social media when there’s something special and not twenty times a day like other people. Generations come and generations go, that’s the way it is and it’s no different for me.

„So I’m sitting with Jimmy on the steps outside his workshop and we’re talking about social media and how times have changed. When I meet people like Jimmy and hear their story, I always deliberately go into a conversation like this unprepared because it makes it so much more exciting. The time with Jimmy flew by. I’m sitting here listening to the story of a boy who only wants one thing in life: to make surfboards. This boy has become a globally recognized brand. Legacy or not, I will definitely have another board shaped by Jimmy so that one day I can say: “Jimmy Lewis made this for me.“


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Armie Armstrong: SUP Athlete turned foil entrepreneur

(From the print issue #20 summer 2021)

I’m not even sure where to start with Armie Armstrong. We’ve known each other for a relatively long time. Armie came to Maui often during the summer months when SUP was just about the hottest new trend. We first met when we were paddling the Maui2Molokai SUP race. We were on our way back from Molokai to Maui after my first M2M race eight years ago. I even had Armie on the cover that year. That was the 6th issue in the fall of 2014, that memorable SUP race where cover was shot would give us enough content for a story on its own. This was a time long before wings and foils. It was a time when the world revolved around downwind racing in Hawaii and big events like the Battle of the Paddle.

Armie and I met time and time again at different events. It was typical Armie when he wanted to compete with his foilboard at Molokai2Oahu in 2017. However, he was banned from doing so. The race officials were skeptical. I only know few people who bring more enthusiasm to something than Armie. The year after, however, the organizers could no longer ignore the trend and SUP foiling was allowed at M2O. Armie was there, of course, but didn’t finish very well. But that didn’t matter, because at that time it was mainly about the pioneering performance.

Armie was back on Maui in summer so we spent a day together. That’s when the idea was born to do an interview and introduce Armie a bit closer. For those who do not know his story we have an interview where we get to meet Armie and learn more about his amazing product.

Armie is always ready for action. Left: wing skate on Maui. Right: SUP Brand in 2015, too late for SUP and too early for foil.

Aloha, Armie! Really great to see you again. It’s been a while since we last saw each other. I think it was at the 2019 Gorge Paddle Challenge when you were exhibiting your foils. One memory however that has stuck with me in particular, though, is when you tried to cross the Ka’iwi Channel with a foil back at M2O 2017, but race officials prohibited it. As I recall, that was a prototype that looked like it was made in a garage. A lot has happened since then. Tell us the story.

Yes, that was one of my first foils. It was a “high aspect” foil and I wasn’t really good enough to control it. Nowadays this foil would probably win races, but back then it was too fast and too maneuverable for my skills.

How did you end up with a foil like that and after all your brand?

Answer on next page.

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SUP Alps Trophy 2022

We got the dates

FAAKER SEE 20.-22. MAY 2022
ROCK THE LAKE  – SUP ALPS TROPHY FESTIVAL
20. MAY RACE PADDLE CLINICS 

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WOLFGANGSEE 04.-05. JUNE 2022
​LEGENDOFOX

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ALTMĂśHLSEE 18.-19. JUNE 2022
 SUPALOT

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LAKE CONSTANCE RADOLFZELL 27.-28. AUGUST 2022 German Championships

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PILSENSEE 17. SEPTEMBER 2022
BAVARIANWATERS

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MILLSTĂ„TTER SEE  24.-25. SEPTEMBER 2022
​SUP ALPS TROPHY  SAISONFINALE

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Who won in 2021?

Normen Weber: 3 of 4 races angetreten and won 3

Peter Weidert: 4 of 4 Rennen was four times secont. 3 times behind Normen and once behind Ole Schwarz, who races only one time.

Gerd Weisner: 4 of 4 races but constantly in the top tier.

Susanne Eder-Meyer: 4 of 4 Rennen, 2 times second, one win and once missed to podium.

Andrea Kämmerer: 3 of 4 races, one win, 2 times second and once third.

Mandy Lehmann: 4 of 4 races 3 times third and missed to podium once.

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SUP Alps Trophy 2021 Overall Results

Just now the last race of the SUP Alps Trophy took place on the Pilsensee. (Results here) A year ago we didn’t know if there would be another SUP Alps Trophy in 2021. The founder Alois MĂĽhlegger retired after many years and it was not sure for a long time if someone would take over the Trophy. But thanks to SUP enthusiast and businessman Gerd Weisner the Trophy found a new home.

Now the first year is over and we look back on 4 races which could be held despite the new Covid waves. We are sure that the Trophy will be able to include more races in the coming years.

If we take a quick look at the annual ranking list, we quickly realize that Normen Weber and Peter Weidert dominated the tour. The podium was always the same on the first 2 places, only the third placed alternated.

In the women’s race it was not so clear. Susanne Eder-Meyer won in front of Andrea Kämmerer, but if she had been there at the SUPalot, she could have possibly won the overall victory.

In any case, congratulations to all who were and are involved in the tour. We are already looking forward to a successful year 2022.

Damen Jahreswertung

Nr.NameVornameKategorieNationLegendofoxSupalotBodenseePilsenseeTotal
1Eder-MeyerSusanneEliteDE67086086010002720
2KämmererAndreaEliteDE730 10008602590
3LehmannMandyEliteDE5507307307302190
4RichterKathrinEliteDE 5285006701698
5KrausAnnaEliteDE 670550 1220
6TegethoffKarinW50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 1000  1000
7DundovaIvaEliteDE1000   1000
8SeebauerMarionEliteAT860   860
9DedialLeilaEliteDE  670 670
13GiebelBritta     610610
10TangerdingIlseM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE  610 610
11PyfffraderPetraW50 Masters ab 50 JahreAT610   610
12DĂĽrrCathrinW50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 610  610
14MunyMareikeEliteCH  583 583
16Hahner-WeiĂźGisiW50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 583  583
15JatzkoIsabelleEliteAT583   583
17HinkelSandraEliteDE 550  550
19SterzikVeronikaEliteDE  528 528
18TaucherDagmarEliteAT528   528
20SchweizerTheresaEliteDE 500  500
21CervinkovaJanaEliteCZE500   500
22SauerteigUrsulaW50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 488  488

Herren Jahreswertung

Nr.NameVornameKategorieNationLegendofoxSupalotBodenseePilsenseeTotal
1WeberNormanEliteDE 1000100010003000
2WeidertPeterEliteDE8608608608602580
3WeisnerGerdM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE5506105287301890
4StraubelThomasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE500583 6101693
5MönchJanEliteDE4625286105281666
6HacklMichaelEliteAT528 5505501628
7HageTimoEliteDE3954624255831470
8CapizziMicheleEliteDE413550 5001463
9HussleinHermannEliteDE 730670 1400
10TaucherChristianEliteAT730  6701400
11DĂĽnzingerArndM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE3554384754751388
12KennelWolfgangM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE4004005004621362
13KämmererAndreasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE3904254624501337
14KrausViktorEliteDE 670583 1253
15KreiselThomasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE475335 4381248
16GäblerAlexM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE3604134004251238
17ZeitlerArminEliteDE380375450 1205
18MiersReikoM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 3603703851115
19SchöningMatthiasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE2803453753901110
20MerklGisoM60 Masters ab 60 JahreDE2953403953701105
21DineklmeyerAxelM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE2502553803751010
22SchwarzOleEliteDE1000   1000
23SchubertMichaelM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE285325 365975
24PallmerDominikM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 475488 963
25BöwingThomasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 305330325960
26Hanke-HanelThomasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 285335315935
27WeiĂźReinholdM50 Masters ab 60 JahreDE255315 300870
28MessmerMichaelM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE215260320 795
29BäckerJochenEliteAT350 438 788
30TothJozsefM50 Masters ab 50 JahreCZE 380 400780
31DedialKlausMaster C 370  395765
32MĂĽlhauserPeterM50 Masters ab 50 JahreCH  730 730
33SchöpfGeorgEliteDE315 413 728
34CahenzliAdrianM50 Masters ab 50 JahreCH320 350 670
35LaubleManuelEliteDE670   670
36KreutleAxelEliteDE 300360 660
37WĂĽlfingAndreasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE270365  635
38PetrakOndrejEliteCZE610   610
39GottwaldJulianEliteDE260 325 585
40MayerhoferMikaEliteAT583   583
41GartlgruberRomanM50 Masters ab 50 JahreAT265  305570
42KsanderKlausM50 Masters ab 50 JahreAT240  285525
43BerndtRalfM60 Masters ab 60 JahreDE 225 280505
44FriedtAlexanderM60 Masters ab 60 JahreDE 500  500
45KorczyckiFilipElitePL 488  488
46KurmisCarstenM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    488488
47StertzikAlexanderEliteDE488   488
48AuerGerhardM60 Masters ab 60 JahreDE 230 255485
49GrieĂźenböckDominikEliteDE210240  450
50GrĂĽneisenMichelEliteDE 450  450
51ReinerPhilippEliteAT450   450
52UllsteinThomasM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 200 250450
53WeisnerRobertJugend U16DE220220  440
54FroschMIchaelEliteAT438   438
55DurchschlagMichaelEliteAT425   425
56PötschkKarstenM40 Masters ab 40 Jahre    413413
57GondekFrankM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 395  395
58HaukeChristianM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE  390 390
59SauerteigLasseEliteDE 390  390
60HassenpflugHolgerEliteAT385   385
61HinkelThomasEliteDE 385  385
62LeeseMatthiasEliteCH  385 385
63MildeJonathanJUNIOREN    380380
64PortenschlagerAndreasEliteAT375   375
65PetersdorfRobertM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 370  370
66KopeckyMichalEliteCZE365   365
67SchneiderhöhnRenĂ©M50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE  365 365
68HellerFerencM40 Masters ab 40 Jahre    355355
69HofbauerJörgM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 355  355
70KreĂźJĂĽrgenM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE  355 355
71HĂĽllenChristianM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 350  350
72RisticAleksM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    350350
73GarciaAlbertoEliteDE  345 345
74HödlNorbertEliteAT345   345
75StraubChristophM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    345345
76JavernikChristianEliteAT340   340
77KickelMichaelEliteDE  340 340
78MildeJulianELITE    340340
79EperaniaHemeryEliteFR335   335
80HaslerUweM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    335335
81DaskiranMarlonJugend U16DE 330  330
82KupferLorenzM40 Masters ab 40 Jahre    330330
83WendtStefanEliteAT330   330
84MarketzJakobEliteAT325   325
85SchilkeRomanM60 Masters ab 60 JahreDE 320  320
86SteinNorbertELITE    320320
87KörnerOliverEliteDE 310  310
88MĂĽllerDavidEliteAT310   310
89SchinkeMikeM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    310310
90MarketzMichaelM50 Masters ab 50 JahreAT305   305
91GottsbergerHelmutEliteAT300   300
92RummelErwinM40 Masters ab 40 Jahre    295295
93SchultenKlausM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 295  295
94MeitznerDirkM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 290  290
95SeperArpadM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    290290
96Van HavenRudolfM50 Masters ab 50 JahreAT290   290
97MichaelSchinkeM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 280  280
98HeiseGernotM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 275  275
99LangeTorstenM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE275   275
100RollerStefanM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    275275
101GröningerMichaelM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    270270
102MĂĽnxHendrikM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 270  270
103FischerWolfgangM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    265265
104TeichertJonasJugend U16DE 265  265
105MaierThomas     260260
106KriegerBerndEliteDE 250  250
107KarstMichaelEliteDE245   245
108KipferMarkoM50 Masters ab 50 Jahre    245245
109Ozip-PhilippsenSergejM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE 245  245
110FinkFredyEliteAT235   235
111HonscheLarsJugend U16DE 235  235
112AufschlagerClemensEliteAT230   230
113EinfaltJĂĽrgenM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE225   225
114SteinwagnerLukasJugend U16DE 215  215
115MeierStefanEliteDE 210  210
116EngewaldNicoEliteDE 205  205
117SchelzigGlennEliteDE205   205
118HocherManfredM50 Masters ab 50 JahreDE200   200
119BurmannDanielEliteDE 195  195
120DouradFranckEliteFR195   195
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FOIL GUIDE

As pulished in Issue #16 in 2019

The truth about foiling

Everybody wants foils and every SUP and windsurfing company has a foil range in their program. The whole thing developed so fast. I actualle wanted to leave the topic about foiling out of the magazine, but now I just couldn’t help it. SUP and Foil, I thought, are actually two different things, but then somehow not. One thing is for sure: Foiling is currently the number ONE topic of conversation. Everybody wants it, few do it and even fewer are really good, that’s why foiling is so damn sexy. So let’s take a closer look at the topic.

> A quick look at the history

In 2003, foiling was the subject of the surf documentary “Step into Liquid” for the first time. The film by Dana Brown (son of Bruce Brown, producer of Endless Summer) devotes a part of the film to Larid Hamilton and Dave Kalama, as tow foil at Jaws. At that time tow surfing was a big thing and just about to take off. As a curiosity it is shown how the boys go surfing with a foil board at Jaws. Dave explains that Maui is very windy and that you are always looking for something new.

Dave Kalama and Laird Hamilton: Foil history in the new millenium.
Photos ©ErikAeder

The conditions are often not very good, hence the inventive spirit of Dave and Laird. Mike Walze explains in the film how a windsurfing colleague brought an “Airchair” back to Maui from the US mainland and presented it to the group. They started towing behind a jet ski and as so often Laird took the next step, by removing the seat and screwing snowboard boots onto the board. The whole thing worked and everyone else wanted to try it out. Mike Walze in the movie: ” There are thousands of surfboard shapers around the globe and one of them makes a board where you sit on it. He doesn’t even know that we’ve stood on it.” The pictures that follow are as breathtaking as they are curious: Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama surf a huge wave on their modified foil boards. Their arms outstretched and huge shoes screwed to the board. The wind is blowing like hell, but thanks to the foil you don’t notice the chop. The boys surf in complete silence over the water, which would otherwise be unsurfable. In the movie the potential is also mentioned that if you will ever surf one of the biggest waves ever, then on a foil board. The surfing world was astonished for a short time and then moved on. That was in 2003 and the development in surfing went a different way. The world was not ready for foiling. First something else had to happen.

SUP AS THE MIDWIFE FOR FOILING

The SUP helped the foil to break through. Foiling is primarily about getting enough speed with a board to take off. Actually, it’s obvious, because with an SUP you can get into any wave. A SUP is exactly the right device to take off with a foil.

I discussed the topic with Kai Lenny in my interview in the last issue. The development went very fast, Kai mounted a foil under a Race SUP and started to foil the legendary Maliko Downwind Run on Maui. He got better and better and learned that you don’t need a big board to foil. Before we knew it, Kai was out on the open sea with a foil. Eric Terrien from France showed very early on how to jump on a foil board in a running manner and pump in absolutely flat water. The new generation of Maui Watermen such as Kai Lenny, Connor Baxter and Zane Schweitzer quickly realized what you can do with it.

The possibilities were demonstrated, the trend was set and the SUP scene was delighted. And because most SUP brands also offer windsurfing and kiting, kite and windsurf foiling was (re-)activated immediately.

The whole thing immediately spilled over to Europe. In 2018 Foiling was presented for the first time at the boot show in DĂĽsseldorf. On Maui, where the whole SUP trend started, everyone is now foiling. The SUP surfspots are full of SUP Foilers. This is the short summary of a very fast development. Foil designs already existed and so it was no big deal that the foil spread like wildfire. The whole thing gained a foothold in less than three years.

Now everyone wants to foil, it’s the ultra-mega-trend, which is so sexy that we are dripping from our mouths. Foiling is sexy, foiling is special, foiling is expensive and foiling is extremely difficult to learn. In this sport you will definitely not find any cheap products to buy. Not everybody can join in and those who did have a long way behind them.

> Now the big question: Who are the new customers and athletes?

With reservation all who are looking for a new challenge.

One thing is certain and this is confirmed again and again from all sides: Foiling is the next level of a sport that you already master. In other words: If you have never been on an SUP, you cannot learn foiling. First you have to master the sport equipment without the wing and then you can put a foil under it.

For SUP Surfers:

First you have to be able to paddle and surf a wave perfectly and straight. Having a very good balance is essential.

For regular surfers:

You have to have a perfect pop-up and be able to put your feet in the right position immediately.

These are the minimal requirements.

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