Nat takes ‘Double Silver’ at SUP The Creek..!
2nd in the Tech race at SUP The Creek 2023
RACE NAME: SUP The Creek – Ocean Tech & Distance Races
LOCATION & DATE: Salcombe & Kingsbridge, Devon, 21/22 October 2023
During the week prior to the weekends racing, we’d kept an eye on the weather reports hoping for some calmer conditions after storm Babet. As we stood at race briefing of the Ocean Tech race looking out to sea, we were told the course would be brought in slightly due to the strong off-shore wind, which would have taken us over towards the huge 8ft+ sandbar break that was charging down the estury. It didn’t matter as I was so excited to just be able to get out on the ocean for a decent paddle, as opposed to the usual rubbish Norfolk North Sea chop…
3 x Australian exits made for heart thumping transitions.
‘Quack’ went the duck horn and the men in wave 1 raced off down the beach for their race.
The ladies stepped forward in readiness and before I knew it, I looked to Crispin (RD) who confirmed the countdown, 3 minutes, 1 minute, 30 seconds then ‘quack’ from the duck horn and we were off.
A run down the beach into the water, launch your board, jump on and paddle! As we paddled to the first buoy you could feel the off-shore wind on your back, the waves on the board; and the sun on your back. We had 3 left turns and 1 right turn, the last turn took you back to the beach for a transition lap and we had 4 laps in total to complete.
As you took the last right turn and aimed for the beach it quickly came close meaning it was transition time. You had to be careful with the off-shore wind which always seemed to catch my board as I lifted it from the water and started to run. The encouragement and support from the crowd was energetic and really gave you a boost to get round the next lap not to mention the banter and support from fellow competitors.
The ocean tech was a super good course with a bit of everything, head-wind, waves, side chop and a small downwind all made for a challenging but exciting race.
An excellent event which is well organised, executed and so happy to have placed 2nd overall lady against the always amazing Marie Buchanan
1st Marie Buchanan - 2nd Nat Rendle - 3rd Gila Joffe
Day 2 - 12km Distance Race
The second day started earlier than the first with an 09:10 race briefing and a very precise 10:03 (love Crispin for his preciseness), and with much calmer conditions and sunshine!
The ‘Quack quacked’ and we were off, 3 mins behind the men and of course all of their wash with it. Nevertheless less, a race to the first turn around buoy was on and in true form Marie took the lead, with Louise behind and me taking it relatively easy in third. On the first turn, and testament to the race training we receive every week at our club (Norfolk SUP Racing), I placed myself to take the inside line of the turn and powered out of it gain 2nd place .
Securing 2nd position after turn one…
I managed to keep Marie in my sights of the rest of the race, which included some good side chop and strong winds from the open estuary sections, with the gap never see ing to get any bigger or indeed narrower - so buy this it meant I was holding pace and being consistent, so with this I was happy.
No sprint finish this year - or indeed seaweed on my fin (last year I carried some for 3km..!) and I was super happy to keep 2nd place and take the double silver spot over the 2 days of excellent racing!
I was really happy and proud of my performance over the two days and can’t wait to get back to Devon in 2024!
1st Marie Buchanan - 2nd Nat Rendle - 3rd Louise Court
If you fancy upping your game, improving your fitness and learning the technicalities of SUP racing then I thoroughly recommend you give it a try..!
NSRT train on Monday evenings in the summer and Saturday mornings through the winter - check here for all details and training times: Norfolk SUP Racing