DM SUP OPEN OCEAN 2020

Photo: bsp Media GmbH

The most important race of the year in Germany had dream conditions and the strongest participants at the start. Here is the report and the results.

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Photo: bsp Media GmbHStart of the long distance race

Customised In accordance with the current corona regulations in Schleswig-Holstein, the SUP & Beachsports Festival 2020 opened its doors for a limited number of participants from 28 - 30 August 2020.

In perfect competition conditions the new German SUP champions in the Technical Race and Long Distance were also crowned on Saturday and Sunday. Just how much the active paddlers were looking forward to a test of strength in times of Corona is shown by the high number of participants totalling almost 80 and the presence of all the well-known SUP racers. Interest in stand-up paddling, or SUP for short, continues to grow. So it's no surprise that the test boards from Fanatic and Starboard as well as the German Open Ocean Championships on the south beach of Fehmarn attracted a lot of interest.

In the Technical Race Tanja Ecker from Wehr surprisingly won the women's race ahead of the favourite Hannah Leni Krah from Dresden and Paulina Herpel from Hamburg. Hannah showed nerves right at the start, and only after two crashes in quick succession did she start to catch up. Paulina got off to the best start and was able to hold the lead until the beach run. Tanja then took the lead and showed with plenty of power that her winter training in the States had paid off. In the end, Hannah managed to overtake Paulina on the last straight, but she was no longer able to catch Tanja.

In the men's category last year's winner Normen Weber from Augsburg was able to secure the title again against the strong Ole Schwarz from Bonn and Hermann Husslein from Hanau. Perfect technical race conditions, a Baltic Sea wave and hardly any wind, plus much more sun than expected, made Saturday a perfect SUP experience even for those not on the podium. In the men's final, Ole managed to maintain his lead over Normen for a long time on his new board, which is just 19 inches wide, but in the end the veteran took the title once again.

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Long Distance:On Sunday, the 80 participants, 25 of whom were women, woke up to bright sunshine. At 11:00 a.m. sharp, the long distance discipline set off on the approximately 12-kilometre course from Gold to the event site on the south beach. Unfortunately, there was no wind and no waves, which meant that the hoped-for downwinder was not possible. Nevertheless, the race organisers decided against a simple circuit. bsp Media project manager Dirk Herpel: "The Long Distance is always a great experience in addition to the sporting aspect. When else do you get the chance to paddle 12 kilometres along the coast? Next year, we hope to have three race days on the programme again and therefore a better chance of the hoped-for tailwind."

Whether waves or flat water,As expected, the reigning world champion Sonni Hönscheid (Sylt) left the competition no chance in the women's race. Tanja Ecker was again strong in second place and Anne de Boer from Stade in third. In the men's race, Ole Schwarz and Normen Weber only swapped places in an exciting final sprint over the last 100 metres. Nice revenge for Ole's close second place the day before.