After his very successfulSUP season 2016 makes it Paul Ganse He joined the international team of JP-Australia and is one of the few German SUP athletes who are sponsored in the international SUP scene.
For the 2017 SUP seasonTo be able to represent Germany in the best possible way, he uses the "off-season", when there are no competitions in Europe, for a 6-month SUP trip in South Africa. For SUP Magazine, Paul reports on a "SUP dream" that perhaps everyone has dreamed of at some point.
Here we go:
"After I was in Berlin After saying goodbye to five of my best friends with a tear or two and then almost missing my plane, we actually set off. Just me, 30kg of luggage, my boards and the anticipation of what would await me over the next six months. After a 14-hour flight, I had my first surprise when I arrived in Cape Town: the nose of my 9.2'' surfboard somehow came off during the flight. But luckily there are more than enough shapers here who know their trade and were able to save my nose.
True to the motto: work first, then pleasure, I first had to "arrive" and organise my car, SIM card and co. before I could pursue my desire for water and waves.
But once that was done, we were off: Slate (ed.: very short JP wave SUP board) on the car, off to the spot in Doodles, wetsuit on and into the wave. A few really good turns and a few hours later I was just lying on the beach with a big grin on my face (and enjoying this feeling of freedom).
The following days, I took part in so-called downwind dashes (SUP downwind races on the open sea over at least 10 kilometres). Yes, the name says it all: the wind and waves make the controls really tough at first and the odd seal swimming along with you can be a bit scary at first. Nevertheless, or probably precisely because of this, it's a great experience every time.
