It could hardly have been more perfect for the more than 40 paddlers on Lake Garda in mid-October. Beautiful late autumn weather on the very first day with wind and waves from the south for an action-packed beach race.
On the second day, the northerly wind for the long distance was slowly dying down, but it was still easy to paddle for all participants. As always, the Circolo Surf Torbole offered an organisation that could not be faulted. Even the iSUP boards provided by RRD for the beach race had enough volume this time.
This also pleased the somewhat heavier paddlers, as the south wind Ora provided more challenging conditions with a good four wind forces and a nice wave. Davide Ionico immediately took the lead in the final of the top six, which he defended to the finish against Filippo Mercuriali and Michele Capizzi from Garmisch.
In the women's final, Ariane Wittmann prevailed against the strong Austrian phalanx consisting of Marion Seebauer, Petra Pyffrader and Sigrid Baumgartner.
Day two, 10:30 a.m. ¬- shortly after the beach start for the long distance (approx. 9 kilometres) on the beach in front of the Circolo Surf Torbole, the two Italians Davide Ionico and Filippo Mercuriali took the lead at the first turning mark, and then raced ahead towards Riva. After rounding the canal around the old castle (Rocca), accompanied by the applause of the numerous spectators, they headed back to Torbole and south along the Gardesana lakeside road, returning to Torbole after another turning buoy and finishing on the beach in front of the CST. Ionico put in an intermediate sprint before the last buoy and took the lead, but Mercuriali countered with a merciless final sprint and won. The duo of Alessandro Sapigni (ITA), the Slovenian Marco Milenkovic and Gerd Weisner (GER) followed with a gap of over four minutes.
The women's field was small but mighty, with the favourite, Marion Seebauer from Austria, crossing the finish line over a minute ahead. Ahead of the two Germans Andrea Kämmerer and Ariane Wittmann.
The fact that the youngsters, and the Ingolstadt training group in particular, can now also compete in the short distance over around three kilometres was demonstrated by the 9-year-old Sebastian Lohse and the three girls Annalyn Gawor (12), Josephina Karst (12) and Vici Hoppe (13), who kept up well in the field of the "big ones", with the winners Ludwig Jungmayer (men) and Sigrid Baumgartner (women) already pulling away.
As in 2018, there was once again plenty of prize money (2500 euros) in addition to non-cash prizes at the award ceremonies, and CST President Armando Bronzetti and Race Director Alois Mühlegger announced a sequel for next year, again in October (17/18 October) as the "Grande Finale" of the SUP Alps Trophy.
Men's Race Class
Place Last name First name Board Category
1 Mercuriali Filippo 14'0'' m
2 Ionico Davide 14'0'' m
3 Sapigni Alessandro 14'0'' m
4 Milenkovic Marko 14'0'' Ü40
5 Weisner Gerd 14'0'' Ü50
6 Kämmerer Andreas 14'0'' Ü50
7 Capizzi Michele 14'0'' Ü40
8 Scoop Georg 14'0'' m
9 Mistelbauer-Ob. Andreas 14'0'' m
10 Gäbler Alexander 14'0'' Ü50
11 Dünzinger Arnd 14'0'' Ü50
12 Eperania Hemery 14'0'' Ü40
13 Dedial Klaus 14'0''iSUP Ü50
14 Dinkelmeyer Axel 14'0'' Ü50
15 Susanna Marco 14'0'' mU18
16 Battistoni Stefano 14'0'' Ü40
17 Pyffrader Martin 14'0'' Ü40
18 Ristic Aleks 14'0''iSUP Ü50
19 Lange Torsten 14'0''iSUP Ü50
20 Fischer Wolfgang 14'0'' Ü50
21 Straubinger Harald 14'0'' Ü50
22 Schubert Michael 14'0'' Ü50
23 Hanke-Hanel Thomas 12'6''iSUP m
24 Hartray Frederick 14'0'' Ü60
Ladies Race Class / Long Distance
Place Last name First name Board Category
1 Seebauer Marion 14'0'' w
2 Kämmerer Andrea 14'0'' w
3 Wittmann Ariane 14'0'' w
4 Pyffrader Petra 14'0'' w
5 Dedial Leila 14'0''iSUP w
Men Fun Class / Short Distance
Place Time Start no. Surname First name Board
1 00:33:35 31 Jungmayer Ludwig 14'0''iSUP
2 00:34:12 26 Haug Joerg Alex. 14'0''iSUP
3 00:34:51 16 Färber Thiemo 14'0''iSUP
4 00:34:55 6 Kraus Wolfgang 14'0''iSUP
5 00:40:41 18 Loose Sebastian 12'6''iSUP
6 00:41:14 8 Weisner Robert 12'6''iSUP
DNF 32 Pallarès Max 14'0''iSUP
Ladies Fun Class / Short Distance
Place Time Start no. Surname First name Board
1 00:34:05 43 Baumgartner Sigrid 12'6''iSUP
2 00:40:57 23 Forster Lilli 12'6''iSUP
3 00:41:03 36 Gawor Annalyn 12'6''iSUP
4 00:41:44 21 Karst Josephina 12'6''iSUP
5 00:46:14 14 Hoppe Victoria 14'0''iSUP
6 00:52:57 5 Schubert Manja 12'6''iSUP
DNF 2 Pyffrader Maxie 12'6''iSUP
Stephan Gölnitz
Deputy Editor in Chief surf