But Saturday March 5 saw a memorable day at Bliss Beach Club where 70 competitors from all over Thailand and many different countries including Australia, Japan, Korea, Hungary, Canada, Singapore and even India arrived to Phuket to compete in Thailand’s biggest SUP festival, which was powered by Longtail Paddle Surf, SE Asia’s largest dedicated SUP shop.
Stand Up Projects, the festival organisers, have been developing this event to help promote and
grow SUP in Thailand and Asia for the last 4 years.
Thailand is very special in the sense that some of the world’s leading SUP brands including this years official board sponsor ‘Starboard’ have their factories in Thailand.
So why has it taken this long for SUP to take off here, especially with it’s backyard playground
of crystal water ways, archipelago of limestone islands and quaint white sandy beaches?
That doesn’t really matter, all you need to know is that Thailand’s SUP community is very much alive and leading the charge in Asia, putting on an epic display of SUP race competition and SUP festival activities including SUP Polo by Starboard, Electric Surfboards by Asia Marine & an outrageously entertaining Flyboard Show by two-time World Champion Suksan Tongthai and Team Flyboard Thailand.
Now to the business end. The elite 6km race also included a 100m soft sand beach sprint after each of the 3 laps, which tested most except the Hungarian brothers Bruno & Daniel Husulyo who were unstoppable taking 1st & 2nd respectively, as well as a gutsy effort by Ollie O'Reilly who scored himself 3rd place.
Kristy Morris from Australia took 1st place in the women’s division followed by Rachel Ng & Kate Johnson.
The festival also included a 200 metre sprint category, team relay race, under16s sprint race and a family race involving two people on one board, which was a huge hit and allowed those who had never tried SUP or weren’t that competitive to give it a go.
There was also a special SUP Yoga session lead by ‘Water Walk India’.
As Phuket is now an international destination and a half-way stop between the thriving SUP communities of Australia & Europe, not to mention the home to many of the world’s leading SUP brands, Thailand is looking like a promising stop in the future for competitors and their families to come, race and enjoy.
There are so many people behind the scenes who made this event what it was and it really couldn’t have happened without the support of the whole community coming together and pitching in whatever they could to help.
It’s such a special thing to witness and as long as this community minded culture remains, the sport of SUP in Thailand & Asia has a great future ahead.
Special thanks go out to other sponsors, the local Phuket government, Emedia Asia, The Phuket News, Island Tribe, GoPro & 69 Slam, whose support made the 2016 Thailand SUP Festival was a raging success.
Results
2016 Thailand SUP Festival Elite – 6km
Men’s
1st Bruno Hasulyo 44:09 Hungary
2nd Daniel Hasulyo 44:16 Hungary
3rd Ollie O’Reilly 47:45 Britain
Women’s
1st Kristy Morris 55:10 Australia
2nd Rachel Ng 1:03:43 Singapore
3rd Kate Johnson 1:06:21 New Zealand
2016 Thailand SUP Festival Sprint Race – 200m
Men’s
1st Daniel Hasulyo 2:24 Hungary
2nd Bruno Hasulyo 2:29 Hungary
3rd Tomoyasu Murabayashi 2:35 Japan
Women’s
1st Kristy Morris 3:01 Australia
2nd Rachel Ng 3:14 Singapore
3rd Kate Johnson 3:20 New Zealand
2016 Thailand SUP Festival Under 16’s – 200m
1st Nop Prutsa Thailand
2nd William Smart Canada
3rd Kaya Freeman Thailand
2016 Thailand SUP Festival Team Relay Race – 600m
1st Starboard
2nd Singapore
3rd SUP Station
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