Tag: video

What is Battle of the Broad?

15 mile SUP Board Race

Standing Paddle Boards only

All boards will be measured during check in. All boards must have stock, fixed rudders and mono-hulled(except for UNLIMITED class). Rudder(s) and foil(s) are not allowed(except for UNLIMITED class). Board classes are:
SUP UNLIMITED CLASS
SUP 12’6” CLASS (SPRINT & KIDS RACE only)
Must stand on board when making strokes and forward progress
If you fall you will have 5 strokes to get back on your feet and stand up. This rule is in effect so a paddler does not achieve an advantage by not standing up. You must complete the course standing upon your board.
The stand up rule is not in effect in the area from shore to the first turning buoys from the startline during the Open Race. Racers have 20 strokes to stand up after the start of the distance race.

This was the Inaugural Race and was very well organized and operated. We would definitely return and do it again. THere were three events total:

• Sprint
• Distance
• White Water

Where did this happen?

Asheville, NC

French Broad River
Bent Creek Camp
Southern Raft Supply Business Park

When was the race?

May 16th 2015

Beautiful and sunny Saturday
Started at 9am or so and took the winner just over 2 hours to finish. Roger took a bit longer.

Why was there a Battle of the Broad?

• Competition
• Scenery
• Exercises
• Bragging Rights

How do you race on a river?

As you can see in the video SUP racing on the river is a challenging situation. We started facing upstream and had to turn 180 degrees at the starting horn. Then it was just paddle as hard and fast as you can for 15 miles.
Notice that Roger was left behind by most of the racers pretty quickly. Granted they had some really nice and fast boards but more importantly these guys, and one gal, are athletes. They have paddled a lot and are in solid shape.
Roger edited the video with a number of falls that he endured throughout the day. Even with a shorter and more flexible fin on the board it still caught a lot of rocks and sent him flying. The river was over one foot lower than normal so there were a lot of rocks.
Some guys had their hard SUP boards and those things are amazing. Very long and fast in the water. A hard board allows you to paddle straighter and with a longer stroke. Roger and a few others were on inflatable SUP boards. Those are nice on a river when hitting rocks as they absorb the blows much better. The trade off is that they have very little shape and don’t cut thorugh the water as well as a hard board.

Who would do this?

Of the 12 racers 11 were men and Caroline Duncan was the only woman to compete. Age ranges went from 20’s up to 60+ and the winner, Rand Perkins, was the oldest racer of the day. Pretty impressive stuff.