What'SUP on Australia Day?
The answer to that question is the annual SUP HQ & Kite Republic Australia day Port Phillip Cup, one of the biggest events on the SUP calendar and Race number 3 in the SUP VIC Flatwater State Series.
There are events for both serious paddlers and fun first timers with great prizes including Naish Clothing, Fanatic Board & Paddles, Kahuna Board, GoPro HD Camera, Balin Clothing, SUP wheels, Carve Sunnies & Clothing, SUP Hoodies & Tee's, Experience Vouchers, and many more.
Just by entering the main race (& preferably finishing) you go in the draw to win a Fanatic Fly 10'6 HRS Board. One of the best all round boards on the market! (must be at the presentation to win)
A fun environment, including more than 20 African Drummers, will keep the racers pumped ensuring a great atmosphere, so bring family and friends: all welcome.
Location:
Pier Road, right next to Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron in St Kilda.
Format of the day:
9am: FREE Naish beginners clinic, for first time paddlers, kids, family members, all welcome. 30min
9:15am: Registration Open
9:50am: Race briefing
10:00am: Main Race (Port Phillip Cup) - $10 entry, with funds going to Earth Care St Kilda
Race categories (Port Phillip Cup)
Mens: 12,6” and under / Open / Masters (over 45)
Women 12,6” and under / Open / Masters (over 45)
Junor Boys / Girls (16 and under)
11:00am: 50m Men's & Women's Sprint Heats
11:30am: Board & Pet Races
-Dog or person and board (must be alive)
-Stuffed pet and board race (12y and under)
11:45am: 50m Men's & Women's Sprint Finals
12pm: Team Challenge ~ (teams of 4 - must have at least one female)
12:30pm: Kahuna Challenge ~ (street race while BBQ fires up run by Kahuna)
1pm: BBQ and presentations
Weather Updates:
- check this post on seabreeze or go to Standup Paddle Boarding St Kilda Facebook Page from 7am.
Naish / Fanatic / Kahuna boards and paddles to demo all day
It's not only about being first over the line with all participants going into the draw for the major prize. There's also a prize for the best-dressed paddler in the theme of 'Australia Day'. (Gotta beat PT Woody)
Money raised on the day will go to Earth Care St Kilda, a locally based organization which looks after the St Kilda Penguin colony, providing research, support and information.
After the SUP racing is completed a series of spectatular & fun kiteboarding events will begin.
Can't wait!
Port Phillip Cup Race Committee
Hey Guys,
Looking forward to it big crew coming up from the coast its always and awesome day for the family and weather is looking great.
Is SUP Bungee on this year?
Phill
A family member of mine volunteers for Earthcare. They do an incredible job supporting the penguin colony for little or no recognition. As a Melbournite living down the coast, I didn't even know there was a Penguin Colony in St Kilda until recently. An excellent cause that we should all support. I'll be coming down with the kids to donate some money.
Pete
Apologies for the mistake here guys but we forgot to mention there is also a Social Class. Perfect for everyone that's not quite as serious and is keen to get involved in the big race. Anyone without a Race Shape Board can enter this class which will be half the distance of the main race. There will be boards on the day that can be borrowed as well!
Remember, just by getting involved in the main race you go into the draw to win a Fanatic SUP Board, get amongst it!
Obviously weather can play a role in what the course might look like on the day, however provided all goes to plan and taking into account the fact it looks like we'll have a light/moderate Southerly wind on Thursday morning the course looks like this.
It is just under 3km's per lap and currently if weather doesn't change it will be...
2 laps for Men's & Women's Open, 12'6, and Masters
1 lap for Junior Events
1 lap for Social Event
Should be a fairly sheltered upwind leg inside the breakwall with a nice little downwinder stretch for some runners on the outside. Once under the Pier you go around the first yellow marker and then once you've cleared the breakwall (North point) you go around the next yellow marker. Will be more detailed on the day.
Get out and get some practice in!
PT, whack a gopro on the stumps backwards and you can film all those you leave in your wake. Look out everyone, PT is coming into the race in red hot form!
A huge thanks to Naish & Fanatic who have helped out and got behind this great event as well as helping out with prizes and support!
The PPC Event Organizers have decided to go with a new style of trophy for this event. As nice as they are to receive and as good as they look on the bookshelf until you get more books we've decided to move away from a traditional trophy and have decided to give the winners of the 8 main race events something that they'll use.
Whether you want to use it, display it, give it to your family or friends we thought these beautiful plated paddles would be perfect prizes, not only looking great but plaqued and useable.
Also, as we have outgrown the categories of 4 years ago and therefore unfortunately our perpetual plaque was no longer sufficient. A huge thankyou to NAISH Australia for helping us solve this problem. The perpetual Port Phillip Cup has been updated to the beautiful Aliah board in the centre of the pictures below and will be displayed proudly in the Kite Republic & SUPhq shop in St Kilda Seabaths.
Now the challenge... to get your name on it!
There will be a table of prizes for all the first and/or second place getters in the fun events through the day also.
Thankyou also to Fanatic who has helped out with the trophies below for main category winners as well as a brand new Fanatic Fly 10'0 HRS board that will be given to the the entrant who's name gets drawn out of the hat.
Thanks as well to GoPro who have helped out with a HD Surf HERO camera that will be won by the second person whose name is drawn out of the hat!
All you have to do is get involved in an event through the day to go into the draw to win it!
A huge thankyou to the other sponsors who have helped out with prizes for the event as well. These include...
NAISH /
FANATIC /
GOPRO /
NOBILE /
REPUBLICA st kilda beach, amello dining /
PHAMISH food and wine bar /
CARVE sunglasses and clothing /
KAHUNA CREATION street sup /
HIVE SWIMWEAR bathers that stick! /
AFL, medallion club /
SUP WHEELS how do you get your sup around? /
PEAK ADVENTURE ocean kayaking, fitness and fun, port melbourne /
DE BORTOLI wines /
ARTERIUM CREATIONS video & photography /
SOUTHERN SUBURBS PHYSIOTHERAPY CENTRE /
These events can't happen without great sponsors, thankyou!
Come and play!
Looks like we'll have a nice 24 degree day tomorrow with a southerly wind of about 10-15 knots for the race. Should be ideal with a nice little downwind runner, can't wait!
I mean board wake] paddling down there just last week
,
, see ya tomorrow.
Hi,
I am coming down to the Port Phillip Cup tomorrow to participate in my first ever SUP race (and no doubt join SUP Vic whilst there).
I only have my wife's 11' NSP allrounder board available, so could paddle in the Open 12'6" & under race (sadly/luckily I'm not quite Master age yet
.
And if I use her board, she can't paddle if the fun race is at the same time.
So, will there be boards available to hire, or is there one of the SUP shops nearby that hires boards and will be open/available on the day?
Sorry, last minute decision to enter after a physio trip today for a bung arm.
(I have a paddle at least).
Thanks,
Darren
There will be a Naish demo range courtesy of Windgenuity. Talk to Aidan and hopefully he will be able to sort you out. Otherwise, Luke from SHQ may have one or two spare boards. Unfortunately all mine are being used.
Thanks PT - I'll be getting there early (I hope) so will look for Aidan or call a couple of the shops on the way.
Regards,
Darren
Perfect... Cear.. Warm.. Sunny.. and calm conditions down at St Kilda right now for the 2012 Port Phillip Cup ...
It's about 4 knots and off shore.. You can't get much better than that.. 
.. See you down there..
DJ
Early suppers as always, this was 8am... looks perfect for it down here, going to be a great morning of SUP'ing action, the crowds of SUP'ers are rolling in!
sorry to seem like a complete dweeb, but I have just got into racing and have been doing a couple of time trials. The other day I got a 3.2k circuit done in 27 minutes. I was thinking that is not too bad as far as speed goes but looking at your times I am guessing I should be looking at 6k in approximately 39 - 41 mins on a 12'6?
Thanks to SUPHQ, SUP Vic and all the sponsors for a fantastic day out for the family.
This is the first event that Kristi, Nesha, Nikita and even Lauchy Kristi's boyfriend had a go, they all paddled and they had a ball. Lauchy by the way was hooked after the race and is going to train with us from now on.
Nikita was up set at the end of the race and I thought it was because she was tired from paddling at 10yr old the 2KM+ was a long long way but she did get to the finish lineandwas stoked with her effort. I later found out she fell off and lost her sun glasses ant thats why she was crying.
Earth Care did a great job on the BBQ and Aiden from Naish had the demo fleet for all to try. The Kahuna Street SUPS were turning heads and providing fun for those not on the water and th Hive Swimwear girls were snapping just a few necks!
The spirt of the day was all time and its the inclusivity for all members of the family that really sets the standard with this event.
Bring on the next one.
Phill
Thanks SUP HQ for a well organized and run event today, it was a great course with a bit of all type of conditions thrown in. On behalf of Taylor, thanks for the wonderful prize of the 10ft Fanatic, personally I can't believe the kids luck.... having said that, I ... er um... we, will be having lots of good surfing fun coming up on the Fanatic
Hi,
Well, I finally attended my first SUP event today. Wow, what a great event and great fun.
Thanks to PT Woody's tip, I found Aidan from Naish and borrowed a 10'6" board (thanks!!). Not the best race board (missed out on a 14' racer by a couple of seconds) and then swapped from the social to main race - despite an arm injury, I thought I'd make it.
Having attended kayak races for the last few years, I can say that this event was really well run and organised. Thanks to all the volunteers who made this a great experience for a noob. My only disappointment was that in kayaking I'm a Master/Veteran, but not in SUP - so at 40 I'm still "Open" and paddling against some machines!
As predicted, I did badly (never raced before, only SUPped twice before, borrowed board, plus injury) BUT I only fell off once (OK, on my knees along the pier) and didn't come last . Should have done the social race, but exciting at the start and going under the pier.
Safe to say I'm hooked, just need to finish my Kaholo 14' board before the next race and get to the gym so I can go faster.
Looking forward to my next race, thanks again to everyone involved in putting this on.
Regards,
Darren
Hey Darren, we will be reconsidering the age classifications for next season, with a strong push to introduce a veterans class, 50+. The reason we went with 45+ for Masters this year is that it's still a fairly mature age sport here in Victoria. Looking at the results from today, 6 out of the top 10 finishers were actually 40+. But we will certainly take your thoughts into consideration, with perhaps 40+ and 50+ for next year.
Congratulations to all that got involved throughout the day. From the young kids through to the titans of the sport tearing there way around the course.
From an organisers perspective we were absolutely stoked with the energy, excitement and participations throughout the day, it was so much fun sharing our passion for the sport with like minded people.
There will be a full wrap and pics of the event coming throughout the day.
A huge thanks must go to:
- the EARTHCARE ST KILDA crew that helped with everything from an early morning beach clean, marshalling, board collecting, BBQ and regos and were always there when you needed them.
- the SUPVIC crew that were there super early, organized the registrations and timing of the event and helped throughout the day. (also an honourable mention to PT who looked amazing in his green and gold suit and wig combo... lucky there weren't any clownaphobic kids registering...)
- Aidan from NAISH who was there all day demo'ing boards and getting into the spirit of the event, sponsoring prizes and helping out.
- the FANATIC crew for their generous major prize and trophy sponsorship
- GoPro Cameras for their generous sponsorship.
- the Kahuna / Hive / Supwheels Crew who were there all day demo'ing, getting involved and generously donated some great prizes for the event.
- MC Nic who on his birthday lit up the beach with his colourful MC'ing for the day!
- The African Drumming Crew who came along and even further lifted the atmosphere of the event, was awesome to have you guys involved!
- Sandra, Stan, Vinny, Jono, Sophia, Clement and the SUPhq crew who helped out throughout the day and made it happen.
- Our generous sponsors who make all of this possible... Naish / Fanatic / Kahuna / SUPwheels / Hiive Swimwear / Southern Suburbs Physiotherapy / APT Travel / Phamish / Republica St Kilda Beach / Peak Adventure / Carve Sunglasses...
- And most importantly... the participants who came along, brought friends, got involved, and made the day a huge success.
Full event wrap and pics to come!
