Event News - AFF Ile Rousse 2011

EXOCET boards and XO sails were on the podium at the first French event of the year ( AFF) in Ile Rousse (Corsica)

The AFF 2011 season has already started with the first event being held in Corsica at ‘Ile Rousse’. After 2 days of no wind on the ‘Beauty Island’, the event organiser finally decided to kick of with the wave sailing competition.

Supported by Fanatic & K66 Surf, with UK top 10 SUP competitor Jay 'JSUP' Manning, Eastbourne Extreme will see some of the UK's best SUP racers competing in a series of short sharp sprint SUP races, as well as offering tips and advice to encourage anyone and everyone to try SUP for themselves. There will be demo boards available, so make the most of the opportunity.

The plan is to run the SUP racing on the Saturday, and follow it with a BBQ and some rehydration. The SUP racing will include sprint racing for the crowds to get involved with and to see some close quarter SUP racing. There will also be a long distance / enduarance race, and this could tie in with the Extreme One Hour Classic with SUP racers pitting their paddle against the windsurfers. The results would be treated as seperate fleets, but this could add to the challenge?

Taster sessions, demo's and tuition should also be consider as being a very big part of the SUP event, and this element is FREE to allcomers wanting to have a go, just be ready to get wet (ie - dress appropriately). Jay has a top Naish SUP Team rider and SUP coach Jock Patterson (ex-longboard champ & BSUPA SUP Instructor) lined up to look after this side of things ... more details as we get them, but I expect to see some novice racing happening over the weekend too. .... Doubt it'll be of interest, but there will be live bands playing throughout the weekend and there is a bar set up on the beach for vital rehydration needs.

Throught the weekend there will be a series of fun masterblaster races, and also some tag team relay racing for allcomers to join in with.

These will be free of charge, although any contributions to the Spray Sprite Team16+ fund would be welcomed, and the emphasis will very much be on getting people on the water and having fun.

The format will be very simple, with a beach start, race out to and around a mark out at sea (with a second one further out for the more experienced folks perhaps), and race back to the beach and run up to the finish line.

The Team 15 kids are pretty good at this so start practicing if you want to finish ahead of the rising stars of the sport ..... this is your chance to claim that famous victory to talk about when they are high flyers on the national or international circuit a few years down the track !!