Unlimited Boards in UK Races

[YedBawon]

More of a shout out to UK/ Euro Racers for their thoughts.

Presently the excellently run UKSUP Clubs Association include for 14ft,12ft6 and Cruiser class in their races and don't allow UL's to enter even at the back of the race purely to do a time trial.

Being a bigger unit than most, I lean towards being better on my 17ft UL board than a 14ft race board on the basis of added volume and waterline etc. I also am certainly not going to trouble the leaders of the pack in the race so why not cater for such an "open" entry.

The Head Of The Dart race does this by effectively splitting the field into "Elite" and "Touring" and states if more than 10 UL boards turn out/ enter they will effectively provide prizes.

As a gauge- how many folk out there in the UK have UL boards (Over 14ft i.e. K15's, F16's, Naish 17's)....and would entre these races- particularly the point to point ones if the criteria were made more open?

Just to be clear this is no way a dig at the UKSUP Clubs who are doing a great job a popularising the sport in the UK and growing the race scene and supporting new clubs across the country.

[Area 10]

I'm in the UK and I have a UL and might use it to race if I could. But I've got 12-6 and 14s too (like most people who have ULs I suspect) so don't feel too deprived. The regulations are tough on bigger people. But then again , SUP is a power-to-weight ratio sport like eg. gymnastics, so bigger people might always be at a disadvantage no matter what they paddled. Put a fast small person on a 17 and they'll go even faster.... And their board will be half the width of yours, dammit!