2013 wrap up
2013 has come to an end.
It has been an awesome season. Plenty of races, plenty of action.
The 2nd half of the season, after the M2O race took me to Germany, San Francisco, Dana Point, Oahu, Greece France and Puerto Rico !
I have missed my goals on the BOP. I have a love and hate relationship with this event. In 2009 my paddle handle came loose after 10mn of racing and in 2010 I lost my board at the Hammer Bouy. I managed to get in top 10 in Oahu and Dana Point in 2011 but I had a terrible race in 2012. This year I had a good feeling during the race but still miss my goal of getting back in the top 10. It is a tough race but I believe I can do much better than that. And I know I will.
Then I headed to Turtle bay for the final of the SUWS. In 2013 I didn’t focus on the tour because of all the controversies surrounding it. I will focus on it in 2014. The Turtle bay final was fun, with plenty of waves for the sprint races.
The race in Greece, the Isthmus SUP Crossing was very surprising, it took place in the historic Corinth Canal. Great event with very friendly organizer and riders. I took 1st place.
The French championship was also a big thing. I got 3rd of the long distance behind Titouan Puyo who came all the way from New Caledonia and Arthur Arutkin. I prefer to win, but I felt happy for them as they are young, talented and good persons in and out of the water.
And it gave me plenty of motivation for the next day’s Tecnical race. I won it after a very exciting race.
Last race was in Puerto Rico, the Paddle Royal. Awesome event. I took the win on the long distance race and 3rd Overall.
And then I had to go back to France for the ISA World Champs Team qualifier. I secured my spot on the French Team. So I will proudly represent France for the 3rd consecutive year at the 2014 ISA World Champs in Nicaragua.
I finally officially finished my season mid december. The 2013 season started mid february for me and it has been long, very long. I enjoyed the last couple of weeks of the year only surfing, with no paddle, and I had a blast !
Also, I was very proud to be runner up in the Performance of the year by SUPRacer.com and 6th Best Paddler of 2013.
Check out the following links :
http://www.supracer.com/top-13-of-2013/
http://www.supracer.com/performances-of-the-year-2013/