Paddling OC2 in Fuerteventura with Anita and Frank

4h56mn is the time it took me to cross the Kawa’i Channel between Molokai and Oahu during the Molokai2Oahu race…

I’ve been very lucky to be coached by Ekolu Kalama, Jerome and Choppie during the days before the race as well as during the race ; Aldo Tassara (look for Pure Digital Maui in Facebook) also followed us during all my trip and made beautiful pictures and video.

I’m now back in Fuerteventura, happy as I’ve just made a dream become reality, the Molokai2Oahu is THE Race I really wanted to do… And happy because I’ve done a good time, finishing 6th in SUP solo and in less than 5hours which is pretty awesome for a 1st crossing !

I wish I’ve had more time to train specificaly for this race as well as more time to train on the same board as I was going to use… I hope I can organise myself better next year…

2 days to go before the Molokai2Oahu race…

Today is my last day of training, I’ve spent all week with Ekolu Kalama and his family, they taught precious things about paddling technique, paddling culture and hawaiian culture, we’ve been doing SUP, Outtrigger canoe and surf.

Conditions here are similar to what we can find in some places of the Canary Islands and even better, water is “tropical warm”, wind orientation is perfect for downwinds, food is good, this is a dream place for any paddler !

I found a video of my brother and I 18 years ago Bodyboarding at the Reunion Island (I was 11yo he was 13…)…
no time to upload the video, but here’s a couple of screen captures…

Funny thing is that I can remember some waves as if it was yesterday, like this one for exemple …

Just back from the Golden Island Race in South East France, the main race was a 4 stars EuroSUPA Long Distance Race and there was aslo 4km amateur races, slalom races (6 men heats BOP style race on very short course) and there was a Nautical mille record to attempt.

I’ve started saturday morning with the Nautical Mille, I wanted to enjoy the glassy weather and I knew that afterwards I wouldn’t have any time left to do it because of the long distance and slalom races…
I’ve paddled hard but I could probably have done a little better, I just didn’t want to burn myself for the weekend, I did 10mn36sec ; no one could do better on a SUP board.

Saturday afternoon we had slalom races, I’ve won all my heats and won the final, Greg Closier and Rico Leroy took 2nd and 3rd

Sunday morning we had the long distance race, I was on my 18′ Nidecker custom, it was very glassy, I took a slow start but soon took off, the board works very good, I’ve finish in 2h16 with 4mn advantage on the 2nd

In the Afternoon other Slaloms and once again I’ve managed to win all my heats and the final, Greg Closier couldn’t do the race as he had to go home early, finally Gaetan Sene took 2nd and Rico Leroy 3rd.

Results :
Nautical Mille Record on a SUP : Eric Terrien 10mn36sec
Slalom Races : 1 Eric Terrien 2 Gaetan Sene 3 Rico Leroy
Golden Island 25km Race : 1 Eric Terrien 2 Didier Leneil 3 Greg Closier

quelques photos grâce a Guy Capra : http://nauticaerium.blogspot.com/

3 races, 3 National titles !
It’s been a little bit of an adventure, my Unlimited board was finished only Friday at 4am… It’s been delivered Friday night at 10pm…in Switzerland…We left Geneva Saturday morning at 2am…And arrived just on time for the 1st race… 20km, 2 laps of 10km with 15knots in the face on the way back.. pretty intense !
In the hurry we didn’t manage to make the rudder work so I did all the race with a fixed fin, it was alright, I ‘ve been lucky that there wasn’t too much side wind.
In the afternoon I’ve won the 3km open race
On Sunday morning I’ve won my second title, the 14′ class 10km, then I took part in the “parents-kids” relay race with my mum, just for the fun !
On Sunday afternoon the 12′6 class title race was a “battle of the Paddle” kind of race, I really like that kind of courses with many turns at bouys and sprints on the beach.

Results :

Unlimited class race :
1 Eric Terrien (Nidecker, Kialoa, Rip Curl, FCS)
2 Gaetan Sene
3 Didier Leneil

14 class race :
1 Eric Terrien (Nidecker, Kialoa, Rip Curl, FCS)
2 Gaetan Sene
3 Didier Leneil

12′6 class men :
1 Eric Terrien (Nidecker, Kialoa, Rip Curl, FCS)
2 Gaetan Sene
3 Thierry Kostka

I had a good time at La Torche for the french stop of the Stand Up World Tour (SUP surfing), I went all the way to 1/4 finals where I couldn´t do anything against Robin Johnson, Carlos Bahia and Peyo Lizarazu ; Robin and Carlos went to semi finals and that was the end of the contest for Peyo and I.

My next trip is Honolulu for the Battle of the Paddle, May 14th-15th

Photos : Christophe Bonte

The Siam Park is a wave pool in the South of Tenerife Island.

I had the chance (thanks Eduardo Diaz) to ride it, the wave is surprisingly good, it’s a fun wave allowing real surfing.

pic : Alexi Rodriguez, surfeandolacicer.blogspot.com

It was Saturday April 3rd, the wind picked up during the day making it hard to get good waves during the finals, I came 2nd, here’s some pics

Results :
1 Pablo Valencia
2 Eric Terrien
3 Stéphane Etienne
4 Jaime Marrero

Congrats Pablo for winning the contest.

Nothing better than a good downwind to relax mind and body !
The board I’ve used on this picture is one of the prototype for the new Nidecker 14′, it is a very fast flat water board but yet works perfectly on downwinds and open ocean (including up and side wind), I’ve already rode it in strong winds, big chops, swell and breaking waves and it handles it all.