As with everything we do in life, Victoria’s richest watersport event was born through an idea and a single motivation shared by two local St Kilda based businesses.

Kite Republic and Standup Paddle Boarding St Kilda, Victoria’s most passionate Kiteboarding and Standup Paddle Boarding businesses respectively shared a single motivation in creating this event...

... to create a social Kite/SUP event that all levels of rider, beginner right through to elite can participate in, enjoy and bring the family along to!

After months of preparation, hours of speaking with our incredibly generous sponsors, a good few litres of coffee as we threw ideas around during team meetings we were ready to go, it was now in the hands of Mother Nature.

As the marquees began to be assembled and the courses were laid out early on Australia Day, the first of the paddlers took to a glassy Port Phillip Bay to warm up for the first event. We could not have asked for better conditions to begin the SUP races.

With the smell of the BBQ (Thankyou to SUP Victoria & Kiteboarding Victoria for running the BBQ) hovering over the glassy still water the day kicked off with a field of 55 competing in a 3km SUP sprint to take home the $1000 cash prize sponsored by Sunlover Holidays.

After the frantic sprint off the line it was Torquay’s Matt Lumley that took the early lead. There was a small breakaway group which involved pretty much all the top 5 finishers as the competitors rounded the first two bouys and headed under the St Kilda Pier for the first of the two 1000m straights up past Republica, St Kilda Sea Baths and the St Kilda Lifesaving Club. This was where Cam Hosking from SUP Victoria made his move and broke away from the elite front runners group to take the win. The group contained (in order of finishing) Matt Lumley, last years winner Dave Hunt, Danny Sheard and Adam Snow. Matt Lumley and Dave Hunt won paddles sponsored by Naish.

The morning ran incredibly smoothly with 130 competitors taking part during the SUP events, not including dogs, ants, stuffed or inflatable animals that were seen during the Board & Pet Race which was won by Mike and his 4 legged friend Rick!

The 4 man 50 metre team sprint was a hotly contested event with 11 teams taking part. In the end it was the SUP Victoria team of Matt Lumley, Dave Patterson, Jonathon Courcher and Kristi Page that took the line honours in a sprint finish.

The final SUP Event was the 100m Sprint out and around a buoy. After 4 heats of 10 competitors and plenty of pushing and shoving (all in good fun of course) the top 3 from each heat went through to the 12 man final. Once again it was Naish Team Rider Matt Lumley that took the honours just edging out Adam Snow.

The Oakley Spirit of Australia Day Award went to Paul Harrington. Check the photos to find out why!

As the free Women’s SUP clinic and Uli inflatable SUP boards demonstration came to a close we flicked the switch and believe it not the wind fired up then and there...

The first event involving kiters was the Oakley Ultimate Waterman Event. A 50m Swim, 50m SUP and a kite course to finish. It is a continuous event where the competitors have their kites ready to go with lines wound in, harness and board on top and a marshall designated to all competitors for safety reasons during the kite launch phase. Off the line Jarrod Rubenstein was a clear leader for about 30m of the swimming leg before he had to stop and find his boardshorts that we believe another competitor may have sabotaged to fault mid swim J. It was at this point that the break was made. Sebastien Maupas in from France shot to the front and was never troubled from then on. Ewan Jaspan, Allan Kirk, and first season kiter Steffan Slaats were neck a neck at the first change as they grabbed their SUP Board and Paddles. In the end it was Sebastien Maupas a clear winner followed by Kite Republic/Naish Team Rider Ewan Jaspan and lightwind Lenny Furlong in third.

Next up was the race to find out who is Australia’s fastest body dragger. A hotly contested race sponsored by Slingshot and Mystic Kiteboarding as 20 competitors had to negotiate each other as well as a course. It was James Hughes from England who turned the first marker and hit the kiteloop phase first before tacking across the wind to narrowly defeat Ewan Jaspan (2^nd) and Andrew Bell (3^rd) for the win.

As the St Kilda Pier, beaches and footpaths were lined and Kiteboarding Victoria struggled to keep up with the demand for BBQ food the first heats began in the Kite Republic Port Phillip Cup Kiter-X Event, presented by Nobile Kiteboarding.

The course was around 500m long and consisted of a crosswind start, round buoy 1 for a short downwind burst, rounding buoy 2 for a long upwind tack before rounding the final buoy, a short cross wind sprint, jumping a large inflatable sausage before a tight carve around to the finish line.

As we made our way through the heats there were a variety of tactics being employed throughout the field. From fast sprints across the wind and short tacks to round the final buoy, to slower more upwind routes aimed at eliminating the extra tack. It was clear early on that the lighter competitors that could get upwind enough to make it around the upwind buoy had the slight edge. At the same time though they had to get themselves to the lead early on or find themselves having to wait as others tacked across in front of them.

It was a very successful event with competitors and spectators alike raving about the fun aspect of Kiter-X action. Not surprisingly after the heats and semi finals were through we were left with four of Victoria’s strongest riders, Aaron Mack, Ewan Jaspan, Lance Horowitz and Sebastien Maupas in the final.

It was a fast paced race that saw the riders at full speed only a couple of metres apart at times, fantastic spectator viewing. It was the current Victorian Freestyle Champion and Kite Republic/Naish Team Rider Ewan Jaspan showing his versatility and coming through for the win closely followed by Aaron Mack in second place. Lance and Sebastien were well in contention throughout the first three quarters of the race but just missed the single line on the final tack.



The final event of the day was the Naish Expression Session. It seemed that half of Melbourne had turned up to watch these guys and girls throwing down their full repertoire.

Special mention must go to Aaron Mack who was putting his body on the line as his Naish Torch was looping around all over the sky, he took out the Max Power Award. The man that should have been a pilot, Lenny Furlong took out the Hangtime Award as he spent more time up at kite level than on the water. Charlotte Simsar (Royal Kiteboarding Rider) wowed the crowds with her high dangle passes while the Most Technical Tricks award was too hard to call between Ewan Jaspan (Kite Republic/Naish) and Rain Kont from Estonia. Jaz DeLille was a crowd favourite and took out the Superstyler Award while Lance Horowitz was seen throwing down some huge double S-Bends. The Biggest Wipeout went to Daltan Bruyns who came down from great heights leaving his board somewhere in the vicinity of Jupiter.

Huge crowds, great weather, plenty of new and old friends, a BBQ, music and watersports. All topped off with an event party at Republica @ St Kilda Sea Baths.

 Could Australia Day be any better?

Kite Republic and Stand Up Paddle Boarding St Kilda the event holders would like to thank the amazing event sponsors. There was $15,000 of cash and prizes donated by these great companies, without them events like this are near impossible to host.

The event sponsors included Sunlover Holidays, Oakley, Nobile Kiteboarding, Slingshot Kiteboarding, Naish Kiteboarding, Mystic Kiteboarding, SUP Vic, Kiteboarding Victoria, Seabreeze, KITEmag, Carve Surf Sunglasses, Republica, Jetport Parking,  Royal Melbourne Sail Training Academy, Melbourne Indoor Paintball, KR Kite Club, Uli Boards, Wotashot, Kahuna Street SUP, Southern Suburbs Physiotherapy, www.paddlers.com.au, Little Blue Restaurant and 7^th Wave.

And finally a huge thankyou to St Kilda Lifesaving Club who keep the water safe, and Earthcare who keep the area looking great. We raised just under $1000 on the day through entry fees which will be split between these two great organizations.

FULL RESULT LIST UNDER PICTURES













 

RESULTS – FULL RUNDOWN

SUP Results:

SUPB St Kilda Port Phillip Cup SUP Race (presented by Sunlover Holidays):

Men’s Winner -          Cam Hosking
2^nd                          Matt Lumley
3^rd                           Dave Hunt
4^th                           Danny Sheard
5^th                           Adam Snow 

Women’s Winner:      Sue Sheard
2^nd                          Rea Haare
3^rd                          Kristi Page

KAHUNA Sprint Race
Winner                 Matt Lumley
2^nd                      Adam Snow

SEABREEZE SUP Relay
Winners               SUP Vic Team (Matt Lumley, Dave Patterson, Jonathan Courcher, Kristi Page) 

Oakley Board and Pet Race
Winners               Mike and his 4 legged friend Rick

Australian Spirit SUP Award
Paul Harrington

KITE Results:

KITE REPUBLIC Port Phillip Cup Kiter-X Event (presented by Nobile Kiteboarding)
Winner                  Ewan Jaspan (Kite Republic/Naish)
R/UP                     Aaron Mack

Student Award      Steffan Slaats 

NAISH Expression Session

Max Power Award          Aaron Mack
Hangtime Award            Lenny Furlong
Dangle Pass Master        Charlotte Simsar (Royal Kiteboarding)
Most Technical              Ewan Jaspan & Rain Kont
Styler Award                 Jaz DeLille
Double S Style               Lance Horowitz (Naish)
Biggest Wipeout            Dalton Bruyns

 OAKLEY Ultimate Waterman Event (50m Swim/50m SUP/Kite Course – shotgun start!)
Winner                        Sebastien Maupas
R/UP                           Ewan Jaspan (Kite Republic/Naish)

Entertainment Award    Jarrod Rubenstein (who lost his shorts mid swim leg)

SLINGSHOT/MYSTIC Body Drag Race
Men's Winner               James Hughes
R/UP                           Ewan Jaspan 

Female Winner              Charlotte Simsar
Female R/UP                 Maike Wolf