11 City Tour – day 1 video + report

This is Day 1 of the 11 city sup tour 2014.

The SUP 11-City Tour 2014: 3 SUPtember, Day 1 (by Anne-Marie Reichman)

The event started with a colorful Prologue, yesterday evening, where participants were dressed to impress representing their culture.
This morning the atmosphere was more serious as the athletes were anxious to see what the first day would offer. At 9:15 the start shot sounded of the 6th annual SUP 11-City Tour in Leeuwarden and everyone sprinted the first meters towards Sneek, our first resting point and City of the day.

The weather was spectacular for paddling today with temperatures around 24C and light winds.
Elite, Amateur, Team paddlers were all mixed in the field. Boards varied from the carbon 14 foot race boards to 12’6” inflatable boards.
At the resting post in Sneek, Peter Bartl (Austria) arrived with an impressive 4 minutes lead before Bart de Zwart (Holland/Hawaii) and Martijn van Deth (Holland). About 5 minutes later the rest of the field came in view. Janneke Smits (Holland) arrived first of the women in Sneek.
With another 20 kilometers to go after the resting post and a ‘stamping post’ in 2nd City “IJlst”, the participants headed towards the finish in Sloten (3rd City). However, before making it into the finish City and many hours paddling, the famous Slotermeer was waiting for everyone. Today this lake offered a rough terrain with chops created by the side onshore winds.

The finish today was very surprising. Bart de Zwart made up lost time and ended up winning the sprint from Peter Bartl finishing in 5 hours and 28 seconds. Peter Bartl came in 2nd with a time of 5 hours and 30 seconds. Martijn van Deth finished 3rd in 5 hours, 1 minute and 16 seconds. The female competitors did an awesome job with Janneke Smits from Holland taking the lead today with a total time of 5 hours 48 minutes and 20 seconds. Joanne Hamilton-Vale from the UK came in 2nd with a time of 5 hours, 54 minutes and 13 seconds. Morene Dekker came in 3rd with her total paddling time: 6 hours, 10 minutes and 2 seconds.

Once passing the finish line, athletes are all smiles with a proper massage awaiting them, followed by a communal dinner and daily price giving. The atmosphere in “SUP City” – our roaming home – is very unique. Everyone is part of the SUP 11-City Family. The volunteers work very hard to get the logistics on land and water organized. The paddlers go very deep to keep up with the mental and physical challenge. The supporters clap, hoot holler and keep the spirit alive. All together it’s an ‘insta bonding experience’ for everyone.

One of our participants had to stop the race, being bothered by an old shoulder injury. A few blisters were noticed as well at the finish line. Let’s see what tomorrow brings us. The battle will continue on the water and we will be blessed with sunshine again.

Anne-Marie Reichman

Besides the ultimate challenge the SUP 11-City Tour is also a unique experience. 200 national and international paddlers are expected to get to know Friesland, the northern province of Holland, from the water. Open fields with windmills, cows, and sheep will present itself along the water ways exchanged by eleven historical cities built from 1700 onwards.

This year from 3 to 7 September with the prologue on 2 September 2014!!!

Historic 11-City route:
Below is an overview of the start places, resting places and finish places.

Click on the city names for a Google Maps view of the exact locations.

Day 1	43 km	Leeuwarden	9:00 am	Sloten	14:30 – 20:00
Day 2	45 km	Sloten	9:00 am	Workum	14:30 – 20:00
Day 3	42 km	Workum	9:00 am	Franeker	14:30 – 20:00
Day 4	43 km	Franeker	10:00 am	Dokkum	15:00 – 20:00
Day 5	27 km	Dokkum	10:00 am	Leeuwarden	13:00 – 18:00