With every quirky new sport, comes a quirky new championship.
Enter: the first Hong Kong International Stand-Up Paddleboard (SUP) Championship, coming to Sai Kung on Aug. 29.
Think you’ve got some serious paddling-while-standing skills? Think your core of steel sustains the unpredictable wobbles of being upright on a seaborne board better than anyone else?
Then by all means, enter one of the competition’s races, whether the 200-metre, one-kilometre, four-kilometre, eight-kilometre (?!), or four-person team relay, with each person paddling 400 metres.
You’ll potentially be competing against world-class athletes, like Taiwan’s and Japan’s fastest paddlers, but maybe that HKD5,000 cash prize (for the eight-kilometre race) will motivate your muscles to find hitherto undiscovered reserves of strength and endurance.
There’s also HKD1000 watersports coupons, fibreglass paddles, skincare products (for your leathery, sun-cured skin) up for grabs, so paddle, paddle, paddle your board quickly down the sea!
The deadline to enter was Aug. 17, but the organisers are giving Coconauts a special extension, so get your application in ASAP.
For those of who you are more into sipping than SUPping, there’s also the free-flow-beer afterparty sponsored by San Miguel.
What: The 1st Hong Kong International SUP Championship 2015 (more info)
When: 10am to 4pm on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Where: Sha Ha Road, Sai Kung (Near Hoi Wan BBQ). (Google Maps)
Price: Free to watch, but the fee for participants ranges from HKD250 to HKD600
Photo: Blue Sky Sports Club
