The 12 Towers Ocean Paddle Festival has carved out an iconic figure of being one of the premier downwind stand up paddleboarding (SUP) races of Australia and garners a lot of international attention too. The 2019 event took place this past weekend (March 2nd & 3rd) and certainly turned up the heat of Australia’s Gold Coast this summer!
Starboard Dream Team rider Clément Colmas found all the bumps on the Starboard Ace | Pic by Georgia Schofield
For this year’s event, the 12 Towers event organisers extended the long distance course to 17km’s, with the Open Ocean Race set from world famous Snapper Rocks to the picturesque North Burleigh Hill. Passing by 12 Lifeguard Beach Surveillance Towers (Hence establishing the race name) competitors rounded an inflatable “turning buoy” approximately 200 meters from the centre of North Burleigh Beach, before making their final dash to the dry sand finish line. Organisers also added a “short course” dash from Palm Beach SLSC through North Burleigh Hill in the schedule, a “stepping stone” to the longer distance is now within many paddlers grip.
This race has seen many of the globe’s best “Ocean Athletes” go head to head with no shortage of the biggest names in SUP……Booth, Puyo, Grant, Mitchell, Garioud, Dews, Jensen, O’Brian all etched on the Tower Trophy. Not to be outshone from the men, the ladies of 5 times winner Gilbert, Sato, Black, Jackson, Baker never sidelining to anyone.
See 12 Towers Downwind SUP Race Picture Album
Cheers to everyone who raced the APSU 12 Towers 2019!Thanks to Apsu Nutrition, #thisisqueensland, Air Tahiti Nui, The…
Posted by 12 Towers Ocean Paddle Festival 2020 on Sunday, March 3, 2019
View full 2019 results of 12 Towers Downwind SUP Race
Men’s 12 Tower SUP Race Results:
1st: Lincoln Dews (1:03:00)
2nd: Titouan Puyo (1:04:13)
3rd: James Casey (1:04:56)
4th: Noic Garioud (1:04:57)
5th: Clement Colmas (1:05:43) – Starboard
6th: Ty Judson (1:06:16)
7th: Michael Booth (1:07:46) – Starboard
8th: Tim Cyprien (1:08:28)
9th: Matt Nottage (1:11:10) – Starboard
10th: Dave Kissane (1:12:05)
Women’s12 Tower SUP Race Results:
1st: Karla Gilbert (1:23:47)
2nd: Kate Baker (1:25:33)
3rd: Yuka Sato (1:27:26)
4th: Keale Dorries (1:32:29)
5th: Alison Fullagar (1:37:26)
6th: Charlotte Spicer (1:38:44)
7th: Chloe Walkerdene (1:43:35)
8th: Vanessa Lyon (1:45:03)
9th: Zara Smith (1:46:28)
10th: Karen Masson (1:48:02)
Learn more about the Ace open ocean & downwinder race SUP:
