Last weekend saw the victory of German Sonni Honscheid, the latest addition to Starboard’s racing Dream Team in the fourth edition of the Air France Paddle Festival in Papeete, Tahiti.
Sonni’s power and technique let her finish well ahead of the other female competitors but also several of the men taking part in the competition.
This edition was one of the most fun ever with the addition of an 8 km amateur race and also included some SUP Polo.
Sonni commented about the race:
“The Airfrance Paddle festival was one of the best organized races I took part in – in one of the most amazing places I have been so far. The sport of Paddling in Tahiti is as popular as soccer in Germany. The race in itself was really complete – at the beginning a strong upwind followed by a rewarding downwinder ending with a flat water grind. I loved the fact that drafting was almost impossible. The ACE 14 x 25 was “the” perfect board for this race, fast in upwind, smooth in the downwind and stable – I felt one time because I got distracted by this perfect 6 foot wave breaking on the outside reef right in front of me. I´m very happy to win this race and making it into the top 20 overall (17th place).”
Congratulations Sonni.
For a complete report and full results, check this SUPconnect article.
