Starboard duo of Michael Booth and Bruno Hasulyo have moved into the joint first position on the EuroTour leaderboard after mighty performances by both the Aussie and Hungarian powerhouses for a 1-2 finish at the World SUP Festival in Spain this past weekend. In the women’s race, it was Laura Quetglas (Spain) opening her EuroTour account with a solid 2nd position after German surprise Noelani Sach (Germany) takes the win.
200 riders made their way early via a ferry to the Island of Tarbaca, the smallest inhabited island in Spain, where they would set off with a gruelling headwind leg and have to survive 5 kilometres before rounding the island for a challenging 12km downwind to the finish line at Levante Beach in Santa Pola.
Starboard Dream Team riders knew they had to get out into the lead early as first paddlers to round the top turn buoy before heading into the long downwind leg would be in a good position for the rest of the race. Daniel Hasulyo sums up his strategy;
“I loved it. Heavy 5km total brutal upwind to start, rounding the incredible little island of Tabarca and then a pretty straight line downwind till the finish, with a last mini upwind right before the end.
Knowing my power I knew that I have to push hard at the start, because the more distance I’m able to give to the field the fewer riders will manage to get me on the 12km downwind stretch, so I did, and with only Bruno and Michael able to keep the pace, we put a decent gap bwteen us and the rest of the field in just a few minutes into the race.
The boards were moving with ease through the heavy chop, and by the time we hit the top marker and turn into the downwind leg, we had a few hundred meters on the rest of the paddlers.”
3min Highlights Reel of EuoroTour Stop#5 at the World SUP Festival Costa Blanca
Watch LIVE feed replay from SUP World Festival Costa Blanca 2018 EuroTour Stop #5
World SUP Festival Costa Blanca 2018 Men’s Results:
1st: Michael Booth (AUS/ Starboard)
2nd: Bruno Hasulyo (HUN/ Starboard)
3rd: Tom Auber (FRA)
4th: Leo Nika (ITA/ Starboard)
5th: Daniel Hasulyo (HUN/ Starboard)
6th: Guilherme dos Reis (BRA)
7th: Martin Vitry (FRA)
8th: Vinni Martins (BRA)
9th: Ty Judson (AUS)
10th: Paolo Marconi (ITA)
World SUP Festival Costa Blanca 2018 Women’s Results:
1st: Noelani Sach (DEU)
2nd: Laura Quetglas (ESP/ Starboard)
3rd: Susak Molinero (ESP)
4th: Caterina Stenta (ITA)
5th: Susanne Lier (DEU)
See Full Results at SUPRacer.com
Photo Credits: @paddleleague/ @georgiasphoto
