”The vision hit me. Fast drop, slam into a bottom turn, carve off the top, drive down the face, repeat. That’s it”
– 7x Italian Champion 2012-18
– 3rd Paris ( France) Crossing APP World Tour, 2018
– 2nd Bilbao (Spain) World SUP Challenge, 2017
– 3rd San Francisco Battle of the Bay, California – USA, 2017
– 3rd Long Distance European SUP Championship, Portugal 2017
– 4x European SUP Champion Race 12/ 13/ 14/ 17 , he‘s one of the top 5 riders in the world!
– 2nd Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge, Oregon (USA), 2016
– 3rd Stand Up World Series in Barcelona 2015
– 1st Eurosup Race 2013
– 2nd Race World Cup Event in Hamburg (Germany), 2013
– 1st SUP Paris Crossing 2013
Leonard Nika began surfing at age of 10 when his family moved from Torino to Rome, near the coast in Italy.
The passion for surfing has come natural to Leonard, it did not take much for the passion to become talent. After many surfing competitions around Italy, in the summer of 2008 Nika was introduced to Stand Up Paddling (SUP) and a few months after taking the first wave with a Stand Up Paddle board, he had already climbed the rankings in the Italian and European competitions both, Wave and Race. Sponsored by Naish at the beginning, for two consecutive years, currently runs the world competing for the leading brand Starboard.
Completing his missions, Nika has ridden big waves on the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean, including Capo Mannu – Sardinia, Hossegor – France, Mundaka-Spain and Super Tubos -Portugal.
When Leonard is not busy traveling the World, he likes to teach stand up surfing and support the others who would like to approach this sport and show his training skills at his sup surf High-performance center Of Peniche-Portugal.
Leonard moved to Cascais for improve his daily training during the off season in a perfect conditions with the power of the ocean, Portugal have a lot to offer for Stand up paddling many flat water spots to discover and mostly open ocean conditions while enjoying the culture and ambiente here in Portugal.
Leo has been ridding for Starboard since he was 21 years old, currently 10 years on board!
Nationality: Italian
Favourite discipline: SUP Surfing
Favourite SUP Locations: Peniche (Portugal)
APP World Tour Ranking: currently 10
SUP Racer Ranking: currently 19
Hobbies: Skating, surfing, running, biking
Other Sponsors: Black Project Sup, Garmin Marine
Starboard Dream Team riders Benoit Carpentier (France) and Leo Nika (Italy) put on stellar performances to earn Silver and Bronze medals respectively in the men’s SUP surfing that took place in Hvide Sande, Denmark. “Vice European Champion! It was another great experience with team France. Thanks, everyone for the messages. Now let’s work…
The second edition of the Madeira SUP Challenge took place this weekend, rewarding racers with bluebird skies and exquisite conditions for SUP racing around the island of Madiera. It’s a 3rd consecutive win for Espe Barreras at the 2022 Madeira SUP Challenge. The Spanish Dream Team rider put in a dominant performance to lead the…
Sunshine and blue skies greeted SUP racers from across Europe at the SUP EuroTour’s first event of 2022 in Bari, Italy. It was an epic day of racing for the Bigeye SUP Racein the azure blue waters, which also had some texture to it, which made things quite interesting. There were a ton of orange…
Sure, 2021 wasn’t quite as bad as 2020. But let’s be honest – it wasn’t great either. Constant events cancellation, new travel restrictions, logistic delays and many other challenges. But our Dream Team Riders never stop. We are proud of every paddler who keeps charging and growing within our sports. With that said, our team…
Bluebird skies greeted the over 600 strong field of SUP racers as they entered Lake Anney’s frigid but glassy waters for the 2020 GlaGla Race, which kicked off the 2020 SUP racing season this past weekend in spectacular fashion. Starboard Dream Team riders flexed their muscle to show that they are in great form coming…
Micheal Booth & Fiona Wylde Lead the Charge at 2019 Corfu Emerald Cup, Greece and take home some pretty big cheques! Starboard SUP teammate Leo Nika paddles home to a 3rd place podium, a hugely impressive performance against a stacked field of elite racing names. FULL REPLAY: EuroTour Live Stream of the Corfu…
Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) professionals, Claudio & Leo Nika, announce their collaboration with the Peniche Surfing Club’s High Performance Center (HPC), using the centre as their training base whilst hosting Stand Up Paddleboard athletes from around the world with monthly high-performance training camps. “It’s time to aim high, train harder than ever and achieve your goals! …
Sunday, 9th November saw the highly anticipated APP World Tour stop in Paris for the APP 2018 Paris SUP Open take place where Dream Team riders took home a clean sweep of podium positions for Team Starboard. Micheal Booth finished in first, with teammates Connor Baxter in 2nd and Leo Nika in 3rd. Paddling together in…
Photo Credits: Battle Of The Coast EuroTour Stop #1 by M A Y O L A I phtgrphcdsgnr & #Edwinwestrafotografie The highly anticipated 2018 SUP EuroTour kicks off this past weekend with the first stop in the Netherlands for the Battle of the Coast – an internationally known Stand Up Paddleboard event that invites both first-time paddlers…
The inaugural Florence Paddle Games was hosted in the beautiful location of Canottieri Firenze with the iconic Ponte Vecchio providing a spectacular backdrop. Starboard team took a clean sweep of the men’s podium with ISA World Champion Bruno Hasulyo taking top podium honours. It is a three-day event (27 – 29 April) with the Starboard…
Why do we have the Starboard ‘Dream Team’? Well, it’s simple – by living out their dreams, they help us live out ours. Whether it’s paddling long-distance challenges, winning races, catching waves, these Starboard team riders really are living the dream. We truly believe they’re the best in the world at what they do –…
Starboard duo Leo Nika and Penelope Strickland have taken out the first stop of the 2017 EuroTour, saluting at the ‘Agios Nikolaos on SUP’ festival in epic downwind conditions on the beautiful Greek island of Crete. Leonard Nika, who was the most winningest athlete last year on the EuroTour with 6 victories started off his…
Starboard Dream Team riders started well the year taking victories at the really cold “Gla Gla race” on lake Annecy in France. Frenchwoman and European champion 2016 Olivia Piana won the race with more than a 5 minutes advantage over the second female to cross the finish line and even ending in 18th position on…
Italian Dream Team rider Leonard Nika, after an impressive summer with 5 victories on the EURO Tour, added a fifth consecutive SUP Race Italian Champion title to his crown last weekend in Marina di Pietrasanta. Congratulations Leonard who is already on his way to California for the next stop of the Stand Up World Series…
Last weekend Leonard Nika won the penultimate stop of the Eurotour his fifth event in the Eurotour and also his fourth consecutive win at the Marotta Adriatic Crown in his home country of Italy. This latest victory shows he is definitively a force to be reckoned with in the SUP Race World and consolidating his…
Leonard Nika already had the most wins on the 2016 Eurotour after his third win in Finland last week. He just bettered that record with another event win this last weekend in his homeland during the Noli SUP Race on the Northern West coast of Italy close to Genova. Congratulations also to French Starboard riders…
Starboard domination continued last weekend in Sieravuori, Finland during week 10 of the Eurotour presented by the Tiki brand with the third event win of Leonard Nika, the Italian Dream Team rider. Leo is the only male athlete with three wins in the Eurotour (Portugal, Greece and Finland), placing him in fourth position on the…
The EURO Tour 2016 presented by Starboard continues on in Europe and last weekend saw stop number 9 head for Marathon in Greece. The Starboard domination also continues, this time with Starboard Dream Team Rider Leonard Nika from Italy taking first place with a gap of over a minute over Frenchman Eric Terrien in the…
