International Racing V Racing in the UK 

For anyone who loves a bit of travel and paddling abroad, how about popping over to the continent and entering any number of great races! 

One that I would like to showcase is the Spring SUP Race in Italy – having just celebrated its 9^th year, they are clearly doing something right. As part of the International Canoe Federation (Planet Canoe) they have rules and standards to uphold, but don’t let this put you off – it is a great event for all those SUP paddling vibes you get in the UK! 

As a complete newcomer to racing, you will be well catered for, in either the Fun or Inflatable Race, both with low mileage and on the beautiful lake where most of the action takes place. 

For those of a more serious nature, there is the ‘City’ Race, technical and distance. Day 1 took us to the beautiful town of Comacchio, just 20 minutes away from the event site. Think about tiny Venice and you have it spot on! Canals weave their way through the town, with pastel coloured houses alongside. This race feels like a fun but competitive warm up – 400 metres away from the start line, along a narrow canal, a 90-degree left hand turn, along to a buoy turn (quite tricky due to the width of the canal!), and repeat back to the finish arch. ALL on a one-design board, and ALL alone – yes, this race is against a timing machine to see who wins. The starting line is at the famous 17^th century Ponte dei Trepponti bridge. You can view the race at every point, which makes it wonderful for supporters and spectators. 

Comacchio has an ancient history, spanning over 2000 years with many great cafes and restaurants, with some beautiful delicatessens to stock up on Italian treats – perfect for sightseeing whilst you are in the area. 

The rest of the event is held at a private, 4 km long freshwater lake (Lago delle Nazioni) with direct access to a beautiful sandy beach, all located in Po Delta Park, famous for its pink flamingo. The accommodation on site is the Club Village & Hotel Spiaggia Romea which offers some great choices of accommodation. You can book with or without food, but the restaurant on site offers a fabulous hot and cold buffet every evening, lunch and breakfast. There is also a very nice cafe on the site. 

Tech racing on the lake could not be more exciting – there are classes for juniors, open, and Masters 40, 50 and 60+ so plenty for all. A lap around 6 buoys is lung busting for those taking part, whereas everyone on shore has the best view. If you progress to the final, you must complete 2 laps with a beach flag run between each lap. With a beach start and finish, this must be one of the most exciting race formats to watch. 

Distance is on the final day, a 10 km course back and forth from the beach area – you watch as the paddlers disappear a couple of times up the course and then wait for exciting and close race finishes and there were plenty of those this year. To round off the competition, there was SUP foil racing across the lake. 

Prize giving is held at the end of each event over 3 days of competition and the medals are very special. Many of the athletes and support stay on sight, so it’s a great chance to meet your heroes, grab a selfie, and once they’ve finished racing, they are quite happy to chat.  

This race is run by the wonderful Simon Tugnoli Peron and his team at Delta SUP – minor tweaks and changes are made each year, keeping this event fresh. They have a great team who keeps the races running on time and with little drama, all captured by a wonderful media team with both live commentary and photos. 

You can fly to Venice, Verona or Bologna, and hire a car – the drive will take between 1 and 2 hours depending on the airport.  

If you do not want to take your board, you can hire a raceboard or inflatable on site although it is easy to take your own iSUP on a flight.  

If you’d like to look at taking part next year, you might be inspired by looking at all our photos of the event on our website SPRING SUP RACE event photos 

For next year’s dates please keep an eye on the organiser’s FB page DELTA SUP FB page  

Definitely a race and venue to visit for the future – even if you do not race competitively, there is definitely something for all, and the SUP community is what keeps people coming back every year. 

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