The Return of the Chaos

Friday 13 Feb 2026 | by Sarah Thornely - SUPjunkie

YES, the GLA GLA UK returned on a much appreciated dry and calm day down at the stunning Buckland Park Lake in Surrey.

Bruce leads them out as Gla Gla UK gets underway

Having taken a year off, the organisers once again delivered a cracking race. The paddlers may have feared the course but once on the water, their minds were set on focus mode and all finished with a smile.

If you’ve never been to this sheltered venue, it truly is beautiful. The lagoon with a small beach is watched over by the Team in the freshly renovated Clubhouse. Home to The Surrey Hills Adventure Company, and once built by hand, the new building still retains its rustic charm and is home to some of the best crew in the business. They are well trained in getting people on the water in a safe and incredibly fun way; the staff are very encouraging, so you know that an event held here can only be fabulous!

The Gla Gla UK was developed after Skip and Craig travelled to the French version and wanted to create a similar vibe here in the UK. It began with them both paddling the event together as a test run. As it was lockdown, no-one else could take part, but they both knew paddlers would love what they had created.

So, it was great to see the race return in 2026; on the day and once registered, there was plenty of time for everyone to catch up with old and new friends with the race officially starting at 1 p.m. Don’t we all just love a civilised start time? Plenty of kit to look at too during that time, with some great companies sponsoring the event.

With 3 fleets consisting of 15 km, 7.5 km and the challenge (for both distances) it was decided to have a mass start with plenty of encouragement for those of a slightly nervous disposition, to hang back. The start horn that went off a few seconds earlier than expected did not affect the race, as everyone was ready to go, and a false start whistle would have created chaos. A great decision by Race Director Craig Sawyer and one that caused some social media fun after the event!

And so it began, the race with a mass start, 35 buoy turns, the “crossroads of chaos”, the “double entendre”, the beach and flag runs and a super lap meant that paddlers really had to keep their minds in the game. It’s one of those races where you hear the briefing, look at the map, and believe you don’t have a clue how it’s going to work but once on the water, it all becomes clear.

Timers were on the ball to make sure laps were counted and fair play to them all; they did a superb job. Not an easy task but made simpler with some great new tech created by Skip of SHACADEMY.

Bruce Smith was fast out of the gate. He has just joined the Blackfish Paddles Team, and his last race was Last Paddler Standing, a slightly different format where he achieved over 2 days of paddling pretty much non-stop. You can read all about that here: The Paddler Bruce Smith

Bruce is a very humble man but incredibly accomplished as a paddler, not only for endurance events like LPS but shorter, more dynamic races, like this one. By his own admission, this format is not his forte, but he romped home a clear winner in the 15 km – a really great result for Bruce and Blackfish.

What we love to see is the women pushing the men and boy did Alexandra Tyrer push Bruce! She finished just behind him in second place overall. Alex looked as fresh as a daisy and her first thought was finding her family including 2 small children, to hug!

Phil Sparkes and Nick Judd finished in 2^nd and 3^rd for the men and Lou Court and Gemma Palmer-Dighton for the women.

In the 7.5 km race, Southampton SUP Club took 5 out of the 6 podiums which just proves the power of a regular meet up with paddling/racing buddies! Congratulations to them all.

Sara Maxey, on her very distinctive pink Flying Fish board, took the win for the 7.5 km women and Jamie Grant for the men.

Another club with a huge presence was Frangipani with 12 paddlers all benefiting from the knowledge and support of Anni Ridsdill Smith, who was there encouraging them all from the sidelines. Again, another Club success!

There were a few who fell in during the race and some interesting beach starts after the flag run but all in all everyone paddled brilliantly and it was lovely to see this race back where it belongs and as one of the first races of the season, it will always get a huge amount of love.

Even the last paddler who finished was happy – why would you not be, it’s a great location with a professional and supportive team running the race.

Prize giving was just 15 minutes later, which meant paddlers could grab a snack and a hot chocolate from the van, warm themselves up and check out the great kit from Shoretees Boardwear!

A nice touch was allowing the winners to choose their own prize, anything from an Oscar Propulsion slitted paddle to a Mustang Survival waist pfd. As always, we’d like to say a huge thank you to all sponsors – paddlers do enjoy a prize!

We love the Gla Gla UK race and enjoyed being back amongst our squad, broadcasting live; you can watch all the action on replay here: GLA GLA UK race replay We cannot wait to see you all back there next year. Watch this space for a brand-new sprint race coming later in the year at the SHAC!

Check out all the photos here: GLA GLA UK photos