On October 30-31st, SeaYou organised the third edition of the SeaYou Watersports Challenge which consisted of SUP, windsurf and the first RS FEVA dinghy race. Thanks to the continued support from Nakheel, this year’s event took place in Palm Jebel Ali, an open beach away from the city, with strong wind conditions and clear blue waters which made it the ideal location.
Over 300 participants and spectators attended the two-day event which attracted a host of families who came as far as Ajman and Abu Dhabi to attend the event in Dubai. While race participants practiced out in the ocean, children played on the beach and enjoyed the views of the Palm Jebel Ali.
On Friday, it was open to all race participants and families with their kayaks and paddleboards to come down and test out the water and enjoy the stunning views of the palm Jebel Ali. In the meantime, windsurf participants were treated to a coaching lesson.
During the two days, participants and spectators were also treated to a demo from AHD board’s creator Bruno Andre on the AHD Hydrofoil windsurf board. The coolest and fastest board in windsurf for light winds at the moment!
The afternoon ended with a BBQ picnic as family and friends relaxed after a busy day out in the sea.
Saturday morning kicked offwith the SUP short race (1km) along the shore and the SUP long distance race (4km) and it was a real idyllic trip in between manmade islands. In the open board Long distance race, Amer Dandachi took 1st place followed by Marcus Sutton in second and Edern Lalanne in third. In the Women’s Open Long Distance board category, Jennifer Scully from Abu Dhabi took home 1st place followed by Emily Howells in 2nd place.
In the afternoon, there was the Windsurf race which consisted of 12 race participants from 10 countries, Henrik Bootz took first place in the Men’s race followed by Bert Drofmans and Simon Flynn in 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Janine Marchal took 1st place in the Women’s race and Agata Taworska took home a prize in the special race.
All Windsurf participants raced on the Starboard Phantom 295 which is a one-design class race board, so all the competitors were sailing on the same board with only different sails fitting to their bodytype.
In the meantime, thanks to the support of Watercooled, the first RS FEVAdingy race was on, organized by Tom. RS Feva is a world leading double-handed sailing dinghy with a huge race circuit and recreational following across the globe.
In the family race, Jin and Anh Ong took first spot and in the Youth class, Martina and Ginaluca Ragusa crossed the line before Jonnie and Alex Alley.
All race winners were awarded prizes from our official fitness partner – Gold’s Gym. Palmers, Gypset Cruise, Sofitel Palm Resort & Spa, Smart Hairways, Watercooled and SeaYou also awarded the other prizes.
SeaYou would like to thank their partners Nakheel, Averda, Outdoor UAE and Red Bull for their kind support throughout the event. It wouldn’t have been possible without them.
SeaYou Watersports Challenge will be back in January 22nd 2016 for the fourth edition followed by the fifth edition in April.
For more information on our future events, participants can contact us at info@seayou.ae or visit us at www.seayou.ae
