Supsail "World" Championship Race at Maidenhead Sailing Club
by Nick Robinson 14 Oct 23:58 AEDT
11 October 2025
Supsail 'Worlds' at Maidenhead © Nick Robinson
The inaugural "World" Supsail Championship Race happened last weekend at Maidenhead Sailing Club. Ten thrusting paddleboarders took to the waters armed with trusty paddle and the world's finest fastest folding sail - the Supsail.
Conditions couldn't have been worse for sailing. Calling it a Beaufort 1 would have been generous and the race boat - Seadrake, under anchor, veered through 180 degrees during some of the races. However, as paddleboarders, glassy flat waters and no headwind makes for easy paddling. There was then the question of Rule 42: A boat must compete using only the wind and water to increase, maintain, or decrease its speed, with prohibited actions including "pumping" the sails, "rocking" the hull by body movement, "sculling," and "ooching".
Supsail racing involves deploying the sail on the downwind leg / broad reach legs of the race. When there is no wind, there is no movement unless you air paddle (aka pumping). The race team made the bold decision to scrap rule 42 for this particular event and proceeded to coach the competitors the art of airpaddling of which 3 distinct techniques could be deployed to gain forward momentum.
The event was run as 3 races with a point for the position the competitor finished in. Least points over the best 2 races wins. Delighted to announce that for 2025 - Theo Brown is the overall "World" Champion Supsailor coming in first place in the first 2 races, making him also the winner for the Under 18 category. Tara Christ won the fastest female and Andrew James the fastest adult male. Well done the Winners!
A big thank you to all the competitors for taking part, Maidenhead Sailing Club for being such a great club and supportive organisation with super people happy to coach a race officer in his first race. Look out for the event series next year. If you can SUP you can SUPSAIL!