6h30 : it is not common to find yourself in a neoprene suit in the early morning on the banks of the Seine. But I'm not alone. We are more than 1000 participants to start for an 11 km race on the Seine. The temperature is rather mild, but the water is at 8°. Leash, boots and neoprene wetsuit are mandatory. Inflating a paddle to 15 bar is an excellent warm-up. The atmosphere is good and everyone is helping each other with the final preparations.
7H15 : last security briefing and hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop, hop! It is still dark. We have to row against the current so as not to fry the start, and especially to stay away from the professional rowers, who have priority on the line. Indeed, this event is the last of the APP (Association of Paddlesurf Professionnal) circuit and counts for the final ranking of the 2019 World Championship.
8h : top start in "mass start", the pros in front and the hobbies behind. The Seine is waking up, and so are the competitors. Not having watched the clock, I made a catastrophic start. There are people on the spot! At the first edition in 2009, only about thirty rowers had started. Today, with a thousand participants, the Nautic paddle has become the largest gathering of SUPs in the world.
I double a giant paddle on which about ten rowers dressed as Star Wars characters have taken their seats. The mix of genres is essential for this sporting and festive gathering. The gratin is made up of professional rowers, who follow the APP circuit. But we also meet ocean racing skippers, actors, an old Miss France, curlers in period costume, rowers in suits and many tutus!
8h30 : passing in front of Notre-Dame. This unique route in the world allows you to see a multitude of Parisian monuments and to cross under 27 bridges of the 29 bridges of the capital.
8h50 : we attack the last straight line. The wind has settled in the axis and a nice rain is coming to the race. The wind against the current is lifting a small chop, which has made the end of the course a little technical.
9h30 : arrived in front of the bleach dock. The good organization of the event allows all participants to get out of the water quickly. The race rules require that the boats must leave the water before 10 a.m. so that they can start their rotations.
Among the professionals, whose course included a complete tour - therefore a counter-current ride - of the Cité and Saint-Louis islands (13.5 km), the event allowed the Danish Casper Steinfath, who finished 11th, to be crowned world champion in the race. In the women's race, the American Seychelle Webster (2nd) was already assured of the world title before the start of the race. The stage victory goes to Australian Michael Booth in men's and American Fiona Wylde in women's. Note the excellent performance of the French Titouan Peyo and Ludovic Teulade, respectively 3rd and 5th. For my part, I finished happy to have competed in 283rd place out of 676 competitors in the leisure category after 1 hour and 31 minutes of the course.
