Top Travel Tips For Destination SUP Racing
Preparing for a SUP race - both physically and mentally - can feel daunting. Add travel into the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for anxiety and worse, ill-preparation that leads to forgotten gear and race mistakes. But with a little forethought, you can master the art of traveling for a SUP race so you can focus on the course and the strategy that lays ahead.
The Gear
Start with the essentials: board, paddle, PFD. Now, let’s break it down from here.
Your board needs a few things:
a leash
at least one fin, though you may want to bring options so you can choose the right one based on water conditions on race morning
screws for the fins
a fin key or screwdriver for those fins
straps, pads, and a bag to securely fasten it to your car and to protect it
Other important gear to remember includes:
a whistle (attached to your PFD)
hydration pack
hydration mix or nutrition, like Gu or Honey Stinger
a phone case (if you’re like us and like to keep it on you in case of emergencies - or for photos)
The Attire
If you've got the luxury of car travel, you can pack more liberally for a destination SUP race. Even if you've got airline baggage policies to contend with, you'll want to make sure you're prepared with different options depending on weather and conditions on the ground. To help you determine what to bring, check the local weather and water temperatures. NOAA is a good resource to help with that. In addition to your normal bathing suit and board shorts, here’s what we recommend bringing:
rash guard, at minimum, for sun protection
neoprene top or windbreaker
moisture wicking bottoms (leggings, etc.)
booties (nothing worse than cold feet!)
a hat
sunglasses with a strap
Don’t forget to have a change of clothes on-hand after the race. You’re not going to want to hang around in wet or sweaty gear.
The Travel
Full disclosure, we've never flown to a SUP race, so we're not the experts there. What we are seasoned at is packing up the car and hitting the road - most of our SUP races are at least an hour away, but we’ve traveled up to nine hours by car.
Your car is where you can store the extras: paddles, fins, leashes, and repair kits, for example.
You may want to pack healthy snacks for the road, or map out where you can stop for food, so you avoid hitting the easy but less nutritious fast food restaurants.
The On-the-Ground
You've made it to your destination! Take a deep breath and start mentally preparing for race morning. Do you know when and where the racers meeting will take place? What time does your race start? How are you getting to the race start? Physically go to the put-in and paddle out to where the race will start. That way you’re familiar with where to go rather than figuring it out alongside tons of other racers.
If you have time, go paddle the race course. No need for speed - just get a sense of where you'll be paddling on race day and, if you can, paddle it in both directions in case anything changes last minute on race morning. Speaking of race morning, lay out everything the night before! Attach your leash to your board. Fill up that hydration pack. Pin your race bib on your clothing. If you use an NK speedcoach or other GPS, attach it to your board. Double check that your fin is securely in place. This relieves a lot of stress on race morning. It doesn’t matter how seasoned you are, those race jitters are real!
This is in no way an exhaustive list of what you should consider bringing and it only touches the surface of what goes into our race travel and race day readiness. But remember, one big way to ease the travel anxiety is knowing that paddling in a new location is exciting. A SUP race is the perfect excuse to explore new water and expand your SUP family. Most importantly, don’t forget the word “fun!” Win or lose, you’re going to have a smile on your face at the end of the day.
Watch this space for more tips. In the meantime, share your suggestions for destination SUP race traveling - comment below!
