2010 Port Phillip Cup wrap up  - from www.supb.com.au

Victoria's richest Stand Up Paddle Boarding event, The Port Phillip Cup was born to create a social SUP event that all paddlers could participate in irrespective of their level of experience.

As the marquees began to be assembled and the courses were laid out early on Australia Day, the first of the paddlers took to a glassy Port Phillip Bay to warm up for the first event. We could not have asked for better conditions to begin the SUP races - a nice warm day and no wind! With the sounds of traditional Polynesian music pumping the Port Phillip Cup kicked off with a field of 37 paddlers racing the 3km SUP sprint to take home the $1,000 cash prize and Day Dream Island valued at $1,500, all sponsored by Sunlover Holidays.

After the frantic sprint off the line it was Naish's own Matt Lumley that took up an early lead, with 4 other competitors hot on his tail. There was a small breakaway group which involved pretty much all the top 5 finishers as the competitors rounded the first two bouys and headed under the St Kilda Pier for the first of the two 1000m straight legs. This was where Cam Hosking from SUP Victoria made his move and broke away from the elite front runners to gain a small lead heading around the last buoy. After a lung bursting final 100 metre sprint, Cam Hosking held a small lead and crossed over the line to claim glory, followed by Matt Lumley, last years winner Dave Hunt (Vic), Danny Sheard (QLD) and Adam Snow (Vic).

Matt Lumley and Dave Hunt won paddles sponsored by Naish.

In the women's category, Sue Sheard (QLD) came in first, followed by St Kilda's own Rea Haare (VIC) and third went to young gun Kristi Page (VIC) - a name not to be forgotten!

After a short break, the Oakley Eyewear Board and Pet Race commenced with 17 keen competitors and their animals - some real, some stuffed! The term "pet" was stretch to include dogs a cat,a bird, a fish, a stuffed donkey, a pet rock and an Ant! It was Michael and his four legged friend Rick that took the honours after a very entertaining short sprint!

The Uli Board Women's clinic commenced which was a big hit with at least 20 women taking part, most of whom had never paddled before.

The 100m Kahuna Sprint race then commenced. After 4 heats of 10 competitors and plenty of pushing and shoving (all in good fun of course) the top 3 males and females from each heat went through to the 12 man/woman final. Naish rider Matt Lumley that took the honours just edging out a very talented young paddler Adam Snow. In the women' sprint, Rea Haare was first over the line followed closely by Sue Sheard who never stopped smiling the whole day!

The Seabreeze.com.au 4 person 50 metre team sprint was a hotly contested event with 11 teams taking part this year. In the end it was the SUP Victoria team of Matt Lumley, Dave Patterson, Jonathon Cowcher and Kristi Page that took the line honours in a sprint finish.

The Sunlover Port Phillip Cup 3 km race:

Mens

1st - Cam Hosking
2nd - Matt Lumley
3rd - Dave 'Fireman' Hunt
4th - Danny Sheard
5th - Adam Snow - Special mention to Jarrod Snow who came 12th at the ripe old age of 11 and didn't seem out of breath at the end - An amazing effort!

Women's

1st - Sue Sheard
2nd - Rea H
3rd - Kristi Page
4th - Lucy

The Seabreeze.com.au 4 man/woman team sprint:

1st - Matt Lumley, DJ, Jonathon Cowcher, Kristi Page

The Kahuna 50 metre Sprint

1st - Matt Lumley, 2nd - Adam Snow

The Oakley Board and Pet Race

1st - Mike and Ricky the Dog, 2nd - Sue and her pet Ant, 3rd - John and Maddie the Dog.

The Oakley Aussie Best Dressed Award

1st - PTWoody (Harro) and his outfit matching canine, 2nd - Ronnie in his Aussie finest!

A big thanks in no particular order to Phil Page and family who did everything for us on the day, Richard for assisting with safety on the water, LSD for bringing down his fantastic boards, all the SUPVIC boys who kept the snags and drinks coming, Danny and Sue for coming down, all the guys who came down the from the coast, Kristi for helping out with the women's demo, DJ for all the photos/video he took and for all the guys and girls who participated in every event - fantastic effort.

Finally, a big thanks to all the sponsors including:

Sunlover Holidays
Oakley
Naish
Kialoa (thanks Sam)
www.Seabreeze.com.au (thanks Laurie)
Uli Boards
www.paddlers.com.au
Kahuna Street SUP (thanks Elvin and Carina)
Kite Republic Team (cheers Chris)
Seventh Wave
Southern Suburbs Physiotherapy
Little Blue Restaurant
Childs Play Marketing
SUPVIC
Wotashot.com
Jetport Parking
Kitemag.com