We thought we’d be talking about Beau O’Brian’s amazing win at the Twelve Towers Stand Up Paddle Race this weekend, but alas, we can not. Because Titouan Puyo from New Caledonia flew in 36 hours before the event, then the ex-outrigger champion swept the floor with Australia’s best paddlers.

How did it happen? The guy has been stand up paddling for 12 months! Australia has the best paddlers in the world! We hear you, but it’s ok. Because Mr Puyo has been at the top of the outrigger game for the past 10 years, and he’s very very good with a paddle in his hand. Expect to see him a lot more in the paddling scene from now on.

The Twelve Towers race very quickly has become one of the biggest in Australia, with stand up paddlers from all over the world pricking their ears at the idea of a downwind run along the Gold Coasts world famous beaches. Last year our main man Travis Grant won the event, but this year he’s off somewhere chasing world titles, leaving Beau O’Brian in charge of the towers (he came second last year). He came second this year too, so he didn’t do too badly! Following Beau was Jake Jensen and Paul Jackson, who had a great event saying:

“Had a really fun day today at the 12 towers race really happy with my race and where I am at with my training, feel way better than this time last year and the real fun part of training is still to come!! Stoked to see all the crew paddling so well and all the happy faces at the end of the race.”

In the womens fleet we saw Karla Gilbert cross the line first, followed only a minute behind by Angie Jackson. Karla was for sure the event favourite going in, but in such a challenging race, anything could have happened! She crossed the line after just one and a half hours, a staggering time considering the conditions and the length of the run.

Stay tuned to the forums to see the pictures, movie and reports from the racers, you can find it all here.

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