There is nothing quite like an inspirational character who fuels your love for the sport ....
UKN1SCO is currently leading the way as an introduction into racing with it's One Design format. All who race, be they complete beginners or seasoned pro's, race on the same style board. The races are held over one or two days and there are generally three a year in stunning locations such as Emsworth or Swanage.
If you needed any more excuses to participate, there is the high probability that Casper Steinfath, four times ISA World Champion, will visit, paddle with you and generally hang around and inspire you with his informative clinics, which are all part of the weekend.
To warm you up there is a 1.5-2km technical race often with a superlap format thrown in. As there are no different board lengths all the men race together and then all the women. This proves to be super exciting as you may have a class of 60 going off together! Imagine that around the first buoy?
Then come the sprints and if you thought the technical was exciting, then wait until you are involved in this. 10-15 racers sprinting 50m through a narrow set of buoys and then back - lots of highly competitive people striving to get through to the finals.
Have you taken a breath yet? So now we are onto the long distance race of 5km which is generally a there and back depending on the location.
And so onto the sprint finals - all the races give you points depending on your position and so it can be on the last race or sprint that your position is confirmed. Junior racing is always featured and often they join in with the main racing - they are so competitive!
So where does Casper Steinfath come in? He is sponsored by Naish and regularly turns up and joins in the fun, inspiring others to love it as much as he does. Boy does he have some skills! He is featured quite heavily in our videos and photos because we are big fans.
So that's UKN1SCO racing in a nutshell - come along and give it a go - it's really friendly, a bit competitive and feels like going away with your best mates for the weekend!