Recently, Jane and I went out to Peniche, to watch Holly compete, where Team England were competing amongst other European nations for the best riders in SUP surfing, Distance, Sprints and Technical SUP racing.
Team England who were made up of Holly Bassett, Sarah Perkins, Marcio Dias, William Fairey, Ben Moreham, Hector Jessel, Will Keetley, Blue Ewer, Annabel Page, Holly Pye and Ginnie Betts with Tina Beresford from Surfing England as the Team Manager were a super nice bunch of people that are showcasing the sport and have all self-funded or fundraised to make competing possible.
The competition was held at Baleal, Peniche with the SUP surf event held at Lagide, a left hand reef break in Baleal Bay. The swell was pumping and Holly managed to get some solid waves in her repechage heats, allowing her to win 2 of her heats and advance through to the semi-final. Holly had the help of a good friend and fellow 2XS Team Rider, Glyn Ovens which allowed her to take on each heat with good tactics, making it out the back first and avoiding the beach break. The surf was on the larger side and therefore, a big change from her usual playground here at West Wittering but she tucked in and gave it her all which showed through in her final result of 5th in Europe! The competition was fierce with some of the top APP World Tour riders in the mix, including Iballa Ruano (Moreno) and Caroline Angibaud.
Hollys sponsors include: 2XS, K66UK Ltd, ION, Fanatic and We Are SunGod.
