Oahu’s North Shore wasn’t the only place with a championship title on the line this weekend! From October 12-13^th, the inaugural Naish N1SCO World Championships occurred in Las Vegas with paddlers from over 9 different nations participating. Contestants hailed from Slovenia, Switzerland, South Africa, and Japan (just to name a few) to battle it out, race by race, using the Naish ONE Inflatable SUP boards for a chance to call themselves the 2013 N1SCO World Champion.

Naish’s Manca Notar, who’s fast becoming one of Europe’s leading girls, once again reigned supreme and took out the women’s sprints and windy 10 km distance race while South Africa’s Ethan Koopmans (winner of the European N1SCO Champs) won the plethora of sprint races on the men’s side during Day 1, while Switzerland’s Dani Reinhart put the pedal to the medal and won the men’s distance race on Day 2 (Jerry Bess captured 2^nd and Ethan a very worthy 3^rd).

During the Team Sprint races, 7 teams of 4 paddlers each fought, and laughed, their way through the finish line. Taking the victory was Team Hulk consisting of superstar Manca Notar, race director Chuck Patterson, Naish & Red Bull athlete Gustavo Yacaman, and Mr. Aloha, Jerry Bess. Team Switzerland and team Cowboys rounded out the podium, finishing 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.

Overall, the N1SCO World Championship event was a hit!  The vibes were amazing and participants couldn’t stop raving about how much fun they had while racing and helping grow the sport of SUP. Naish’s “ONE design” SUP race events are helping fill the vital gap between recreational paddling and hi-end racing, attracting paddlers who aren’t “hardcore” racers, showing them a fair playing field where what board you use doesn’t influence your overall finish.

Plus, it was in Vegas, which never hurts.

Congrats to everyone who traveled from near and far to participate! We’ll see you on the water next year!