So back to La Villa Joyosa, Spain: Wow what an event! And WOW!, what a place for a race! Surfski in Europe is at a critical mass and the Euro Challenge 2009 may have been the tipping point. The amount of interest this race generated in such a short amount of time is indicative of this. The fact that they had to limit the entry because there weren't enough skis to supply paddlers is also indactive of this. The fantastic weather, fantastic wind, fabulous coastline and fabulous people make for a top class event which simply has to be done. I've said it before many times and am syaing it again: If you own a surfski you'd better make a plan to get to Spain for this race. It's great.

Travelling with me were Tom (Schilperoort - Sufskischool Instructor) as well as Sean "The Prawn" Rice (first trip overseas). Both of them were sponsored to go by THINK kayaks, a new brand of surfski on the market. It was great to go with these guys as they are young and amped on going on tour. We had a blast cruising the towns of La Villa Joyosa and Sella and tucking into notoriously good spanish cuisine.

We were hosted by race organisers Jonothan and Violetta Neill from Aqua Ventura at their awewsome guest house/Villa/farm in the mountains near the town of Sella. All in all about 20 people were staying there including Mich Eray who joined us on the Wednesday, as well as Aussie Jeremy Cotter and his wife Jess. Rob Mousley from Surfski.info was also there. The rest of the group were made up of guys from the UK one other Aussie. It is extremely hard to put into very few words the experience of staying at the Neil's place. I suppose I can start by saying that is extremely special and a completely unique experience which leaves you feeling energised and relaxed with a fresh perspective on your life. Yes! It's that special. Fantastic breakfasts, unbelievable dinners and packed lunches every day were part and parcel to staying with them. The hiking, jogging and cycling in the mountains were they stay is also legendary as is their extensive music collection belted out every night on a sound system which could rival a night club if it had to.

The Race:
The day of the race dawned with an electric excitement in the air. At the race venue the typically efficient and well versed European boat and competitor checking in and lining up system was in full force. The 25 rescue boats (1 per 8 competitors) were fuelled up and on the water well before the 11am start. The Le Mans start was spectacular with all 200 odd competitors hitting the water at once and racing towads the first turn can. I was up in front along with Matt Bouman (who won in the end) and Jeremy cotter (who retired after 2kms - he was quite sick). Right behind us Tom and Sean were fighting it out with a Spanish armada and one Italian stallion. Tom and Sean had both bent their rudders with the beach start and were struggling to steer. This makes their respective results all the more remarkable. Matt and I broke away but had the fleet of Tom, Sean and world marathon legend Manual Busto hunting us almost the entire way. They were joined by some others, but we made up the top 5 finishers. I had a 4km stretch of brilliance where I broke away from Matt and opened up a lead, but he managed to link some swells and catch up about 4kms from the end. He opened a significant lead about 2kms later and that's how it stayed. Sean Rice came third but only after fighting his way back from 5th after Busto and Tom went head to head for the first half of the race.

We were treated to a fanatstic meal by the race organisers and a prize giving which speaks volumes of their enthusiasm for paddling. Not only does everyone attend the whole prizegiving, they crowd around the podium and applaud every prize winner as if they've just won the World Champs.