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NELO SUMMER CHALLENGE

Were can I even start... The NELO SUMMER CHALLENGE has been an event that has been on my calendar scince the first time I visited Esposende, back in 2017. I have nothing but good things to say about this race, If I had to give a perfect score, it would most likely be to this race. Accomodation is as easy as booking in to the outstanding hotel resort were the whole venue is located, the course for the race is a glorious 20km downwind from Viana do Castelo to Esposende and the place as a whole is marvelous to paddle. Whenever you want to head out for a paddle you just have to grab your ski and walk down the stairs to the beach.

The whole venue is built around the AXIS OFFIR beach resort, this will make the preparation for a paddle a matter of minutes. The ambient around the place during race week is amazing, there are many stands were you will be able to take a look at the latest and greatest surfski´s from all the top brands, you will also be able to take them for a spin and decide weather it is your weapon of choice or not. You will find not only ski´s and paddles, but also the latest line of clothing made by vaikobi and other top clothewear brands.

If you are a Surfski lover, this is the holy grail of races! you will not be let down. If you need a garantee, this race is organised by NELO, if you are in the paddling world you will have come across NELO previously, for those of you who don´t know NELO, NELO is one of the top brands in the paddling world. It builds Surfskis, flatwater boats and paddle boards. In the flatwater world, NELO is the leading brand, quite ahead of the rest of it´s competition. If this isn´t a garantee that they will organise an event to the level of the brand, I don´t know what is...

The race start for the Nelo Summer Challenge is an experience I believe every surfski paddler should experience at least once in their lifetime. It is truly unique to live this in person, over 300 boats lined up at the start line lead to an absolute caiotic sprint to the boat and an unforgiving jump to paddle away.

It is fair to say that it´s not easy to get away with a clean start at this race, but that is the beauty of racing, sometimes you will get a rocket start, and sometimes you will get thrown off the boat. 

Once you are on your ski, you can expect nothing but a downwind straight to the finish line, 20km of pure joy and swell surfing will take you from Viana do Castelo to Esposende, more precisely, to the Axis Offir beach resort, were the venue is located at.

You will love the finish to this race if you are an adrenaline adict! There will be a buoy placed about 200m away from the finish line, when you turn around it, the only obstacle between you and the finish line will be a shorebreak... you have two choices, let the wave past and paddle in behind it, or gamble with your chances and surf the wave. On one of the photos you can see me getting demolished by another paddlers boat who couldn´t outpaddle the wave. 

Once you cross the finish line I can tell you for sure you will have a laugh with your friends about your experiences during the race, it´s dinamic course allows for so many different experiences on the same race,  your race will be unique to you.

After the race is over and your adrenalin has worn away, you will be able to enjoy yourself at a party organised by the race organization, the party starts of at the Axis Offir beach resort and then moves onto clubs near the venue.

The day following the main race you will be abe to sign up for the Lifesaving style elimination race, for those of you who have gone to Eurochallenge, the concept is the same. They will have no more than 10 paddlers per start lin up at the starting line, when the air horn goes you will have to rush to your boat and get onto it as fast as possible, the paddle to the buoy that will be about 200m into the sea and then surf back and cross the line. The best times will qualify for the next round whilst the people who dind´t make the time cut will be eliminated.

This is a very fun format to race in, specialy after the main race. There will also be cash prizes for the top 3 paddlers so that is allways a good incentive to sign up for this event.

If the main reason for your trip is not only racing, the days before the main race there will be trailers that will carry the boats to the start of the downind so you can practice the course a couple of times before racing, you can enjoy as many downinds as you want, every single day there will be a couple of downinds organised by the race organisation, this downinds will include safety speed boats in case something goes wrong, so you don´t have to worry about safety, only surfing all the way back home.

As I said before, if I had to give a perfect score to a race it would be this one, I could keep on talking about the endless good things it has to offer, but I believe it is best for you to come and see it for yourself!

COURSE

9/10

PLACE

10/10

ACCOMODATION

10/10