Maritime Marathon and Pier2Pier Race challenge thrown-down to watermen (and women)

Two gruelling events will be on offer to any watermen (and women) who are up for a challenge at this year’s Paddle Round The Pier Beach Festival in Brighton.

The free charitable festival, which takes place on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 July, has always offered surfers, Stand Up Paddleboarders and Surf Lifesavers something to compete in, but this year it is proving the ultimate challenge – the Martime Marathon.

The Maritime Marathon consists of 26 miles of gruelling open water/sea paddling and is made up of three title categories:  SUP (12’6 boards  and Unlimited class boards), Ocean Ski (singles and doubles) and Traditional Paddleboards  (prone paddling).

It will be held on Saturday 7 July and is open for serious athletes only.  Each category and class will have a winner, with the overall price purse being £4,000.

The Maritime Marathon is run in conjunction with SUP World, Surf Lifesaving GB, Ocean Ski GB and David Samuel Associates Ltd.

Another great race, albeit over a more modest distance is the Pier2Pier race, which is this year kindly sponsored by Brighton Watersports.

This is a straight paddle-battle on prone surfboards, from the east side of the Brighton Pier out to sea and across to the finishing line on the west side of the West Pier. It’s just over 2 miles, but against the current so always proves to be tough.

First prize this year is a surf holiday to Morocco with Surf Berbere, plus there is a second prize of an O’Neill wetsuit and £50 cash for third place.

Anyone wanting to enter needs to email [email protected] by 27 June.

All racers in both events will be raising money for this year’s charities – the RNLI, Winston’s Wishes and Surf Action. A suggested £1 entry donation per person is suggested in order to help raise as much as possible for these worthy causes.

For more information on the music, the charities or the event, visit www.paddleroundthepier.com, www.facebook.com/paddleroundthepier or www.twittter.com/prtp