John Hibbard and Anthony Cooper were the first Stand Up Paddlers to enter and complete the Devizes to Westminster Paddle Race. The event was held over the Easter Weekend and concluded on monday morning at 8.30am.

John finished in a time of 26 hrs 6 Minutes and Anthony Cooper finshed in 27 hours 32 minutes. The four-day event was a full test of stamina and staying power with the paddlers taking between 7.5 and 8.5 hours to complete each day. Often finishing ahead of double kayak crews.

John says:

“It was a major undertaking, but we did it. I never doubted we could do it, but knew that we would face some hard times. I had moments of utter exhaustion, but always seemed to come out the other side with increased motivation and power to make it to the end of each day. We were the only entrants using just one paddle and the only ones standing up! We got a lot of attention from the hundreds and hundreds of spectators we met along the route and we helped spread the word of SUP to a wider audience. It was great fun to be the first person to complete the DW on an SUP board. I hope we are not the last either. Thanks to my sponsors for making this possible – Starboard SUP Boards, Fat Face and Go Fast Sports.”

John was using the Starboard K15 Stand Up Paddle Board and Anthony was using the Starboard 14’8″ Point board.