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Hey, I'm Holly!

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I have paddled since 2016 and started racing around 2017-2018. I've since become hooked! SUP racing is definitely my primary sport, but I love to SUP surf, wing foil and kite surf whenever I have the time (which is never as often as I'd like!).

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The rest of my family were into SUP way earlier than I was. I have always loved the sea and grew up in the water surfing, learning to windsurf and paddle boarding. I moved to Plymouth to go to university in 2016 and I found it quite tricky to paddle then as I didn't have my own board and I was too far from home to drive back for a session.

 

Eventually, I borrowed a 2014 Starboard Turtle Bay from my Dad which I left in a friends' garage and used it to paddle a couple of times a week. I would often paddle with Waterborn SUP in Kingsbridge, and I had a couple of friends who were also super keen so we would paddle together. We founded Plymouth University SUP Club which got others out on the water having fun.

As soon as I finished uni and started working, I had a much more regular routine and started training and racing as much as I could. Since then, I have won the GBSUP National Series Long Distance and 200m Sprint titles, and have gone further afield to compete in the Euro Tour, APP World Tour and at two ICF World Championships. 2022 was my most successful year to date and I've had such a great time travelling, racing and meeting new friends from all over the world through SUP. The racing is great but the community is even greater.

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I started wing foiling a couple of years ago and it's so much fun. The feeling of gliding along silently nearly a metre above the water is so cool. I started off using the 6'6 Hyperfoil which I used for learning to wing and also SUP foiling, but I have since moved to the 4.2" Take Off which I use with my 5-metre Freewing. I definitely focus more training for SUP racing and it's hard to do everything so foiling is something I do as and when I have time. I have loads to learn and I'm really trying to get better at foiling in the waves, jumping, getting air and doing tricks!

 

Favourite spot: This is a tricky one! I don't think I have just one favourite spot. For paddling I think I'd have to say Mothecombe Beach in South Devon - it's ideal for taking my race board out in the waves. For wing foiling, I had a blast at Oistins in Barbados and the conditions were spot on.

Favourite board: Hands down, the 2025 Starboard All Star. I have the 14' x 20.5"" model and I can't get enough. It's great in choppy water when I'm paddling on the sea, in waves and for downwinding; and it's not slow on the flat either!

Sponsors: SUP North Devon, Starboard SUP UK, and Paddle Logger

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