Heavy Weather in San Fran - Connor Earns 20k!

Connor, Kai and Casper run for the beach on their 12'6's
When the green light was switched on in San Fran this week, the worlds best packed their fastest boards with the knowledge that they might not be bringing them home…

The Red Bull Heavy Weather was labelled as the worlds most extreme SUP event before it even began, thanks to the strict criteria that would be placed on the weather conditions it was to be held in. The organisers actually put a clause in the rules, that the wave faces had to be 10ft or bigger. For a SUP RACE!

On offer was $20,000, and 15 paddlers stood on the beach in San Fran, backed by the Golden Gate Bridge, with dollar signs in their eyes. In front of them, were 10ft faces, and a 12km course.

I've been training my whole life to be a waterman," said an elated Baxter, who edged out Kai Lenny by less than a minute to win. "This race was way more than I expected in many ways. The water is coming from every direction; you have backwash, wind-wash, ground-swell, and current moving underneath you, so all those different variables made it really interesting and very difficult at the same time. So, to win it, I just feel like the luckiest guy, the hard work is definitely paying off and I can't wait for next year."

In winning the event, he clinched the World Title for 2016 and proved that you don't have to be in the news every week in order to win a world title. Kai Lenny, who has been graced with a headline each week, placed second in the Heavy Weather, and went out saying; "If I would have had a half-mile more I could have caught him (Baxter). I was feeling really good and making great distance on him but he kind of got away. Overall the entire race was fantastic and the course was epic."

As a famous street racer once said Kai, "Whether you win by an inch, or a mile. Winning is winning." And Connor Baxter won Red Bull Heavy Weather by more than a few inches.