I'm over in Venice for the Vogalonga, a 30km paddle around Venice and the outer islands of Lido, Barano and Murano (another post to come about that). Here's a video of my first time out on the Astro 14' x 26" Race. Perfect board to travel with for flatwater, haven't tied it in a DW, but have a feeling it would perform well. Surprisingly quick for an inflatable.

Got some funny looks from the Gondoliers and people on bridges - it would have to be the most interesting and beautiful paddle I have done, very special to paddle under the Rialto Bridge at the end. On the weekend of the Vogalonga, the city opens up the canals to all paddle craft - it's a fantastic event over 7000 paddlers in all craft - gondolas, fishing dorries, rowing shells, kayaks,.


This is my first video, so I hope the editing is alright and it isn't too long

.be

Wow.. Very nice..

DJ

Thanks for posting this Greg, fantastic vid. CanLooking forward to the update!

What an amazing experience Greg!! Great video and thanks for sharing.

Hey Goochi,

Top effort mate - great vid and I could only imagine it to be a very special experience !!
By the way, whats' the ettiquette for trying to get past those pesky Gondola's ??

ChickenStix said...
Hey Goochi,

Top effort mate - great vid and I could only imagine it to be a very special experience !!
By the way, whats' the ettiquette for trying to get past those pesky Gondola's ??

Thanks chick stix
Not sure if there was an etiquette, but I quickly worked out you 'amble' thru the canals, speed work is for the grand canal. I'd wait for the gondalier to invite me to pass - couldn't work out if you go right or left - I'd stay right being a sailor - but it was all over the place, only the Italians could make this system work!
Good comment about the high vis, it's unbelievable how far we have travelled down the liability road when you compare to Europe.

Finished the Vogalonga yesterday...what an amazing experience and great fun!

A 30km paddle around the islands of Venice, with 1700 craft and over 7000 paddlers. It's not a race, completing the distance is an achievement for most, but the atmosphere is fantastic. You'll notice at the start, there is no "start line", it is a "zone", everyone was spread out. The turning points were another thing altogether!

I was the only SUP entered and had a few funny looks and questions as to whether I thought I'd finish. Managed to complete the course in 3hour 30mins (i'm not great at taking it slow)

The Starboard Astro 14' Race was fast, I was thinking 4hours+ and as a consequence my wife and kids missed me at the finish. Great board, is not your regular inflatable, it is a race board with stability and convenience. Great travel companion.

.be

As far as flat water paddling goes that looked like fun! Very nice scenery and some funny looking boats! Good luck in the etchell worlds mate. Smash em!!

Thanks again Goochi. Loved them both. You have given a few people a couple of ideas I bet.
Cheers. ET.

Great video loved it , such a beautiful place. Just one edit tip with your text , don't leave at the bottom of your video frame , drag it up a bit and it won't get cut off. Share or export your movie at 1280 x 720 from iMovie this will also avoid the crop.

Piros said..

Great video loved it , such a beautiful place. Just one edit tip with your text , don't leave at the bottom of your video frame , drag it up a bit and it won't get cut off. Share or export your movie at 1280 x 720 from iMovie this will also avoid the crop.

Thanks for the tip Piros. I couldn't upload to Youtube straight from iMovie for some reason it stalled on the Youtube upload page. I exported at Medium, rather than HD as you pointed out (is that a problem to view on a phone?). I also imagine exporting as 1280x720 will address the quality of the video finish (which I was a little disappointed in post upload)?

Caltrano - I haven't been in Europe for over 10 years, so I haven't had the issue with hiring or taking a SUP. I only really paddle race boards and DW boards, so I'm pretty fussy about run and getting the most out of a stroke - for me that is where the enjoyment is - searching for the time between the strokes. I wouldn't have attempted this paddle on a cruising board or 12'6..it's just not fun for me. I tried the 14' x 30" Astro and whilst that was OK and extremely stable, it didn't have the glide - i'm expecting alot out of an inflatable I know! I heard about the Astro 14' x 26" Race and Ian Grose was able to arrange on for me. It ticked all the buttons I was looking for - practical (being 26' wide in rolls down to about the size of a standard sleeping bag), fast and stable, good glide and handling. The only thing I would improve is moving the deck grip further aft.

Travelling on the plane was easy. i was nervous about the pump getting damaged, so I stuffed 2 beach towels around it inside the board bag. I took out the fin and place that in my suitcase so it wouldn't get bent out of shape.

Thx goochi

I won't be on a SUP in Europe - I will be focussing on good food and wine - as lazy a 3 weeks as my family will let me.

I travel a fair bit or work and generally we head to northern beaches of NSW for at least a week of surf most years, last year very enjoyable week arround the Whitsundays. Otherwise I am down at flinders in victoria. My sup boards are too big to travel with and I am sick of airlines dinging my surfboard so I have generally hired a board on holiday.

Your video has got me thinking I could take a sup with me - my focus is waves so I suspect that the compromise is a fair bit - I will have to try and demo a few inflatable sups.

Thx for the note and a great video.

I will have to get my gopro working.

Cheers
Andrew

I bet there will be a stack of SUP'ers entered in the next event.
Looks magic, well done.

The water is a brilliant green, not captured by the video that well. The quality is similar to the upper swan, you can see through it up to 2-3 feet. The whole area is essentially marshlands, but with sea water instead of fresh. I've seen a couple of people in the water after the Vogalonga, but I wasn't keen to jump in myself.
Hi Wez, yes I was the only SUP. I was sure that someone had done it before, but I'm yet to confirm that. Funny to get looks from people that are already on weird craft in the place (by weird I mean, cool!).

surf4fun said...
Thanks for the vids Greg, looks like a great experience.

Now get off seabreeze and enjoy your holiday!

Haha, thanks Cam. Last day of free wifi today. We leave Venice and head to the cinque tere by train.