Shuri Araki Crowned Overall Champion at Viana SUP Open

VIANA DO CASTELO, Portugal - Drawing on his lifelong experience in the ocean, Shuri 'Shrimpy' Araki navigates a beautiful downwind course flawlessly to take the win for the day, but also the weekend with his 2nd place finish in the sprints. Viewed as 'the ultimate experience' in SUP Racing, downwind courses allow athletes the opportunity to ride open ocean swells and transform a straight endurance pursuit into something more magical. Hailing from a small fishing village in the north of Okinawa, open ocean paddling is in Shuri's blood, and it was on full display for the final day of action at the 2023 Viana SUP Open, as was the magnificent coastline and natural environment of Viana do Castelo.

With a bump in swell providing an exciting start through the surf, athletes then turned the buoy for the 14km downwind stretch to the River entrance. From the start, Araki, along with multiple times World Champion Connor Baxter demonstrated their expertise in this form of racing, taking different lines, but leading the race from the first buoy.

Coming into the final river run to the finish, things got tougher, as a side wind and tide that was starting to drop created a new obstacle for the contenders. However, Araki came into his own here, maintained a stunning pace and crossed the finish line first despite a late surge by a fellow athlete from Okinawa and top contender Rai Taguchi, followed by Baxter in 3rd.

This win, together with his 2nd place in the Sprints from Day 1 of competition secured the overall event win for Araki, as while he did not yet take the ratings lead after stop 2 of the APP World Tour, he is within inches of Baxter, who remains in pole position as we look forward to the Busan SUP Open in October.

Connor Baxter at the Viana SUP Open. | Photo courtesy: APP World Tour

Viana do Castelo was always going to be a strong venue for Connor Baxter having dominated downwind paddling over the past decade and now excelling in the dynamic sprint format. As expected, Baxter was looking strong throughout the heat elimination, making it through to the all important final by the end of Day 1.

Baxter had a great start and was in clean water and in the lead around the first buoy. Unfortunately, as the other three finalists filled in behind him, a compressed area led to an unfortunate turn of events, where Baxter ended up falling as a direct result of contact with both Mallorca's impressive young hope Aaron Sanchez and the great Dane Christian Andersen. While neither athlete acted inappropriately and indeed Andersen took a strong strategy decision to try take an inside line, it led to him running into an interference with Baxter as a result of the compressed zone created around the buoy.

Andersen went onto win the race, but was then penalized with a time penalty along with Sanchez for an interference on Baxter meaning that it ended up being Baxter who took the win ahead of Araki in 2nd, Andersen in 3rd and Sanchez in 4th. An unfortunate turn of events for both the young Dane and Spaniard, but a clear sign of the arrival of the new guard ready to take pole position on Tour.

Day 2 saw Baxter perform as expected in his environment of downwind paddling, finishing in 3rd place after slipping back a spot behind Rai Taguchi on the final river section of the race. Baxter remains at the top of the leaderboard after stop #1, but it is clear that we have a real battle on our hands in 2023, as the depth of talent from Asia, Europe, the Americas and beyond is outstanding and the future of the sport is in good hands.

Christian Andersen (right) and Rai Taguchi (left) battling it out. | Photo courtesy: APP World Tour

Christian Andersen definitely made his presence felt at this exciting stop number 2 of the APP World Tour in the European Capital of Sport, Viana do Castelo, with a dominant performance through the sprint rounds and another strong performance in the distance race, where a 4th place finish put him in 3rd place overall for the event. While it was a heartbreaking turn of events for the young Dane on Day 1, there is no doubt that he has proved himself as one of the key contenders to watch out for in 2023, as he is a threat in all conditions and disciplines and feels like he is coming into his own this year.

Despite a relatively disappointing performance in the sprints for Rai Taguchi, his second place in the distance and moments of brilliance on Day 1 further strengthen him as one of Japan's greatest hopes, alongside Shuri Araki. Mallorca's Aaron Sanchez also showed himself to be a force to be reckoned with, with consistent performances and a real comfortability amongst the very best in the world.

We are excited to see how the remainder of the season unfolds as the competition on Tour is only getting more intense as we look ahead to the Busan SUP Open in October. Check out highlights, broadcast replays, photos and full results and rankings at www.appworldtour.com and @appworldtour and join us in the beautiful town of Busan, South Korea for stop #3 of the 2023 APP World Tour taking place from the 7th - 9th October.

A big thank you the City of Viana do Castelo, the European Capital of sport and all our partners for their support of this inaugural Portuguese stop of the APP World Tour, as we look forward to building an exciting new legacy here for the future.

Stay tuned for a recap on all the Women's action coming soon.

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