On Saturday, June 8th the German Championships took place at beautiful Blackfoot Beach in Cologne. After endless cold rainy weeks, the weather was finally warm and sunny. The turnout was great, with well over 100 riders. There were 800m sprint races around 2buoys in knockout format and an 8km Long Distance Race.

For the sprint, there were 4 (!) different categories (3 for the women) and each rider could compete in as many categories as he wanted. This seemed a bit odd, but on the other hand was kind of fair, as each category meant endless rounds of heats. So the riders who had chosen to compete in many categories on the one hand side maximized their chance of winning a medal but would on the other hand need a lot of energy and endurance, as the 9km long distance race was scheduled for the same day, starting at 19:30.
The women’s field was strong this year with 3 Lost Mills top 10 finishers . There were 2 new faces, Sonni Hönscheid, who lives on Fuerteventura and Hawaii and did not compete in the German Champs last year, and Susanne Lier, who everybody had assumed to be Swiss but actually has a German passport. Lost Mills Winner Sonni Hönscheid again put in an amazing performance, winning the long distance race by far, leaving many men behind. She also won the 12’6” sprint race category.
For the men’s last years German Champion Moritz Martin, who started late into the race season this year, finished 2nd, he was beaten by Stefan Stiefenhöfer in the 14’ Long Distance Race and Kai-Nicolas Steimer in the 14’ sprint category. The 12’6” Long Distance winner was Peter Weidert, who comes from Kanu/Dragonboat racing. Normen Weber finished 2nd (on an inflatable).  German SUP Surf  Champion Moritz Mauch proved he cannot only surf but also paddle fast, he won the 12’6” sprint race category, having arrived from the Canaries without any sleep and still had enough energy for the long distance race, where he finished 3rd on 12’6”.
Here are the first results as we took them down on the day, we are waiting for official rankings and times.
Long Distance Women 12’6”:
1. Sonja Hönscheid (SIC)
2. Noelani Sach (Starboard)
3. Susanne Lier (Hobie)
4. Petra Offermanns (Fanatic)
Long Distance Women 14′:
1. Heike Furch (Naish)
2. Sonja Duschek (JP Australia)
3. Christina Bauer (C4)
Sprint 12’6” Women:
1. Sonni Hönscheid (SIC)
2. Noelani Sach (Starboard)
3. Susanne Lier (Hobie)
4. Petra Offermanns (Fanatic)
Sprint Fun-Board Women:
1. Sonja Duschek (JP Australia)
2. Kerstin Sturm
3. Beate Kuczma
Sprint Inflatable Board-Klasse, Women:
1. Petra Offermanns (Fanatic)
2. Antje Vollmer (C4)
3. Noreen Weber (Core)
4. Corinna Kopp
Long Distance Men 12’6”:
1. Peter Weidert (SIC)
2. Normen Weber (Core)
3. Moritz Mauch (Starboard)
Long Distance Men 14′:
1. Stefan Stiefenhöfer (Mistral)
2. Moritz Martin (Starboard)
3. Arnd Dünzinger (Starboard)
4. Marek Fuhrman (Fanatic)
Sprint 12’6” Men:
1. Moritz Mauch (Starboard)
2. Carsten Kurmis (Starboard)
3. Peter Weidert (SIC)
4. Frietjof Sach (Starboard)
Sprint 14′ Men:
1. Kai-Nicolas Steimer (Mistral)
2. Moritz Martin (Starboard)
3. Normen Weber (Core)
4. Stefan Stiefenhöfer (Mistral)
Sprint 12’6” Inflatables Men:
1. Moritz Mauch (Starboard)
2. Normen Weber (Core)
3. Carsten Kurmis (Starboard)
4. Guido Meier (JP Australia)
Sprint Fun-Board-Klasse Men:
1. Carsten Kurmis (Starboard)
2. Guido Meier (JP Australia)
3. Axel Bischoff
Thanks to Thorsten Kegler / DWV and Team for the organization and all sponsors who made the event possible. Full results soon. More pics soon on www.facebook.com/supguide