May 01, 2024

2019 Loco SUP Race Team Recruiting Now

Hey Locos!!

As you may or may not know we’ve been working on a performance 14′ race shape over the last 9 months. What was originally meant to be made in our factory ended up being made in a garage in South Shields due to a few unfortunate events so it wasn’t quite the polished finished article our customers know and love. All that being said Joe’s first attempt at making a board turned out better than anyone could have ever asked for at a very respectable 10.5kg and despite some minor lumps and bumps we’re pleased to announce that the shape is faster than most peoples’ default setting, the SB allstar. Our new 14′ Motion will also have obvious advantages in cross chop/wind with much less thickness in the rails. For those who prefer to stand on rather than in their racer the new Motion should be the natural choice.

So who are these upstarts with their big fast board claims you might ask? The design and development process has been a collaboration between racers both here in the UK and others abroad all racing competitively at various levels; Loco racer Phil May who’s keen eye for race board porn stretches far and wide has worked closely with Stu Morris from VE Paddles who has designed a variety of fast winning craft for Team GB’s Olympians alongside offering some of the best custom paddles across numerous paddle sports. Joe also got involved with the design phase and ultimately built the prototypes from CNC’d blanks provided by Charlie Grey. In fact you couldn’t get any more home grown if you wanted to!

Unlike many brands we’ve deliberately developed an ‘all water board’ which will work in a variety of conditions not just pure flat water or downwind or technical races. There is no need to spend six grand on kit to compete as a weekend warrior in races with a tiny or no prize fund much as many would have you believe that!

Looking forwards to the 2019 season we’d like to pull together a loyal team of racers to compete in both national and regional events who have the time to make a real commitment to their end of season standing. We’d like to foster a strong team spirit with riders from nearby areas ‘buddying up’ for training sessions and getting a real race stoke going!

While we will consider ambassadors at some level selfies and stoke alone doesn’t sell boards so we’re looking for hungry, fit and fast, endurance-based types who plan to put in a solid winter of strength endurance so when April comes round they’re ready to get podiums either overall or within their age category. We appreciate many of the regular podium faces have been up there for some time and get their equipment free or on loan and we’re happy to consider similar deals if you’re a proven race winner. That said we’ve always looked to support upcoming athletes so groms or recent converts to SUP racing with cross-over performance backgrounds like triathlon etc are also very interesting.

We’ll be offering three production sizes initially with 12’6” possibly coming if international race classes necessitate it:

14 x 26
14 x 24
14 x 22

All racers must use production kit NOT customs. There will be a lightweight carbon construction and a standard glass construction for those on a budget. Athletes will also be encouraged to use our matching paddles which continue to get great test reviews! All racers will receive a cap, hoody and 2 x T shirts with their boards. We will also look to provide some flags for key members to fly at race events they attend.

We’re now driving interest for our first 2019 race board container so we invite potential sponsored riders, ambassadors and customers to get in touch over the coming month to secure their Loco Motion ahead of anyone else. All riders please email us at info@loco-sup.com with a brief outline of your race story so far, your aspirations for the coming season and why you want to part of Loco’s race team. For serious customer enquiries please call Joe to discuss your needs on 0191 4206921 / 07779 127230.

We’re confident this is the start of a great new chapter for Loco but we need the right kind of help from people who want to support a home grown SUP brand. If that’s you we look forward to making your acquaintance.

To see more of the board click here

Loco out…

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