Paddlers were truly challenged in this year's edition of Soualiga Challenge.  Hurricane Sandy played havoc with the weather, turning the prevailing easterly winds on their head.  Instead of the usual quartering wind and following seas, paddlers faced south-westerly winds and very confused sea with the main groundswell coming from the south.  Fifteen paddlers set out at 9am on Sunday for an extremely tough race.  The leader's times were more than 15 minutes slower than in previous years, with the winner, Franck Fifils from Guadeloupe, finishing in 2 hours 19 minutes.  He was followed by St Maarten's top junior paddler, Jolyon Ferron, in 2 hours 33:05 minutes.  The top lady was Ellie den Hartog, who finished in 3 hours 17:39 minutes.
Once again, we would like to thank our hosts at Captain Oliver's Resort as well as our regular product sponsors, Antillian Liquors, Presidente and Prime distributors.