Kiwis at the Cup - Annabel Anderson

Annabel Anderson. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Annabel Anderson: Stand-up paddleboard world champion.

Stand-up paddleboarding and America's Cup sailing sounds like a strange mix. How did the two events come to be linked?

The idea came about for it this time last year because I did a bunch of work with Puma for the Volvo Ocean Race and I thought it would be cool if we could tie something in with our world tour and the America's Cup. So we came up with a few ideas, and put some people in touch and then it all went quiet. But about three months ago I got a call from the tour director to say the San Francisco stuff is all on and it's been so much fun.

A few of the sailors are pretty handy on the boards, too, I hear?

Yeah, [Oracle skipper] Jimmy Spithill and [grinder] Shannon Falcone are just diehards when it comes to paddleboarding, a few of their shore crew are really into it as well.

Some of those long distance events look pretty brutal but especially yesterday when you had to bash your way upwind to the Golden Gate Bridge and back, how did you cope with the conditions on San Francisco Bay?

It was crazy, there was massive swell. It was all current going out, and then I just tried to surf the wind swells all the way back. I brought a specific board for those conditions and sure enough that was an advantage.

You led for most of the race against some of the best male paddle-boarders in the world - was that a surprise?

It was a weird, surreal situation to be that competitive with the guys. I beat them in New Zealand quite a bit - even though they'd hate to admit that. There's been a few World Cup events where I've been right with the front pack in the long distance, but with sprint racing anything can happen.