Mini Cunha

AGE: 36 | Favorite Board: 12' 6" Comet

I was born and grew up in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This beach hosts most international surf competitions in Rio. Ask Kelly! (Slater) :D I start body boarding as a young child and progressed to become a proficient surfer. I would spend the whole day in the water surfing (after school, of course.... not really!) - never got tired! Well, I guess that's pretty common as a surfer. Also loved wakeboarding and scuba diving. I dove all over the West Indies and The Caribbean while working as first mate on a  112' private yacht. I moved to Munich, Germany when I was 22 where I studied Foreign Language Correspondence and worked for British Airways as a flight attendant. The first thing I did when I got there was buying a snowboard and hit the snow really hard... Yes, I fell a couple of times but learned pretty fast having a surfing background. Snow is still water, right? After 6 years living in cold Germany, I decided to move to Florida and worked on yachts which gave me the opportunity to surf, wakeboard, and dive all the time. I went back to college here in Florida and got my RN license last year. 

In bought my first recreational stand up paddle board at the beginning of this year and fell in love with the sport. Today I spend lots of time SUP surfing, training for the SUP races, and giving SUP lessons. I enjoy getting people hooked up into SUPing. I love the sport and love to share my passion. 

I started SUP racing 4 months ago. I got 2nd place on my first race which was only a recreational division and ever since I've been competing in the elite division. In the last month, I placed 3rd at "Blue ridge race" in Georgia, 2nd at the "Big Heart" race in Miami, 1st place in the "Miami Paddle Challenge" race, and 5th at the "SUP Splash" race series in Chattanooga, TN. 

I look forward to being on my new Hovie Comet and competing in future events as a Hovie Elite Paddler.