USA SUP News

The Treasure Coast Paddle Battle

Linda McCoy — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:52:06 GMT

The Treasure Coast Paddle Battle
by Troy Hendricks, North Central Regional Rep

The Treasure Coast Paddle Battle in Fort Pierce, FL, successfully kicked off the East Coast SUP season.

The event featured 10k and 5k races, with the 10k course starting on the ocean, passing through the Fort Pierce channel, and concluding at Jaycee Park. Conditions were particularly challenging this year; Race Director Victoria Burgess described the water as "sporty," with open ocean winds reaching 20 MPH. These conditions led approximately ten paddlers, including two USA SUP regional representatives, to switch from the 10k to the 5k course.

The 5k race followed a coat-hook-shaped course with a beach start and the same finish line as the 10k. Despite being on flat water, the race was demanding, as one segment headed directly into the 20 MPH winds, while others required paddlers to battle to stay on course.

New this year was the Sunday Technical Race. After setting the buoys, Victoria turned the coordination of the heats over to John Meskauskas. Conditions remained tough; the women’s division featured a single winner-take-all heat, while the men competed in three heats to determine the final.

Gear Guide: A Bootie Review

Linda McCoy — Sun, 08 Mar 2026 16:15:09 GMT

A Bootie Review

By Denny Parker, NorthWest Region Member

While we are transitioning from winter to spring, the water temperatures will remain cold for a while longer and the need to wear booties is essential when Stand Up Paddleboarding to avoid losing the feeling in your feet.

I primarily wear one of two booties: the O’Neil Heat 5mm Round toe or the Solite 8mm custom 2.0. The great news is both booties do a reasonable job of keeping out the cold when dry, but not so much when wet. So, either the soles of your feet or the top of your feet will experience feeling cold when wet depending on which pair you wear.

Note—to mitigate my foot’s exposure to the cold temperatures, I wear NRS Boundary socks in addition with the booties.

The O’Neill Heat 5mm booties fit snugly on your feet and allow you to feel connected to your board because the soles are thinner than the Solelite 8mm booties. Also, the O’Neill Heat booties have an Anti-Flush Shin Strap and Forefoot Strap for extra stability and support. I found the Heel Pull works well in slipping them on and off. Since the soles are thinner, you can feel how cold the water is once you enter it to start a paddle and encounter gentle waves or the occasional wake. The soles are not grooved so you can experience some slippage while on your board, yet you can also walk on your board with ease, and that is the tradeoff. Bottomline, you are going to feel the cold, especially if the water temperature is close to 40 degrees (4.4 Celsius) and below. Therefore the thinner sole may not hold up with extended use.

Conversely, the Solelite 8mm booties offer better sole and cold protection because the majority of the neoprene is concentrated along the sole, heel, and toes. Think of this bootie as encasing your feet in 8mm neoprene. You feel the protection and stability right away, yet you will not feel as connected to your board unlike the O’Neill Heat booties. The Solelite 8mm booties’ Stealth-Loop in the heel helps you get into them but is not particularly helpful in getting out of them. Another drawback is that the top of the booties has less of a concentration of neoprene and thus will not provide much protection from the cold when entering the water to start a paddle or encounter the occasional splash while paddling. Bottomline, these booties are designed for 32 degrees (0 Celsius) and below and you will not feel as connected to your board.

How Are Your Rescue Skills?

Linda McCoy — Sat, 07 Mar 2026 01:47:38 GMT

How Are Your Rescue Skills?

by Michael Carney - Regional Rep Co-Director, NorthCentral Region

When was the last time you practiced—actually practiced—your rescue and self-rescue skills?

Deep water recoveries are a key part of essential self-rescue skills for stand up paddleboarders, but there are a lot of things that can complicate what we take for granted when it comes to getting back on our boards. Exhaustion, water conditions, board shape, clothing and equipment are just a few variables that can make this critical skill harder when you need it most.

Modern race boards with heavily dug-out decks and tall rails can be harder, and even painful, to get back on compared to flat-deck SUPs. Rough water conditions or flowing water conditions can make narrow race boards unstable and more difficult to remount.

Paddling in the cold this winter? Thick wetsuits, dry suits, and inherently buoyant PFDs can all complicate climbing back on your SUP.

If you finish a race feeling refreshed (or at least not exhausted) then you’ve not raced your hardest, so we leave it all out on the water when it comes to competition and even during some training sessions. What happens when you are in the home stretch of a distance race, running out of energy reserves, and a rogue boat wake or unexpected wave sends you to count the fish? Getting back on your board when you’re gassed at the end of a 10k race is much harder than it sounds.

Practicing your self-rescue skills in various conditions and with different variables is a critical safety skill. Just like in our race training, if we only practice in perfect conditions then we will be unable to effectively compete when the weather turns against us. If you only practice our safety skills in perfect conditions, then when an emergency arises you may find yourself in a far more dangerous situation.

Getting back on your board is only part of the battle. When was the last time you practiced prone paddling your board in case your paddle breaks? Have you tried paddling finless or fixed a fin while on the water? While these circumstances may not happen often, the ability to effectively handle them can be the difference between paddling back yourself, or calling for help.

Are you prepared to help your fellow paddlers? While we hope to not ever see it, a bad fall in a tight fight around a buoy can leave you or your fellow racers incapacitated in the water. Can you effectively help an injured paddler back on their board or onto yours in case of an emergency?

Your rescue skills—your ability to correct a potentially dangerous situation for yourself or others—are one of the four Pillars of SUP Safety. But like any other technique they require regular maintenance. So as the weather and water warm up this spring, make sure to take some time and refresh and challenge your rescue skills. If you aren’t sure how to handle these situations, it’s the perfect time to find a certified instructor in your area to teach you!

If you’d like to learn more about SUP safety, I highly recommend reading SUP Safety—a three-part book series by New Zealand’s National SUP Safety Officer Bill Dawes that deep-dives into all things about paddling safely.

A Fond Farewell from Harrison Withers, USA SUP Founding President

Linda McCoy — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 15:01:32 GMT

A Fond Farewell
from Harrison Withers - USA SUP Founding President

Dear friends,

When Kristin and I helped start this organization, it was because standup paddleboarding needed it.

The sport was disorganized. The national organizations that should have been leading weren’t really doing much. And for something with as much potential and universal appeal as paddleboarding, it felt like there was a vacuum — a lack of leadership and representation. We were being represented as part of something we had significant differences from, and that didn’t sit right with me then, and it still doesn’t.

Paddleboarding is one of the rare sports where almost anyone will give it a try if there’s a board sitting on the beach. That universal appeal is special. But what happens next matters just as much. If the next step is intimidating, inaccessible, or reserved only for people who already see themselves as athletes, then we lose what makes this sport powerful in the first place.

That’s why USA SUP was created.

We can’t just be about racing — even if racing is part of the end goal. Every established sport on the planet includes disciplines, distances, conditions, and development pathways. Paddleboarding needs those too if it’s going to grow, be inclusive, and have a real presence on a world stage. Epic events absolutely have a place in our sport — but they cannot define it. Without pathways that help people progress through participation and competition, the net effect is a sport that only serves those who are already elite. That’s not how sports grow, and it’s not what USA SUP was meant to be, at least not from my perspective.

There’s also a bigger reality we need to acknowledge. The world is mostly water, and all of us live near it, in it, or around it in some form. As much water as there is along the coastlines of the United States, there are far more opportunities to paddle between those two coastlines than on the coasts combined. Rivers, lakes, reservoirs, harbors, and waterways run through and alongside most of our communities.

In fact, most major cities in the U.S. are built near, in, or around water. These places offer incredible opportunities to get people on boards and enjoying time on the water. And yet, the sport of paddleboarding does not reflect the diversity of the people who live in the places where paddleboarding is actually present. That gap matters. We owe it to the sport — and to paddlers everywhere — to reflect a version of paddleboarding that can happen in most places in this country, and to reflect the diversity of the communities in which we exist.

I’m sharing all of this because it’s also the reason I’ve decided not to run for a board seat again.

Being deeply involved in the organization of paddling has, over time, taken away from my own personal enjoyment of paddling. What started as time on the water slowly became more time in meetings, more decisions, and more responsibility. For my own good, and for my own relationship with this sport, it’s time for me to get back to paddling for myself.

This isn’t stepping away because the work doesn’t matter. It’s stepping back because the work does matter — and it deserves more people carrying it forward.

If you care about the future of standup paddleboarding, now is the time to be more involved. This sport doesn’t need fewer leaders; it needs more. It needs more voices, more perspectives, and more people willing to help shape pathways that welcome someone who’s just playing around on a board and support them as they move toward fitness, connection with nature, or competition — if that’s where they want to go.

USA SUP still matters for the same reason it always has. The work isn’t finished. And it won’t be finished by one board, one vision, or one group of personalities.

I’ll still be out there — just as a paddler again. And I’m grateful to everyone who has shown up, spoken up, and cared enough about this sport to help build something better.

See you on the water.

— Harrison

The Texas Winter 100K

Linda McCoy — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 14:52:03 GMT

The Texas Winter 100k
by Meral Amica Akyol

The Texas Winter 100k has been on my bucket list forever. Yesterday I was finally able to do it and it turned out to be the best 15mi River Race Lesson, that I ever had
With some background from winter paddling on Bodensee in Germany with waves, storms, cold and all the drama, I thought I knew what “wild water” meant. The 15mi SUP course seemed like “just a longer Paddle”, no big deal.

Well… the Colorado River between Utley Bridge and Bastrop politely laughed at me.
Rocks everywhere and Sandbanks and Logs playing hide and seek. Rocks in-between rapids that could easily be labeled Wildwater back home, took me off my board.

Some swirls that looked innocent where basically nature saying: “Something is under here. Good luck.” That was where some invisible underwater rocks took me off my board, while I was doing the “Superman” move time and time again.

I went from being 3rd overall to the end of the pack, fall by fall, getting stuck, carrying the board through shallow waters, getting back up and falling or getting stuck again in what felt like and endless repeat. Needless to say, that one of my biggest lessons was, that this course is not made for a 9” long fin. Now I have a reason to love my 4,5” inch rubber river fin that is safely packed away at home in Germany.
Thanks to Deborah Carrillo, I had a real good time paddling, chatting and guesstimating the water. Her uplifting comments helped me feel less lost

Cudos to the other 3 Ladies in the SUP Sprint division, who won the podium.
1. Linda McCoy
2. Kiri Oksol Nevin
3. Deborah Carillo

Massive respect to every single paddler who took on the Challenge of this rocky low water Colorado River in Winter with high winds and gusts.
While we did the “sprint course”, the Main Race track of the Texas Winter 100k is a full 100 kilometer course that was done by all kinds of crafts and paddlers with different backgrounds, different boards, but who that shared the same madness and determination to finish. I have the highest respect for the 100k finishers who were exposed to temps between 29 and 45 F and winds up to 18kts.

Nature was powerful, cold was strong, but we all were stronger. We didn’t let the cold win

Already humbled. Already grateful. Already thinking about next time.
Thank you Kiri Oksol Nevin for the help , Linda McCoy from USA SUP for racing and showing up, Deborah Carrillo for the nice chat during the race. Veronica Sosa who did an amazing job for a 1st time race director.
Thank you to Christi Lancaster Bonura and Julia Smith and all the volunteers who kept us warm, hydrated and satiated.

Thank you to Oscar Propulsion for letting me use the 2 Piece adjustable Paddle. I used it for Last Paddler Standing and now also for this real rough endeavour. And as far as I can say it’s been beat up pretty “good” from crashing against the gravel. Seems to be a tough paddle.
Special thanks go out to my love John Knippers who inspires and supports me in unprecedented ways.

*Photos by Jason Sawyer

The 3rd Annual Super Chill Paddle 'N' Plunge

Linda McCoy — Sat, 14 Feb 2026 14:24:53 GMT

The 3rd Annual Super Chill Paddle 'N' Plunge
by Ellison Smith, USA SUP Vice President, NorthEast Region

The 3rd Annual Super Chill Paddle 'N' Plunge presented by Aloha Paddle LKN lived up to it's name, for it took place on an unusually cold and windy winter day.

Paddlers from eight states convened in Moorseville, NC at Lake Norman for an early start to their season. The night before the race, entrants gathered for a welcome party and silent auction of an array of items to benefit Piper's Angels Foundation. Race participants could choose to be even more generous by electing to partake in a cold plunge into the lake after completing their chosen course to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Course options were comprised of the aptly named Super Chill 8.5, Frosty 5, Polar Express 2 and Snowflake Sprint. A distance for every cold tolerance and paddlecraft. A unique inclusion in the festivities was the Rumble for Bumble, a short and exciting team paddle relay race. Things got off to a fast start as everyone was keen on keeping the blood flowing to their extremeties. For the long distance, conditions played a major role and resulted in several DNFs but it was not for a lack of effort. It's best to know your limits in any situation and follow safety protocols. Support boats were at the ready to provide assistance to anyone in need and to ensure everyone reached the beach safely. The finishers endured the cold and the overall men and women winners of the Super Chill were crowned Ice and King and Queen!

The low temperatures failed to chill out the strong sense of Aloha. Organizers were well prepared for the icy conditions with a fire, heaters and hot beverage options to warm paddlers and spectators alike.

Live music and food trucks preceding the awards kept the party going until the post-race warm-up gathering. Conditions aren't likely to be as cold next year but be prepared for anything at this rapidly growing event!

Safety: PFDs and Restubes - What You Need to Know

Linda McCoy — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 19:08:08 GMT

by Michael Carney, Co-Director - USA SUP Regional Rep Program

You can’t have fun if you are worried about your safety. That’s something I instill in my paddling students when talking about Personal Flotation Devices (PFDs) and other safety equipment for paddling. Life jackets (PFDs, Buoyancy Aids, etc) help provide one piece of that safety system and are legally required equipment when paddling in the United States. But, there are devices marketed as alternatives that don’t provide the same level of safety or meet legal requirements.

As we progress from beginner to intermediate to advanced paddlers we become more confident on our boards and in the water. We naturally seek out ways to be more connected to the experience and more comfortable on the water. One of the first changes paddlers often make is to stop wearing their PFDs and place them on the board, or swap them for smaller inflatable devices. These inflatables still need to meet the legal and minimum safety requirements, and you should always wear your PFD, no matter your skill level. PFDs are like seat belts - by the time you know you need one, it’s too late to put it on.

What are PFDs?

To obtain certification as a PFD, a flotation device must meet certain minimum requirements for flotation and usage. PFDs are physically inspected for these requirements before receiving certification, and must properly display their certification status and other information on the device itself. In the US, this is the “Type” system for PFDs certified before 2025 ( see Boat US Foundation) and new UL standards for those certified in 2025 forward (see Association of Aquatic Professionals). The USCG does recognize and allow devices with certifications from the EU, UK and Canada to meet US requirements.

What are Restubes?

One device I’ve seen used more frequently by competitive racers is the Restube. I can understand why it’s becoming more popular - this thing is tiny! The main device is only 6” x 3”, under 7 ounces, and sits easily in the small of your back. It has a CO2 canister that inflates when you pull the rip cord, and provides 75N of buoyancy when inflated. It sounds pretty good on paper.

But there’s a problem. Restubes (and similar devices) are not considered a PFD and do not carry any certifications. Restube states on their website FAQ that Restube devices are “not personal protective equipment,” and “should never replace a life jacket.”

Restubes don’t meet the minimum qualifications for certification as PFDs. They don’t meet the flotation requirements for inflatable PFDs under the Type system. They lack a green-color visual status indicator showing the device is properly armed. Restubes are not able to be worn, rather they are held, when inflated.

Why does this matter?
Over 80% of boating fatalities in the US each year list “No/Not Wearing PFD” as the primary cause of death. Most of those happen on days with calm weather conditions. (USCG Statistics) In the US, SUPs are considered “vessels” and required to carry a certified PFD for each passenger. PFDs are required to be worn by anyone under the age of 13. All inflatable PFDs must be worn to qualify for paddlers of any age. In some places, like my home state of New Mexico, PFDs must be worn by ALL paddlers, not just children, rather than simply placed on the vessel.

There can be consequences for using a Restube instead of a PFD. If you are paddling with a Restube instead of a certified PFD and get stopped for inspection, you can be ticketed and forced off the water.

Race organizers should be requiring participants to follow the local law regarding PFDs. In the US that means certification and proper wear for your device. Allowing paddlers to use Restubes or similar devices instead of a certified PFD will put Race Directors at risk of liability and losing operation permits.

And the big one - your safety and concern for those around you. Purposely choosing to use improper or no safety equipment risks the sport of SUP Racing, your health and life, first responders, and the well being of your friends and family should an accident occur.

Alternatives

There are many alternative devices you can wear that are certified safety equipment. The Onyx M16 belt pack is only half an ounce heavier than a Restube, and keeps a thin profile around the waist. There are many other brands and models of inflatable PFDs that are comfortable to wear and still meet appropriate safety regulations. Check out brands like BOTE, West Marine, NRS, Overton’s, Ascend, Paddle North, and Mustang Minimalist, to name a few.

While the idea of an ultra-small flotation device is appealing, it's important to remember that there are requirements for safety equipment and there can be severe consequences for not using it. So, before using these non-certified, non-safety equipment devices while paddling, ask yourself, "Is the slightly smaller size work the potential costs?"

What are your thoughts on this topic? Join us on the Member Forum.
Not a member yet but want to chime in? Join Here!

- Should ResTubes be allowed in SUP races to meet safety requirements?

- What other safety considerations should be taken by race directors and racers?

- Have you ever been at a race that had a safety concern manifest?

January 2026 Gear Guide

Linda McCoy — Thu, 08 Jan 2026 23:50:29 GMT

“Perfect Winter Paddle Suit” by Denny Parker

Hi, for those of us who paddle in colder conditions (e.g., 32ºF/ 0ºC or below) in the winter, warmth and staying dry is essential. The optimal option is a drysuit, and a Stand-Up Paddle Board (SUP) specific drysuit is best—enter the Starboard Sprint Drysuit 12 from the Starboard’s Techwear Range.

Recently, I tested the Starboard Sprint Drysuit (SB Sprint Drysuit) and found it is up to the task of keeping me dry and moving fluidly stroke after stroke during my 4 mile/6.4 km paddle. I love the ease of which I can slip into the SB Sprint Drysuit because of its full-front zipper, which zips up to the neck creating a watertight seal.

It is very form-fitting and does not need to be “burped” (squeezing out excess air) like other drysuits. The fit is closer to a wetsuit, but without the skintight constricting feel. The latex cuffs on the wrists and ankles of the SB Sprint Drysuit felt secure and a little tight, but that ensures no water intrusion from an occasional splash or potential dip in the water.

I did a beach start for my paddle which included wading in ice cold
(27ºF/-2ºC) water for a few minutes; it kept the water out, but I could still feel the chill. It has three pockets, two interior and one exterior on the right leg, so your keys, I.D., and other essentials are easy to store and access. One of the best features is its integrated hood and face guard, which came in handy when the wind picked up slightly during my paddle.

It is important to note that unlike wetsuits, drysuits are designed to prevent water intrusion, especially in the case of water immersion, and insulate the wearer from excessive heat loss. While, I did not feel cold, I did feel chilly as the SB Sprint Drysuit does not have much insulation. It is very breathable which means it is not completely windproof. I opted to wear a drysuit liner underneath for additional warmth with the air temperature being around 36ºF/2.2ºC. Finally, the SB Sprint Drysuit Velcro collar is very sticky, and I got my beard caught a couple of times while trying to secure a tight seal under my neck.

Overall, the SB Sprint Drysuit allows me the safety and fluidity needed to paddle in colder conditions during the off-season.

The First Annual Green Buoy Battle

Linda McCoy — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 21:08:39 GMT

by Michael Markunas, Member from the SouthEast and SouthWest Regions

This November saw the launch of the Candice Appleby's first annual Green Buoy Battle sponsored by Hennessy’s. This event is already destined to be classic and a must-race for paddlers of all skill levels.

Nearly 200 racers took part in two, 3.5 mile battles around the green navigational buoy just outside Dana Point harbor. Racers had a water start from within the harbor for a smooth one mile flat water sprint before turning into the calm waters of the pacific to complete the 1.5 mile loop around the green buoy. California’s friendly sea lions did not disappoint and were enthusiastically playing around the green buoy while racers made their turns. A few racers commented that they even heard the sea lions barking (cheering) them on. After battling around the buoy, racers rode the small bumps back to the breakwater pivoting into the harbor and sprinting the final mile back through flat water and finishing at Baby Beach. After a break for lunch, racers hit the water to do it all over again!

In the SUP division, Thiago Giacomelli led the men with the fastest combined time, while Soryn Preston took the top spot in the women's division. Jake Keville and Rachael Tilly brought it home for the prone division. Other notable finishers were Nater Errez & Ava Crellin who had the fastest combined times in the Male & Female surfski division, Danny Ching and Brandi Baksic were the fastest in OC1 and Saul Dobson and Ann Matteson were the fastest V1's.

For an inaugural race, the whole event ran like clockwork. Of course, world champion SUP Racer/SUP Surfer and now outrigger athlete, Candice Appleby, is no stranger to race events but for a first time event, it was impressive how it all came together. Candice was even able to get long time sponsor of the legendary Pacific Paddle Games, Hennessey's Pub, to sponsor the Green Buoy Battle giving it that legendary feel. The libations and live music at the awards ceremony at Hennessey's later that afternoon made the day's events even more memorable. If you participated, congratulations on being able to say that you were there when it all started, and if you weren't, mark your calendars for next year, this instant classic is one you will not want to miss!

Panama Jack Classic 2025

Linda McCoy — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 21:15:34 GMT

by Janis Iverson - USA SUP Member from the SouthEast Region

The15th Annual Panama Jack Classic wrapped up the season a little later than usual this year, shifting to November as the ultimate year-end closeout race. Red flags on the gulf forced a venue change, moving the event to the sparkling tidal pool at St. Andrews State Park—a local gem tucked inside the pass and sheltered by gulf-facing jetties.

Race morning arrived with a bit of attitude. Sustained 10–15 mph winds funneled directly up the course, the tide pushed in, and boat traffic kept things interesting. Gentle? Not even close. Sporty? Absolutely.

Athletes lined up for 5k and 10k events, with the 10k featuring a technical mid-course turn sequence that kept racers sharp and wet. Winners of the distance battle earned the honor of signing the champion’s belt. The 5k course tracked the same route, minus the extra twists, but certainly wasn’t an easy paddle. A kids race followed, proving that grit comes in all sizes.

The grand finale was a four-person relay, where teams went head-to-head for the coveted Pier to Pier SUP Relay traveling trophy—complete with the engraved history of champions who came before them.

True to its reputation for good vibes and great swag, this year’s event rocked an 80s theme. Medals matched the mood, neon ruled the day, and the fashion was—well—bold. Best dressed? We couldn’t pick one. You may just have to decide for yourself.

Goat Boater 2025

Linda McCoy — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 17:27:48 GMT

The Goat Boater by Ellison Smith, Vice President representing the NorthEast Region

'LOSE FASTER'

It's hard to summarize an event with so much enthusiasm and excitement in a few words, but here goes. Rob Cynowa and Megan Cynowa pour their heart and souls into creating a weekend getaway that ANY paddler will absolutely LOVE. Together, they essentially write the book on how to create a spectacular race day event. Choosing to focus solely on SUP craft, they're able to commit their time to elevating the experience. Don't just take my word for it, read the reviews from pros on PaddleGuru, they're all true. The schedule is thoughtfully planned out, facilitating imteractions with fellow paddlers which contributes to everyone truly sharing the stoke as one.

Tega Cay is known for outdoor recreation and a strong sense of community, so it's only natural that the event is hosted there by the Cynowas at Windjammer Park on Lake Wylie. The lake was created by the Catawba Dam and once used to create hydro-electric power. On day one, Technical Heats took center stage. Yes, the water is mostly flat but they have the perfect solution for that. Enter pro wakesurfer Evan Feierabend, along with his boat captain, he takes great pleasure riding some gnarly waves, creating havoc around the course! Managing the SEVEN buoy turns alone can be difficult enough at times, not to mention the beach turn. However, the waves add an extra element of unpredictability and increases the heart rate. The challenge was eagerly accepted by all.

Day two is for the 5K, 10K and fun courses. The distance race is not simply an out and back. The course requires you to utilize some navigational skills. Beginning with a beach start, straight to a buoy and shortly thereafter, into North Carolina and around an island. From there, you plot your track to a waypoint on the way into Big Allison Creek. After heading back around almost halfway into it, the next stop is Goat Island before returning back to the beach where you finish with a run through the huge jaws of a giant shark!

Prior to each event, the hosts take care to ensure all the participants are emotionally and spiritually ready to accept all the great gifts that this sport provides. A pause for reflection and remembrance followed by a collective energy boosting moment enhances the enjoyment. Post race, the organizers encourage everyone to embark on a social cruise together so that racers of all levels have the opportunity to get to know one another which normally doesn't happen too often. I was also amazed at the number of first timers in attendance and so very enthusiastically happy for them.

Immense thanks to everyone who played a part in creating this amazing race, as well as to all the sponsors who help to ensure that the festivities continue yearly. Once you're here, it's easy to see why Goat Boater is lauded by many so be sure to make your way to this Charlotte suburb to feel the love firsthand !

Ellison Smith

Chattajack 2025

Linda McCoy — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:10:22 GMT

Chattajack by a "Newbie"- October 25th, 2025

by Tricia Lyons, NorthWest Regional Rep

31 miles down the Tennessee River, or as my speed coach says 32 miles.

Volunteering Friday before the race, gave an insight into the race sign up and the award ceremony. Cleaning and storing boards was a lot of fun where I found help by Michelle Feits and Adrian Angell.

Race day!

This race is a TEST, a test of your endurance abilities, preparedness, and mental game. I worked all season with Larry Cain and Paddle Monster to ensure my success in this race. Well it worked! I was stoked to have come in under 7 hours. The goal I had set for myself. My success is definitely credited to my draft partners Sue Butler and Ruth Ann Steen. These ladies are fierce! I was able to hang with them for most of the race but fell back in the end.

I found others on the water like Betsy Duke, and Adrian Angell who gave me encouragement. The last hour or 4 miles were by far the hardest. That’s when your mental abilities kick in. The water slows with weed to contend with. If you’ve made it this far, why quit? After all I knew I had a prize waiting for me when I came in, my entire family, who traveled to Tennessee with me. I cried when I came in. The emotion of it all catching up with me. I DID it! I conquered something that I never even considered when I started paddle boarding. Something truly to be proud of!

That is what this race is all about, conquering the hard things.

Team work

Triumph

Victory!

The best part? Watching the awards ceremony!

Men’s SUP winners:

1st Jake Portwood, 2nd Tim Oliver, 3rd John Batson

Women’s SUP winners:

1st Whitney Stephenson, 2nd Madeline Leblanc, 3rd Ariel Amaral

5 year Buckle Winners

Nea Lee, Michelle Higdon, Jennifer Flanigan, Pat Ballasch, Phillipe Asselin and MANY others. What an accomplishment Congratulations!

The number one question everyone asks…will I do it again? That’s a resounding YES!

If you haven’t tried Chattajack I suggest you consider adding it to your bucket list.

Tricia Lyons

B'More SUP CUP

Linda McCoy — Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:35:48 GMT

10th Annual B'More SUP Cup - July 12th, 2025

by Ellison Smith, Board Member representing our NorthEast Region

Paddlers from surrounding states including Virginia, Pennsylvania and Deleware came together to participate in the first SUP race in the Baltimore Inner Harbor! A historic day for Baltimore City and the paddle community. It was also a time to celebrate the waterway restoration efforts of recent years. The event has been the long-envisioned dream of B'More SUP proprietor, Jessie Benson. With two locations there, paddlers have been enjoying the city scape while engaging in a variety of fun activities. But never before in a race.

In the morning, participants gathered at West Shore Park and the races started with the Maryland Science Center serving as the backdrop. The starting line was drawn between two huge flamingos and the 5K course followered the northern harbor shoreline to Fells Point. There, a purple duck served as the turnaround in an alley, before returning along the same route. 10K racers continued to Canton, in the West Channel and crossed the Patapsco River at the Northwest Harbor. From there, the chartered course rounded Fort McHenry, to the turn directly over the I-95 tunnel. The return west on the same side skirted the south side of the harbor and back to the finish.

The day began partly cloudy before quiclky tunring sunny and humid with low winds. It was such a great joy to paddle with everyone in city waters. Especially those for whom it was their first race and to those who experienced paddling there for the first time .

I love paddling the Inner Harbor and if you ask me, it's one of the best ways to see the city.

Clear Lake Paddle Fest

Linda McCoy — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 01:24:26 GMT

Clear Lake Paddle Fest

by Jeremy Nicholson - NorthCentral Regional Rep

2025 clearly, paddle fest was a blast! After missing the event last year due to itlost a sponsorship, it came back this year in a great way! New sponsor and organizers made it a fun event with a new course that was challenging and exciting to watch. More of a technical race, it ended up being a five lap race course where each lap equaled a mile, and consisted of five bouy turns within that mile! There was also a 3 mile and 1 mile version as well for new or less experienced paddlers. With lots of great paddles from up in the Twin Cities area, it made for quite the show of racing! With so many different types of board companies represented (Infinity,Starboard,JP Australia), there was lots to play on afterwards with everybody swapping boards and trying out different companies shapes, sizes and widths.

Weather was beautiful and couldn’t ask for more fun event, excited for next year, and hope it grows to be a staple event here in the Midwest!

The 2025 Gorge Paddle Challenge

Linda McCoy — Tue, 02 Sep 2025 01:16:17 GMT

The 2025 Gorge Paddle Challenge by a complete downwind Noobie!

by Tricia Lyons - NorthWest Regional Rep

I arrived early in the week to pick up my downwind board that I rented from Gorge Performance. I was invited to their local Wednesday night race that did NOT disappoint both in attendees (Christian "The Polar Bear" Anderson) and windy conditions! Over 2 dozen locals and some of us out of town-ers showed up for their Wacky Wednesday race, followed by an amazing SUP community pot luck dinner.

I was then invited by Kathleen Shaw and Dan Miller, to do a downwind run Thursday as practice before the race. WOW that was quite the experience! My first Viento run! Who better to coach me than The Sup Doctor himself?

He informed me that was some of the biggest wind he’d seen there in over a month. I went in many times haha, but was able to get going and catch some bumps pretty quickly. SO MUCH FUN!

The Gorge Challenge was held over the weekend August 16th and 17th in Hood River Oregon, one of the world’s most epic downwind locations, the Columbia Gorge.

The race offered Wing Foiling, SUP Foiling, SUP, Prone, Surfski and Outrigger Canoe divisions. With Pro divisions in Wing Foiling and SUP downwind as well as an Open Division in all races.

A very moving memorial paddle out in honor of the races founder Steve Gates, was held before the racing began.

credit: Gorge Challenge FB

SUP podium finishers SINGLE downwinder

12’6 SUP Groms Girls

1st- Teagan Mlakar

2nd - Niva Bruggeman

14’ SUP Open Female

1st - Ella Petty

2nd - Tracy Spohn

3rd - Karen Black Jenkins

14’ SUP Grom Boys

1st - Rocket Parmenter

14' SUP Pro Men

1st - James Mullen

14’ SUP Open Men

1st - Spencer Lazzar

2nd - Gregg Leion

3rd - Scott Vande Vusse

SUP podium finishers DOUBLE downwinder

14’ SUP PRO Women

1st - Fiona Wilde

2nd - Kathleen Shaw

14’ Open Women

1st - Lindsey Virdeh

2nd - Sarah Hess

3rd - Tricia Lyons

14’ SUP PRO MEN

1st - Christian Anderson

2nd - Bodie Von Allmen

3rd - Conner Baxter

4th - Dan Miller

14’ SUP Open Men

1st - Travis Boothe

2nd - Ahmed Fakhry

3rd - David Alber

4th - Ethan Huff

2025 Columbia Yacht Club Chicago Skyline SUP Race

Linda McCoy — Wed, 21 May 2025 19:29:41 GMT

by Ellison Smith

My first trip to the USA SUP NorthCentral Region was one of the best I've ever had anywhere! I wasn't quite set on attending until the week leading up to it. I'm subject to change as the wind blows sometimes and I blazed a trail 10.5 hours west to the Windy Cityfor the 5K, 10K technical, and sprint races.

I arrived on Friday to enjoy the sunniest and warmest of the three-day weekend at Ohio Street Beach with the resident city sun revelers. The Columbia Yacht Club, a converted former Canadian rail ferry, hosted the competition the next day.

Race day was changed from a forecasted calm Sunday to a very windy Saturday due to a conflicting event, but what else would you expect on the Illinois coast? The 10K was not your typical out and back, instead, it consisted of a roundabout around the starting pier, then transitioned into four laps around a triangle and finishing with another turnaround before the finish line. Fortunately, most of the course was somewhat protected from the 30mph gusts. The buoy furthest out in Lake Michigan proved to be the most challenging, especially the last two laps. I was very happy with a 5th place finish amongst the very friendly and fast competition. The sprint race that followed proved to be a somewhat chaotic and frantic dash. In the out and back with one close-quarters turn, somehow I escaped the fray with 2nd place showing. The club hosted us for the awards where I got to know some of the Midwest fam and engage with some familiar faces.

Sunday began with a downtown tour led by our newest USA SUP NorthCentral Regional Rep, Kirsten Lefeldt. Her love for paddling led her to start Chicago SUP, a paddle and racing group headquarterednear Goose Island. Being amongst the spectacular views on the North Branch Chicago River was a fantastic experience.

During the trip, I got in some quality beach time with another NorthCentral USA SUP Rep, Troy Hendricks. We also had quite the adventure in search of some deep dish It's hard to summarize the trip in a few paragraphs but I hope the pics will tell the rest of the story.

*Photos by Joe Karp

Treasure Coast Paddle Battle by Ellison Smith

Linda McCoy — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:21:50 GMT

Treasure Coast Paddle Battle
by Ellison Smith - USA SUP Board Member

The spring race season got its start on March 15th and 16th in Fort Pierce, FL. Victoria Burgess of Tactical Athlete Nutrition + Performance directed the event held at Jaycee Park and is part of the Southeastern Regional Race Series. The aptly named Battle began with an ocean start amongst the breakers for the 10K.

Paddlers took a course out and then along the coastline, around Ft. Pierce Jetty and into the inlet to the Indian River Lagoon. 5K racers faced a challenge as well, with three laps in the lagoon, including several buoy turns as the wind speed increased. The fun continued on the second day with short but exciting sprints along the shore at the Park.

Jake Portwood edged out Campbell Carter in a photo finish and Stephanie Shideler took first in the 10K. Katniss Paris and Mason Kober were the 5K fastest finishers. Carter and Paris placed again in the sprints in lightning quick fashion. The race is also open to most other paddlecraft and is exciting for participants and spectators alike. Make a visit to the Sunshine state in this beautiful destination a part of your race calendar.

Photos Lisa Bee (FloridaGirl Lisa) and Jim Ferro

Goat Boater Race Series

Anna Zolnierowski — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 16:48:30 GMT

The 2024 Goat Boater Race Series is once again complete. After hosting 25 races over the years, each season continues to raise the bar and the stakes!

Goat Boater has always aimed to bring the highest-class experience. Balancing top-level competition with a grassroots vibe and never forgetting to celebrate our local hometown heroes.

*2024 Overall Season Podium Winners*

Female: 1st: April Zilg 2nd: Caroline Cook 3rd: Nea Lee

Male: 1st: John Batson 2nd: Mike Hill 3rd: Nathan Champion

VIEW COMPLETE SEASON STANDINGS HERE

https://canadianpaddleleague.ca/club-races/2024-goat-boater-race-series/

With Professional guest appearances over the years by Michael Booth, Candice Appleby, Campbell Carter, April Zilg, Dave Boehne, Itzel Delgado, Kim Barnes, Steve Miller, Goat Boater is the place to be.

In 2024, paddlers were awarded over $6,000 in cash prizes plus incredible gear from Infinity, Starboard & Black Project SUP. Next year, we plan to raise the stakes even higher. 2025 promises to bring bigger prizes, faster paddling, and above all, more fun.

Come be part of this incredible experience and 'Lose Faster!'

As anticipation for 2025 continues to build here are a few paddlers who we expect could make big waves next year at Goat Boater:

April Zilg: April dominated the 2024 season, scoring a perfect 300 points in her top 3 races. She consistently outpaced the competition and looks poised to defend her title next season. As she gets back into her full training schedule, she will again be the paddler to beat in 2025.

Caroline Cook: With 284.9 points, Caroline finished strong in 2024. She’s a versatile competitor who consistently placed high in every race she entered. An understudy of Candice Appleby and A well-rounded paddler like her could challenge April and others for the top spot next season.

Nea Lee: Nea, who accumulated 268.9 points, was a force all season. She was the season champion in 2023 and showed her speed again this year. Her ability to race at a high level across multiple events shows she has the stamina and skill to improve further. Expect her to be in contention for podium finishes in 2025.

Bara Skoumalova: Bara closed the 2024 season with 260.6 points, and her performances were steady across the board. With a few strategic improvements, she could be a dangerous contender next season, especially if she focuses on maximizing her top finishes.

Kim Barnes: Although Kim only raced twice in 2024, she earned 200 points with perfect scores in those races. If she commits to a full season in 2025, she could become a major threat to the established competitors.

John Batson: John was the top male paddler in 2024, with 293.8 points, consistently finishing near the top. His ability to perform under pressure makes him the favorite to win again next season.

Mike Hill: Mike’s strong performances in 2024 earned him 271.8 points. If he can maintain his momentum and race in more events next season, he has the potential to overtake the competition.

Nathan Champion: With 261.9 points in 2024, Nathan showed that he’s a consistent podium finisher. Nathan an OG of the Goat Boater race series has always found himself on the podium. If he increases his race participation and maintains his form, he could be a key challenger for the top spot in 2025.

Brent Ackland: Brent’s 259.8 points across 5 races showed he’s a competitive paddler, but he may need to focus on fine-tuning his races to push further up the leaderboard next season.

Rob Moran: Rob accumulated 259.2 points & proved to be a reliable competitor. He’ll be looking to sharpen his strategy in 2025 and break into the top 3.

Emerging Talent

Gordon Pennebaker: Gordon finished with 251.3 points and had some standout performances in 2024. With a full season, he could make a significant leap and challenge the top contenders.

Steve Miller: With 197.2 points from just two races, Steve showed that he has the potential to break into the top ranks if he races more consistently in 2025.

Amanda Portwood: Amanda’s 176.4 points from two races mark her as a rising star in the female division. With more participation next season, she could be a serious contender for top 5 finishes.

Corey Curtis: Corey earned 174.5 points from two races. If he can build on his experience, he could be one of the surprise paddlers to watch next season.

Paddlers Looking to Break Through

Caroline Grandis & Andrea Robb: These two female paddlers had steady showings in 2024, finishing with 179.4 and 228.4 points, respectively. A more focused approach in 2025 could see them rise in the rankings.

Martin Houston & Eric Carter: Both competitors had impressive point totals (173.0 and 170.6), and with more races under their belts next season, they could break into the top 10.

“The Goat Boater is your regional dealer for Starboard, Infinity & Black Project SUP. Contact Megan@GoatBoater.com to schedule a demo. All boards on sale. Not all inventory is shown online. Visit online & Schedule to come out.”

Congratulations to Everyone who Earned a Chattajack 5-year Belt Buckle!!

Kristin Thomas — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 14:33:08 GMT

THE 5 YEAR BELT BUCKLE
Each year a beautiful, custom, handcrafted belt buckle is awarded to any racer who successfully completes their 5th consecutive Chattajack*. This is a way of thanking them for your deep level of commitment, not only to the race, but also, to the racers personal goals, fitness and love of their sport.

*An athlete is awarded this once every 5 years. Not each additional year that they race. So, for example: if you earned one for racing from 2012-2016, and you keep coming back each year, then you'll receive another one for 2017-2021.
*To be eligible you must finish 5 consecutive Chattajacks, within the allotted time, and following all other race rules. (ie. you received an official finishing time)

Congratulations to these Chattajack Bucklers!

Bubba Sloan, Katniss Paris, Emily McNeill, Candi Hill, Paul Weich, Grace Metzgar, James Tomes, Nancy Packard, Lyn Harris, Daniel Gamsky, Morgan Williams, Bobby Quigley, Shawn Evans, Tommy Cost, Kevin McFarland, Danielle Pointon, Olivia Durrence, John Wellens, Robin Lashway, Chuck Sisunik, Seth Foshee, Troy Gossard, Gander Tawaststjerna, Melissa Beck, Angel Subdiaz, Kim Barnes, JoJo Davidson, Tony Galang, Dave Merkli, Devin Sampson, Mindy Tavares, Monica Monteon, Ben Roth, Linda McCoy, Scott Watson-Brown, Robert Norman, Susan Jordan, Neil Baker, Julieanne White, Adrian Angell, Stella Gan, Dan Michaluk

Wouldn't it be fun to have a 10 year buckle like this one?

Back of Beyond Paddle Race

Linda McCoy — Sun, 29 Sep 2024 18:31:25 GMT

by Travis Prewitt – NorthWest Region member

Mix spectacular red canyon walls with the Colorado River that carved them and a few dozen paddlers and you have the ingredients for the Back of Beyond Paddle race, held near Moab, Utah September 21^st and 22^nd 2024.

The ninth Back of Beyond featured the 7-mile “Postcard Alley” flatwater race on Saturday and a whitewater technical sprint on Sunday. The Postcard Alley name comes from the scenic views of canyon walls and the Fisher Towers. There are two national parks, Canyonlands and Arches a few miles away from the race. However, the geologic forces that created these parks didn’t have a map to stop at park boundaries so paddlers and spectators can skip the crowds and see similar epic views along the racecourse.

The Postcard Alley section of the Colorado River has modest current and only occasional riffles but look at the scenery too much and you will go swimming as I did. As the river winds past vertical canyon walls, there are lots of eddies and confusing currents to keep you on your toes and bracing at times. The Whitewater Showdown on Sunday took place at the well named Rocky Rapids.

The Postcard Alley race had open and elite SUP divisions for men and women as well as a kayaks. Trent Hickman, owner of Park City SUP, repeated winning the men’s elite. Heidi Miller was the top elite woman. Both also won the Rocky Rapids race on Sunday.

Like many races, Back of Beyond still suffers from “long Covid.” A couple year hiatus for the virus cut into participation that organizer and sponsor, Paddle Moab, hopes to reverse. With famous mountain biking, four-wheeling, and two national parks in the vicinity, as well as a unique race course, there is potential for Back of Beyond to become a bucket list SUP destination with broader awareness. Plans are to keep the races on the third weekend of September.

For a paddler’s eye view of this year’s Back of Beyond there is a well-done video by InflatableBoarder.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFUddjGLaQk

Rubber Ducky Regatta

Anna Zolnierowski — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 16:34:55 GMT

by Keith Conway

The Midwest Paddle League held its last race of the season, the Rubber Ducky Regatta. Sadly this will be the last time this event will be held. Elizabeth ran the most organized races I have been a part of.

The conditions were amazing, bluebird skies, warm 80 degrees and glassy water. The 10k race was decided very early as Dan Novak took an early lead that he never relinquished. 2nd place was Alex Sandler who was solidly in 2nd place with no real threat to reel him in. 3rd place was a battle between Grand Masters national champ Joe Bechtold and Vladimir Vetrov that saw Vladimir come out on top. The women's race saw Julie Miller as the clear victor who has not lost a race all season. Kathy Macrae and Betsy Duke battled it out for 2nd and 3rd and Kathy came out on top in that battle.

The 5k race had its battles as well, the men's race was heated as there were 4 lead changes. Harrison Withers took the hole shot out front first, then Keith Conway over took the lead and was out front for nearly half the race when Jeff Aiken took the lead then lost the lead to the eventual winner Todd Averest. Jeff settled for 2nd followed by Tom Wernette who came out of nowhere to snag the 3rd podium spot. On the woman's side Lauren Dorsey came out of retirement to dominate the women's side followed by Jill Bloemendaal and Natalya Shoror.

12'6" Men
1. Carl Solms
2. Aaron Luogo
3. Greg Rizzolo

12'6" Women

1. Lauren Dorsey
2. Laura Kinne
3. Cheryl Kemp

Well done everyone.

2024 USA SUP National Championships

Harrison Withers — Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:34:22 GMT

2024 National Championships results and recaps are LIVE:
DAY 1 Sprints

DAY 2 Distance

DAY 3 Tech

The SUP El Camino Real

Linda McCoy — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 18:37:57 GMT

by Julia Smith - SouthCentral Region

The Sup El Camino Real is a 6.2 mile Sup Race in Bastrop, TX. I had only been paddleboarding for I did my first race. I raced the Sup El Camino 2023 for my first ever race. I won second place in 2023 on my IRocker inflatable. I said I would never do a race again on my inflatable. Linda could see my determination that I wanted to do better. October 2023 Linda offered to sell me her Naish racing board. I said yes! I brought home the new to me Naish racing board, and stared at it for many months scared to learn to paddle this board because of the fear of failing

Thanks to the encouragement of many good friends, I finally got out on the water with this board and really started to train. Let me say, growing up I was never in sports or clubs at school. I am the middle child, so I did have to fight for what I wanted growing up, which has stuck with me as an adult. I have an autoimmune disorder that is supposed to keep me from doing many things, but I have always said this autoimmune disorder is not going to keep me from doing all the things I want to do. When I decide there is something I want to do and be good at it, I put my all into it.

About seven weeks before the race I started weekly training paddle nights with Kenny Munn in New Braunfels, TX. Each week I came home sore and exhausted. Kenny pushed me each week with his encouraging words and bringing me different paddles to try so I could find a lighter paddle other than my SOL or iRocker paddle.
I have so many people in my life that have been encouraging and supporting me while I doubt myself that I would even place in the upcoming race. Saturday August 10, 2024 I showed up to Fisherman's park nervous about the race, had a panic attack, but had a few friends there to calm me down and cheer me on. I had set a goal to complete this race in one hour and twenty minutes. Once I got my Naish on the water Saturday morning I was ready. I just wanted to GO! I started the race and knew I could do it, but my legs were shaking and of course doubt filled my head.

So, after kicking the doubt out of my head and I focused on where I was and what I was doing I just paddled with all I had. I was able to keep up with one of the men that was out front of me who is an awesome paddler. At some point during the race I passed him, I was really focused and didn't realize I had passed him.

As I crossed the finish line, I heard Linda McCoy yell one hour twenty minutes! I was so excited to hear that. I was thrilled I completed the race in the time I had set for myself . Everyone finished the race and it was award time. When Linda called my name for 1st. place I couldn't believe it. Still brings me to tears thinking about it. All the women in the elite 18-49 group are very experienced race paddlers and here I am just doing my second SUP race on a racing board.

Hard work, determination and a great group of very supportive friends helped me to keep pushing myself when I was full of doubt and wanted to give up. My SUP family keeps growing!! Everyone I raced with Saturday have been very encouraging and positive. Never stop going after what you want. Never stop setting goals for yourself. Get that racing board, register for a race and get out there and do your best. Never give up on yourself. This past weekend has showed me so many things about myself that I did not know.

Thank you to everybody that believed in me when I didn't, that pushed me when I wanted to quit, and Thank you Linda for selling me one of your racing boards.

Ohio River Paddle Festival 2024

Kristin Thomas — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 22:56:35 GMT

by Troy Hendricks, North Central Regional Rep

Once a year for the last 23 years, in early August, the shipping Highway of the Ohio River is shut down to commercial traffic for six hours. This is done so that over 2,000 paddlers can participate in The Ohio River Paddlefest. The paddlers downriver with stand-up paddleboards (SUP), iSUP, kayaks, canoes, ocean canoes (OCs), and surf skis paddle nine miles downriver passing under seven bridges near Cincinnati.

This event is unique! To begin the day, there is a race for almost any craft. This year 30 racers were riding a SUP! While paddling there are at least three boats with bands that play a variety of recognizable music. This is a great way to ease a racer's mind, distract them from the monotony of nine miles, and put a smile on your face as you paddle on by. My favorite song this year was "If I Had a Million $" by the Barenaked Ladies. The festival also has shuttle buses that move passengers between the start and end of their paddle.

With so many paddlers, Friday night is used to stage the watercraft for a smooth start to the paddle in the morning. To make the process more enjoyable, the Paddlefest organizes an Exposition. Paddlers can pick up their race number and Paddlefest hat, learn about water conservation, check out some of the latest paddling gear, and swap used gear. Other exhibitors are conservation-based and educate others about improving our environment. For entertainment, the festival has a playground, food and drink trucks, and a small concert area where a bandplays for several hours during the exhibition.

The race always starts on time at 7 am every year after a word from the wonderful race director and fellow North Central Regional Rep, Adrian Angell. The race begins heading upriver for 0.1 miles to assist in creating an even starting line. This also allows spectators to see their favorite paddler twice before the finish line. Many photographers are at the event and share their pictures online later for paddlers to see. Videos of most of the race finishers are shared on Facebook as well.

This year, the Men's 14 ft SUP category was tight. The top 9 paddlers finished only 10 minutes apart. There was literally a gut-wrenching finish for third as Randall Winer (OH) beat out Michael Weidman (KY) and Randy Rair (OH) by less than 20 seconds, then emptied his stomach on the river. Kirk Bumgarner (from TN) placed first and Alex Sandler (MI) placed second. Betsy Duke (IL) took first for the women's 14 ft SUP category followed by Rebecca Striet (WI) and, first-time racer, Elizabeth Glotfelty (OH).

At the finish line, racers received free water or a recovery drink. After stowing your craft, food trucks, and tens for beverages, ice cream, and memorabilia were available for everyone. The oak canopy offered plenty of shade and a live band was playing, which made it enjoyable to sit and recover while chatting with old and new friends. The awards happened in front of the Southern Most Point Bouy. It is fun to see the winners receive their awards. Another unique piece of this event is the constant stream of recreational paddlers coming off the Ohio River highway while racers sit and enjoy the after-race time of the Ohio River Paddlefest.

The First Annual RIVER RUMBLE!!

Kristin Thomas — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 23:39:37 GMT

The First Annual RIVER RUMBLE!!

Flathead River, Montana ~ USA SUP NorthWest Region

by Linda McCoy- USA SUP VP and SouthCentral Regional Rep

What a great inaugural race! This was a totally grassroots effort to fill the gap left by the Windermere SUP CUP and it turned out so great! Big thanks to Jess Bouchee, Dan Miller, and Tricia Lyons for banding together and pulling off such a fun, challenging, and community focused event! I was so excited to have my Texas SUP Sista, Kiri Mevin, join me in Montana for the race! She has family in Montana and I really enjoyed introducing her to the awesome Montana SUP crew!

The race was held on Saturday, July 21 with a start time of 9:00am. We gathered at Riverside Park in Polson, Montana for the morning race. It was held on the Flathead River, just as it flows into Polson Bay and Flathead Lake. The sky was nice and clear, but the wind kicked up and gave us some challenging conditions! Mother Nature was putting some RUMBLE in the RIVER for sure!

We had a great group of racers from all skill levels and a good mix of board types. Brooke and Ed were doing their first race! Dan was the Master of the Megaphone and gave everyone a great description of the racecourse and what to expect for the day. He made sure that everyone knew that safety was the priority and to stop and help any racer in distress. Kiri’s husband, Josh, took start line duty until Dan could take over (on the megaphone, of course).

We lined up at the pier and Josh hit the siren – we were off! The wind was blowing at our backs and the chop got into my head a little, so I didn’t have the most confident start. I had jelly fish legs - BAD! But I gave myself a stern talking to (out loud!) and I dug deep. The whole field was out in front of me. I had some work to do! A few paddlers opted to take a bit of the course on their knees due to the conditions. I was determined to stay upright even though I was struggling! Once I passed a newer paddler on an inflatable, I had my work cut out for me! I caught up to Kiri about a quarter of the way through the course and set my sights on halfway island. I was able to catch up to two amazing women paddlers from Montana just past the island. They both cheered me on in true SUP love spirit! I could see Kat Shaw's bright-pink shirt in the distance - she was almost at the finish line already! I set my sights on Tricia Lyons, who was currently in second, but she was way too far ahead to make that a possibility. Tricia, Arnold Lucero and Mike Bouchee were battling it out to the finish line with Travis Prewitt between us. I wasn’t out of the woods just yet! I could hear Jess behind me when the waves would catch her board! I tried to catch Travis, to no avail. We were paddling straight into the gusting wind ! It would have been easy to let up, but it was my 58^th birthday and I was going for the podium!

I was out in the middle of the lake pondering whether to go straight (and hope they could see my finish) or paddle the longer route closer to the pier. I stuck it out in the middle. I could hear Dan on the Megaphone calling out names – I could hear mine - and Jess’s, too - she was close! I didn't dare look behind me and risk falling. I kept my resolve and kept paddling as hard as I could. The voice in my head was going a mile a minute! Am I past the pier? Should I keep paddling? Yes! Keep paddling! Then, I heard Dan call my name for third place!! Jess was a close fourth with Sue Miks taking fifth for the women’s field! Kiri had a strong finish with sixth place. Onno and Ed had great races, too!

We weren’t all in, yet. Brooke was out on the lake battling the wind! We could see her off rounding the halfway point. She wasn’t giving up. In true SUP Ohana fashion, Kat grabbed her board and paddle and went out to support Brooke to the finish line. We all gathered on the shore to give a giant cheer as she crossed the finish line of her first race!

Dan was the MC for the awards ceremony on his trusty megaphone! As he called the placements, Tricia gave us all a Flathead Lake tote with goodies from local businesses! The awards were wonderful painted rocks – each one unique!

After the race we all gathered and enjoyed the food the organizers provided. We dug into the wonderfully delicious huckleberry pie that my sweet friend, Arnold, brought for my birthday! What a perfect way to celebrate – in a beautiful place, with beautiful friends, doing the thing I love most! Thanks again to the truly phenomenal Montana SUP family for a race I’ll never forget!

~Put THE RIVER RUMBLE on your summer plans for 2025 – this race is not to be missed! ~

Dam 2 Dam

Kristin Thomas — Sun, 28 Jul 2024 23:57:10 GMT

Paddleboard Passion Meets Purpose: The Goat Boater, Megan Cynowa and the Success of Dam 2 Dam

by Rob Cynowa

Combining a passion for paddleboarding with a commitment to making a difference, Megan Cynowa, owner of The Goat Boater, has played a crucial role in bringing a groundbreaking event to life. The Dam 2 Dam paddleboarding event, created by the 24 Foundation, has not only brought the community together but also raised an impressive $70,000 for charity. This article explores the inspiration behind the event, the challenges faced, and the impact made.

The Genesis of Dam 2 Dam

The idea for Dam 2 Dam stemmed from the 24 Foundation’s mission to inspire and engage communities to make an immediate impact on the lives of those affected by cancer. United by the common vision of cancer navigation and survivorship for all, 24 Foundation has raised more than $27 million to date. Megan Cynowa was approached by the foundation to organize and facilitate the event. “We wanted to create an event that brought the community together and made a significant impact,” Megan shared. Paddling from one dam to another while raising funds for charity seemed like the perfect way to achieve this.

The 24 Foundation, known for its dedication to charitable causes, saw the potential in this vision and partnered with Megan Cynowa, whose extensive experience in organizing paddleboarding events made her the ideal organizer and facilitator for this ambitious project. Together, they set out to turn the dream of Dam 2 Dam into a reality.

The Journey of Planning and Execution

Turning an idea into a successful event is no small feat. The planning for Dam 2 Dam took about 1.5 years, starting with a proof of concept in 2023 to ensure the event’s feasibility and scalability. From there, they set their sights on the 2024 dates, laying the groundwork for what would become an inspiring success story.

One of the most significant challenges was ensuring the safety of all participants. Paddleboarding over long distances is demanding, so it was crucial to ensure everyone was properly trained and equipped. Navigating the logistics of the route over 25 miles and securing permits were other hurdles that required meticulous planning and coordination. Megan credits her dedicated team for their tireless efforts in overcoming these obstacles.

The Day of the Event

The event saw 38 paddleboarders participating, each raising funds for the 24 Foundation. Paddlers met at 5 AM and the finish line to start their 45 minute bus ride journey to the starting line. It was a controlled mad dash upon exiting the bus, lining paddlers up with their correct board, paddle, safety gear and equipment. The temperature was 84 degrees and the humidity was off the charts. Within twenty minutes, safety boats, police boat escorts and all the paddlers were on the water highly anticipating their 11 hour adventure to come! The sense of camaraderie and shared purpose was palpable as participants made their way through heat and sun towards the finish line together. “It was incredibly moving to see people of all ages and backgrounds come together for a common cause,” Megan recalled.

The funds raised from this event were for patient navigation and wellness programs provided through Levine Cancer Institute, Levine Children’s Hospital, and our other Beneficiaries. These programs include integrative oncology, acupuncture, healing touch, massage therapy, nurse navigators and much more.

Looking Ahead: Scaling for the Future

Buoyed by the success of this year’s event, both Megan and the 24 Foundation are keen to make Dam 2 Dam an annual affair. There are plans to scale the event to include 200 paddleboarders, raising even more funds for the foundation. Ideas for next year are already being discussed and brainstormed. Scaling up requires more safety boats, improved paddler selection criteria, more Milo’s for hands free communication and additional safety training for escort boat volunteers. We aim to capitalize on this years wins and make modifications from minor challenges encountered.

Advice for Aspiring Organizers

For other standup paddleboard companies looking to organize similar events, Megan offers some valuable advice. “Start by finding a cause that resonates with you and your community. I have a personal relationship with cancer and the 24 Foundation does incredible work in that arena.

Building a dedicated team for planning and logistics is crucial. You will need more volunteers than you expect and leaning on them might be the difference between success or insanity. Starting with a small-scale proof of concept can help test the feasibility of your event. Engaging with local businesses for support and sponsorships, and leveraging social media and local media for promotion are also key to success. Prioritize safety above all else. You are a steward of the paddling and lake community. What you know and take for granted, many others not familiar with the lake have no idea about. Go the extra mile do discuss the little things as basic as they may seem and do not compromise. Above all, staying passionate and persistent is essential. “The impact you can make is worth every effort,” Megan emphasizes.

Conclusion

Megan Cynowa’s dedication and enthusiasm, combined with the 24 Foundation’s vision, have not only made Dam 2 Dam a resounding success but also set a precedent for how passion and purpose can be combined to create meaningful change. As the event continues to grow, it promises to inspire many more to take up the paddle for a cause.

Photos by Joel Simpson of FireTower Media

The Charles Island Sup Cup

Anna Zolnierowski — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 15:43:12 GMT

Written by Gail Kotowski

The Charles Island Sup Cup did not disappoint this year! The water conditions were probably the best I have raced there in the past 10 years. The heat, however, was probably the hottest ever, for so early in the summer. The courses were shortened slightly due to the heat. The lack of side chop was replaced by salty, sweat.

This race grows every year. Originally a local race, it has expanded throughout Nee England and New York. This year the tribe tentacles drew in the Jersey boys and a Maryland crew. The Canadians returned for a second year.

The success is due to the Race Directors, Tina Pritchard the owner of Scoot and Paddle in Milford, CT and Jack Egan of Surfrider Foundation CT Chapter. Jack has initiated a Sprint series with events at 5 CT races during the season. This attracts some strong competitors as well as 1st timers .

More than the race itself, the gathering of the tribe is heartwarming.. This event is our season opener, often bringing together friends not seen since the past September. The vibe with music, food trucks, vendors and families livens up a town beach on Long Island Sound in Milford, CT. The new addition of a Board and Gear Swap offered opportunities to upgrade gear and talk shop.

The Goat Boater: Race 1

Kristin Thomas — Thu, 30 May 2024 11:41:32 GMT

By APRIL ZILG

[copied with permission from Facebook]

So happy to be getting back to the old things we love, with a new thing that we love! Race day looked and felt a lot different at @thegoatboater this weekend for obvious reasons for @mtb_sup [Corey] and I... But other things felt and looked mighty familiar. It's been a while since we've done a "local race"... in pursuing some big dreams I had, I was on the road to travel and compete a lot, but there was something missing at those "big races". When we first started paddling, we only did "local races," it was the competition at them that got me where I needed to be, it was the various race formats, conditions, and paddlers (male and female) to push myself against. I think it's the after the race that I've been missing the most, it was the hanging out and talking story about "how that last leg in the cross chop kicked my butt" or whatever it happens to be that day

it's cheering for every single paddler on the course and at the finish it's not taking any of it too seriously and just enjoying being with other people who like to get out and do hard things and push themselves. Thank you Meg & Rob [Cynowa] for putting on an epic "local race" that's just as good if not better than the "big races" We had a blast, can't wait to be back in July!!

Photo 1: Corey and I podium in the sprints despite someone wanting to wake up and play from 3-5am

Photo 2: One of the hardest podiums I ever made, the wind on the course was gnarly and my body wasn't ready to work that hard just yet!! Plus, @supc00kie [Caroline Cook of Canada] kept closing that gap as I ran out of steam!!!

Photo 3: packing for race day just got a whole lot harder

Photo 4: Blaise living his best life taking in the swanky hotel room.. "now play with me"

Carolina Cup 2024 - Recap

Kristin Thomas — Wed, 01 May 2024 12:49:24 GMT

by Katherine Wallace, owner Flatwater Fitness in Kansas & Race Director for Power to Paddle Classic October 3-5, Springfield, MO

This past week has been an amazing week for me personally AND professionally

This is the 3rd year I have participated in the SUP Carolina Cup races at Wrightsville Beach, NC.

Not only is this a beautiful location, but it certainly brings the FUN to SUP racing! This community is a family of whom to be proud.

Yes, competitive.

YET…

Supportive

Encouraging

Inspiring

Full of…

Laughter

Smiles

Hugs

Cheers

Positivity

Openness

Sharing

& Caring!

Life. Long. Friends!

NEVER do I hear anyone speak poorly of another paddler, and they are ALWAYS inclusive of each other.

On a personal note:

I had a great race myself! This year’s 5k was a true 5k!! (The past 2 years had been an extended race due to rerouting from a bridge under construction!) I had been training for 5 miles. How happy I was to find out it was mapped out to actually be 3.5 miles this year!! (Ok, slightly over a true 5k ‍♀️) But I was READY! I’m NOT a distance racer, so this was the perfect race for me!

I had set goals:

~ to start at the front this year (a lot of paddle wake to face) ✅

~ stay more consistent in my pace✅

~ finish strong ✅

~ beat last year’s PR ✅

I ended up 6th in my age group!

(Out of… well, more than 6. )

There was some BA women in my age category! Hats off to them all! What an honor to race with them. It was said this was the fastest avg race times ever in this group!

As always, I’ve learned many things on this journey, and felt humbled by it all. So blessed!

Special thanks to my #ss who was my strength and support this whole week! I’m SO blessed to call her friend! ‍♀️

FFF Owner,

Katherine Wallace

Seek Adventure, Find Passion

FlatwaterFitness.com

Sound Rowers and Paddlers La Conner Race 2/3/24

Anna Zolnierowski — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:15:50 GMT

The Sound Rowers and Paddlers La Conner race is a very well organized race that’s open to a number of human powered watercraft. They offered a 2.7 mile short course and a 7 mile long course. The race check in was at the shelter at the top of the hill in Pioneer Park, so you get a little pre race warm-up running up and down the hill.

The race starts under the bridge over the Swinomish Slough in the town of La Conner, goes South into Skagit Bay, then West toward Goat Island, around a channel marker 1 mile West of Goat Island and back to the start in La Conner. The Race started a little after the high tide so we had an outgoing tide for the entire race and the water was glass smooth for most of the race. We expected to be going with the tide on the way to Goat Island and against the tide on the way back, but the direction of the flow is a little unpredictable in the Swinomish Slough and on the North side of Goat Island. We ended up going against the tide on the way out of the Slough and part of the way to Goat Island and with the tide from mile 2.5 to mile 3.5 at the turn around. The tide was pushing pretty hard on the way to the channel marker where we turned for the 7 mile race. After I passed Goat Island, I started paddling South because I could tell the racers ahead of me were getting pushed West by the heavy current. I route took me directly to the channel marker and I gained about 100 yards on the racer ahead of me. We paddle against a decent current after the turn marker from mile 3.5 to mile 4.5 or maybe mile 5. Once I got back into the Swinomish Slough, I was averaging about 6.7 mph, so I probably had a current going with me that was moving at least 1 mph.

Sound Rowers always had a great chilly feed at the shelter after the race with prizes for the top three finishers in most of the catagories.

Lots of WATER at the Texas Winter 100K!

Anna Zolnierowski — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:10:00 GMT

by Linda McCoy – USASUP Board Member and SouthCentral Regional Rep

The Texas Winter One Hundred (a.k.a. The TWO) was held on February 28, 2024. Race Director, West Hansen, puts on such a great race! The 25k SUP “short course” runs from the FM 969 bridge in Utley, Texas to Fisherman’s Park in Bastrop, Texas. This race is for canoe, kayak, and SUP racers. There were 14 entrants in the SUP division for this year’s short course. No SUP’ers were brave enough to tackle the full 100K this year (there have been less than 5 brave souls in the full course over the years).

The pre-race meeting is always great! Each participant gets a raffle ticket and West and his family always have so many great prizes! I was lucky enough to win a sweet rocking camp chair with my ticket ending in 007!

I paddled the course the weekend before the race with some friends and the river was WAY down – at about 230 CFS. Our fins scraped bottom several times and there were a lot of ripples and rapids to navigate. In the week leading up to the race we had some heavy rains and the river peaked at 5200 CFS by that Wednesday. On race day, the river was running at 1200 CFS, so about 6 times higher than the weekend before. We asked for more water and Mother Nature DELIVERED!

I Juliet caravanned from Austin to Bastrop with a few friends – both of whom had never paddled the course! We parked our cars at the finish line and saw that the boat ramp and surrounding area were covered in about 10 inches of mud! We took a shuttle to the bridge and started to gather our gear – as well as gather our wits about us!

I was a nervous to see what the river would be like. It can be a bit of a dangerous course with debris, murky water, and plenty of obstacles & strainers! The racecourse is bordered by private property, so there are no support boats along the way. I made sure to have a knife on my P.F.D. in case I got into any trouble as well as a small first-aid kit, heavy duty tape, and a small towel to dry any holes in the event of an emergency board repair.

West gave a safety meeting and went over the course verbally. There were several paddlers who had never done the course before – including Juliet and Rachele! Juliet has been paddling for years, but this was Rachele’s very FIRST SUP RACE! She was so excited! With Jennifer, there were four women in the running -the most women of any other year!

The men’s field had a great mix of TWO “old timers” and new paddlers. Scott Seiffert, Morris Paillet, John Knippers, and Douglas Chavarria were back for another go. John, who tackled the full 100k course in 2021, was fresh off the plane – returning from the Gla Gla race in France! Newcomers included Reynald “Bong” Mercado, Mark Villanova, John Upton, Larkin Hood, and Greg Wingo! Greg is the race director for The Last Paddler Standing, which John, Scott, and Jennifer had just participated in. Greg also directs the Alabama 650. John Knippers just made history for being the first Stand Up Paddler to complete that race!

The short course race starts at noon and we all gathered on the water about 11:45. We paddled upstream, against the flow, until the countdown started. Once West called out 15 seconds we turned and lined up to GOOOOOO! The first rapids appear near the 1.5 mile mark – but they looked NOTHING like the weekend before. It was clear that this muddy river would not be the same! The rapids were washed out and there was a new island to navigate – but which way to go? I recognized some landmarks and took the left side, which was a good choice! Two of my fellow paddlers took the right and I could hear some scraping sounds coming from that side of the island. I took the first bend in the river alongside Jennifer. It’s tricky to navigate moving water when you are in close proximity to another paddler. She and I stayed pretty close to each other for the middle part of the race, trading leading spots when one of us took the better line. We could see John and Douglass ahead of us, but Morris and Bong were way out of sight!

Scott was close behind us, so I knew I couldn’t let my guard down! We made it to “The Cliffs of Insanity!” as I call them – a nod to the Princess Bride. That is roughly the halfway point – I was feeling good and my nerves were settling down. Most of the rapids that were hard to maneuver the previous weekend were not as hard to navigate because the water was so high and our fins were clearing the river bottom. There were lots of eddies, rocks, and boils to navigate, so we had to pay attention to what was in the water. Jennifer and I were still close, but she was starting to pull ahead of me. Every once in a while I could hear Scott behind me, so I had to keep up a good pace! John and Douglass were well ahead of us by now. There were a lot of fun bumps to navigate and long stretches of straight paddling. The wind would kick up every once in a while to keep things interesting. I was feeling a little trepidatious about “Wildman Rapids” coming up around the 10-mile mark. There are several big boulders that you have to watch out for and the water is flowing pretty swiftly. You definitely don’t want to get dumped! I could hear the water rushing over the rocks before I could see what we were in for. They actually were kind of fun! With the water level so high, they were pretty easy to navigate. Schwoo!

In the next long stretch, Jennifer turned on the juice and pulled ahead of me. I was running out of steam, but I was trying to watch her paddle strokes to keep somewhat of a good pace. She picked some really good lines and was making great time! I saw the stairs for Bob Bryant Park and I knew I was about a mile out from the finish line. Jennifer was well ahead of me and out of my sight line by now. I dug a little deeper to see if I had a little bit more gas in the tank! I took a quick peek over my shoulder and Scott was on my tail! So, I found a good rhythm and just focused on my breathing and stroke technique. We had one long line of rapids to navigate and I had to take advantage of any push I could get from the water! I paddled as hard as I could. Rounding the bend, I could see the big iron pipes that stuck out from the bank and I knew the finish line was close! I could hear Scott breathing, but I didn’t dare take a peek and risk falling. I knew he was giving it his all – and SO WAS I!! The finish line sign was in sight and all our friends were cheering for us on the banks of the river! That gave me the little rush of adrenaline that I needed! Both Scott and I were giving it all we had! I could tell by way people were calling our names that Scott was too close for comfort! It was a race to the finish!

I crossed the finish line in 2:36:45 and Scott’s time was 2:36:47!! TWO SECONDS!! What a thrill! You know the best part? Scott gave me a big ol hug at the finish line and told me how much fun he had racing with me. Of course, West was there, too, with a big smile, a big hug, and bag of “gold doubloons” (dollar coins) for my second-place finish! He also gave us our super cool TWO finishers beanies! I quickly put it over my Mermaid cap – my ears were cold! Jennifer had such a great race! She finished in 2:32 and greeted me at the finish line - we both congratulated each other on a great race!

We put our boards to the side and headed over to the GUMBO STAND!! That’s right!! WARM GUMBO, rice, and cookies at the finish– and the biggest hug from Jeannette Wilburn Burris! Does it get any better? We sat and decompressed and chatted about the race, it was a beautiful sunny, but chilly day and we were all so happy! We heard cheers as we finished our gumbo and made a beeline to the banks to cheer on John Upton who was finishing with a time of 2:54! I was able to grab my warm socks and dry shoes just in time to cheer on Mark (3:19), Larkin (3:19:18), and Juliet (3:20) who were all paddling together across the finish line. Of course, Juliet was taking selfies! Hahaha! She had no idea she was in THIRD place! West bestowed her with her own “bag o’ gold” and her finisher beanie and she was thrilled! Rachele and Greg finished up together with 3:24 and 3:24:10, respectively. Rachele was tired, but you couldn’t tell from the giant smile on her face! She just completed her FIRST SUP RACE and what a race it was! Everyone helped each other with their gear and congratulations were given all around! Morris took the first spot with a time of 2:12, followed by Bong with 2:16, John rounded out the top 3 money winners with 2:22. Douglass had a strong finish with 2:28!

The canoe and kayak racers – who paddled the entire 100k course – started coming in soon after we all finished! They start their race at the crack of dawn. Perfect planning so that many of us finish in a close timeframe. It’s so exciting to see them paddling so strong after 62 miles on the river! There is no other paddling community like we have here in Texas! It is so nice to be welcomed into the canoe and kayak community by so many wonderful people!

I told Juliet and Rachele about our tradition to eat PIE at Maxine’s on Main after the TWO. I mean – it’s PIE…and it’s a TRADITION… and we just paddled 15 miles so those calories don’t count, right? The coconut cream pie really hit the spot (and so did the chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes! Shhh!!) We split it.

BIG THANKS go out to West Hansen and Barbara Hansen Edington “the dynamic TWO -O” (you’re welcome for the new nickname), and the whole TWO crew! This a such a wonderful race and I highly recommend that you put in on your race calendar for 2025!

It’s a great way to start the year!

29th Hanohano Ocean Challenge

Anna Zolnierowski — Fri, 09 Feb 2024 19:35:28 GMT

by Gail Kotowski

Luckily,I was in San Diego and able to make my first Hanohano race this past Jan 27.

Renting a board was a snap from West Coast Paddle Sports, which was also a major sponsor. Jeton brought my board close to the launch and picked it up from the beach, so this Senior didn't have to hike up the undertow,created cliff. Being forewarned of the choppy start, I opted for a wider board than mine, but I ended up being upgraded to a Starboard Allstar 14 x 26!

The pre-race communications from the Director Dan Van Dyke were frequent and informative. I was also able to order a Taliscrew Hoodie Jersey, that was delivered to my CT home.

The day of race, administrative procedures moved quickly and efficiently with cheerful volunteers! There were many vendor tents, thankfully because last minute, I needed to replace my Camelback bladder! A hearty breakfast was available as well as a water station and a bank of PortoPotties. All the ingredients for a great event, including a gorgeous , sunny day.

I flew with my own paddle and made Uber arrangements to Mariner's Point Park in Mission's Bay. The scene at the parking lot even impressed my driver on both trips!

The race started timely and the short course was stunning. The views of the hills packed with colorful houses, islands and Sea World greeted my eys. The water was clear and had just enough currents and bumps to keep it interesting. The rocks I was forewarned about were nothing compared to ricocheting nightmare off Newport,RI. I was in my happy place and just paddled for fun! I met my goals, didn't fall in, vomit or come in last!

Because of my Feldenkrais training schedule, I had to leave early, so didn't get to socialize, but my eyes did notice many faces that I knew. Many industry rockstars were there, Victoria Burgess, Danny Ching and family, Jim T of Quickblade,Bodie von Allman and our own KT! Paddlers traveled from 15 states and several countries.

This was the largest race I have ever entered! Everyone needs to try it at least once. It was worth my going to class late and having to watch a rerun on Zoom! This platinum racer gives the race a score of a 100! From the low entry fee ($30) to the mug awards, it is clear why this race has longevity. Thank you for the bottom of my ablated heart!

Photos by James Kao

What's been happening in the North Central Region / Midwest Paddle League

Kristin Thomas — Mon, 02 Oct 2023 04:10:06 GMT

by Troy Hendricks

August brought the last 3 races for points that count towards the Season Rankings in the Midwest Paddle League. The top 5 racers qualify for an award. Points are earned by racing, you need to participate in 2 races in a particular division to be ranked. There is a maximum of 5 races for scoring, which is your top 5 races. Each race is 1000 points for first and a decreasing amount of points for subsequent places in each race category. The six race divisions are 14' SUP Male and Female, Shor distance (~5k) and Long distance (~10k) divisions, also 12'6" SUP Short distance Male and Female. The final award any racer can win regardless of where they finish is the Waterman Award. Simply participate in a race in FOUR states- Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana to obtain the award.

Consistency, and lots of it, is the name of the game in the season rankings. All 10 of the top Male and female long-distance SUP winners raced in at least 5 races. The long-distance races were also dominated by two winners who obtained a perfect score. Congratulations to Danielle and Dan. The short distance was also dominated by 6 people who participated in at least 5 races. But that means that there is plenty of room at the top of the short distance for people who participate in more races next summer!

The women's short distance 14' division came down to the wire with Elizabeth beating Ana by seconds to take first in the last race, Sky An Oar, and overall season rankings. Both women along with Jill, podiumed in the last points race to secure their spot in the season rankings. In the men's short distance, Rob Wilkinson podiumed at Sky an Oar to jump into the top 5 rankings. Interestingly Rob, Troy, and Elizabeth were ranked in both the Short and Long Distance rankings. There were 10 people who earned the Waterman Award for SUP racing.

Who will win MWPL

Male/Female Rookie of the Year and

Male/Female Paddler of the Year?

Come find out on Saturday, September 9 after the Rubber Ducky Regatta. There will be an after-race party and a Season Awards Celebration.

The Final Season Rankings

Long Distance Women's SUP 14'

Danielle Holdsworth (5) 5000 pts

Kattie Carpenter (5) 4400 pts

Kirsten Marina Lefeldt (5) 4280 pts

Julie Miller (5) 3920 pts

Kathy McRae (5) 3920 pts

Long Distance Men's SUP 14'

Dan Novak (5) 5000 pts

Joe Bechtold (5) 4020 pts

Karl Euster (5) 3600 pts

Alex Sandler 2760 pts

Vlad Vetrov 2380 pts

Short Distance Women's SUP 14'

Elizabeth Duke (5) 4660 pts

Ana Ebright (5) 4400 pts

Jill Bloemendaal (5) 3360 pts

Cheryl Perlis 2000 pts

Rebecca Trapp 1960 pts

Short Distance Men's SUP 14'

Patrick Reeg (5) 4200 pts

Troy Hendricks (5) 2869 pts

Rob Wilkinson 2560 pts

Ryan Bryker 2060 pts

Adam Rivera 2000 pts

Short Distance Women's SUP 12'6" & under

Laura Kinne (5) 4540 pts

Catlin Cowan 1280 pts

Amy Gowans 1040 pts

Amanda Sleeper 1000 pts

Short Distance Men's SUP 12'6" & under

Aaron Lugo 2000 pts

Waterman Award Winners

Kirsten Marina Lefeldt

Kathy McRae
Joe Bechtold
Karl Eugster
Elizabeth Duke
Ana Ebright
Patrick Reeg

Sky and Oar by Troy Henricks

Kristin Thomas — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 18:13:51 GMT

The 7th Annual Sky and Oar was held on August 20 on Beautiful Morse Reservoir in Noblesville, IN, which is a fantastic place to race with the sandy beach and close, long shoreline. The race features categories for 12'6" and 14' SUP, outrigger, kayak, and prone. There are male and female divisions for each craft type and a mixed division for the youth. This is the last race for points of the SUP season for racers in the Midwest Paddle League. It is also the final leg for the MWPL Waterman award. Award winners needed to race in 4 states (Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana to earn the award.

For 8 years, the race has been supporting our wonderful charity, Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs. Which is a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing, raising, and training highly skilled medical service dogs for people with both mental and physical disabilities.

The race features a unique 5k and 10k experience. The 10k starts first and the course circles around an island and back, a loop of about 1.5 miles. The 5k starts 5 minutes after the 10k, where they are the first on the down and back course (or section for the 10k) which features Shaka SUP Racing's trademark inflatable ducky buoys. It is a straight down and back, with several bays on the right side of the course. Passing or nearing the end of a few bays leaves racers thinking, "Where the F*ck is the duck?!"

After finding and rounding the duck all racers return to the start-finish area where the 5k ends, but the 10k goes around the island a second time. The other great part about this race course is that having the 5k racers ahead of the 10k racers allows for fun shouts of encouragement or joking disparagement between the racers. After the longer distance races, there is a 1 mile race for kids and adults who may be racing for the first time.

Going into the race for the women's 14' 5k division, Ana Ebright and Elizabeth Duke were within 60 points of each other. Whoever beat the other would take 1st place for the season.

Everyone had a great time at the after-party on the lower deck of the Boathouse Kitchen & Swan Dive. There were 10 SUP racers who earned the Waterman award.

The final race results are below. Elizabeth Duke edged out Ana by less than a minute to take the race and the season title.

In the 1-mile race SUP division mixed youth, we had

Kara K. 1st

Evette L. 2nd

Castiel L. 3rd

1 mile SUP adult Results

Andre Balentine 1st

Sara Ott 2nd.

5K Distance

Male-SUP 14'

David Ewald 1st

Patrick Reeg 2nd

Rob Wilkinson 3rd

Male-SUP 12'6"

Aaron Lugo 1st

Female-SUP 14'

Elizabeth Duke 1st

Ana Ebright 2nd

Jill Bloemendaal 3rd

Female-Sup 12'6

Chioma Jjoku 1st

Laura Kinne 2nd

Lori Miller 3rd

10K Distance

Male-SUP 14'

Joe Bechtold 1st

Michael Weidman 2nd

Keith Conway 3rd

Female-SUP 14'

Kirsten Marina Lefeldt 1st

Katy Mcrae 2nd

Meg Grady 3rd

Post race pic of everyone

Paddle 45

Kristin Thomas — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 17:18:19 GMT

Paddle 45

by Keeth Conway

The Paddle45 race takes place in Suttons Bay Michigan a small quiet town in Northern Michigan Michigan. It is a 3 day festival of events that begins with a social paddle on Friday evening with all levels of paddlers joining in and afterwards enjoying drinks and brick oven pizzas made with fresh local ingredients. Saturday is a paddle that may be a downwinder on the big lake or a shipwreck paddle depending on weather conditions. This year with the calm conditions we wake surfed behind my boat which was a hoot.
The race has a “Badass” category where racers can opt to do both the 5k and 10k race for a cumulative time. Many paddlers even did each race on different crafts and we use a handicap system to even the playing field. We had OC, SUP, SUrfski and prone. The badass winners for female were Danielle Holdsworth (1st), Lauren Dorsey (2nd), Kirsten Lefeldt (3rd) all on a SUP. The men’s Badass winners were Dan Novak (OC, SUP) , Rob Hartman (2nd) (Surfski), Nick Murray (3rd) (surfski).
The race started off with some side chop for the 5k and the first mile of the 10k when the wind laid down for a flat calm race which is unusual for Suttons Bay which is part of Lake Michigan. The flat water paddlers definitely had the advantage this year. Overall winners in the SUP were Dan Novak, Jay James, and Thomas Hardin. Full results can be found on Paddleguru, then Paddle45 is the race.

Santa Monica Pier 360

Kristin Thomas — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 15:57:07 GMT

Santa Monica Pier 360

" It was the hardest physical thing I've ever done"

by LynAnne Escatel

( New Member from California)

This past weekend I participated in the Santa Monica Pier 360 Race. This is a two day festival celebrating decades of surf, paddleboard and lifeguard history. I entered the 5 mile distance race and the technical sprint race. I’ve been racing for about three years and wanted to push myself to do something new. This would be the first time I entered a technical race. Que the butterflies.

In the long distance race it started out gorgeous and warm. The sun arrived and it was a low tide with very little surf. This course was a triangle shape and we had to make two loops. The first loop around was nice and smooth. During the second loop I suddenly felt the wind arrive. As I felt the wind get stronger I knew that when I turned the buoy it would be a hard paddle. I looked to see how far anyone was behind me. I purposely slowed my stroke down just enough to slow my breathing down and prepare for the harder paddle. When I turned I was right. The wind was in my face. I paddled hard for a while and then again slowed it down to find a rhythm.
I started to hear another paddler so I paddled a little quicker. I repeated this a few times. After the second buoy, top of the triangle, it got even harder because now I was fighting side chop and the start of white caps. After the last buoy it got a little easier knowing the end was near, but I still had to make it all the way into the beach and run up to the finish line. I grew up in the desert and 18 years in NYC. I only started to surf this past year so any beach finish makes me both excited and nervous. As I came into the beach I remembered to look behind me and was able to catch a nice little bump to ride all the way in. Then the long run up the beach to the finish line. I absolutely do not like to run, blah!

For the technical race we had two heats. The average of the two would determine our placement. The course was M shaped, so we had to go in and out of the surf twice. A total of 4 times. Here is what I remember:

IT WAS THE HARDEST PHYSICAL THING I HAVE EVER DONE!

The first heat my adrenaline was so high that the details are very fuzzy. I do know as I came in for the ending I was exhausted and suddenly heard everyone yelling for me to paddle hard. I knew immediately I was late and I ate it on a wave as I was coming in. At this point in my surf experience I'm great at falling and getting back up. I got back on my board and took the last few strokes I needed to get in and finish the race. Did I mention the long run up the beach, ugh! The best was all the other ladies waiting to pour cold water on my head and encourage me to get ready to do it again.

The second heat I was exhausted so I took my time and had a much cleaner race. I was actually doing better than I thought but just as I got to the last turn, pop, I fell off my board. I have no idea if I bumped the buoy or just lost my balance but I was in the water before I knew it. I even lost my paddle. I collected myself back onto the board and took a deep breath. I knew this would be my last chance for a clean finish. I took some nice easy breathes and a few paddles later I felt my board starting to glide. I caught a great wave and I was able to ride it into the beach. One final run up to the finish line! Whew, I did it. I kind of wanted to die of exhaustion, but overall I was proud that I pushed myself to do something new. I woke up the

next morning feeling every day of my 44.6 years, but also like a rockstar. I pushed myself to do something so uncomfortable and with some incredible paddlers. Women I have been watching and I think are bad asses. I can’t wait to do it again.

Brattle Paddle

Kristin Thomas — Sat, 01 Jul 2023 15:54:40 GMT

Brattle Paddle

by Gail Kotowski

(Founding Member & Board Member from Connecticut)

This Sunday, a small SUP class joined the canoes and surf skis for a 5 or 9 mile race on the West and Connecticut Rivers. This was my first time doing this race and an experience I plan to repeat.

The Connecticut River separates Brattleboro, Vermont from Hinsdale, New Hampshire. The race is part of the New England Canoe and Kayak Racing Association ( NECKRA) series. The entry fee is a modest $20, which includes snacks,a very cool sticker and a T-Shirt. It ends and starts at a dock by the Marina restaurant . The proceeds are donated to a local charity that helps people get on their feet and towards independent living.

The course included paddling under several bridges, some current and some shallow areas where you could cool off. The weather report predicted rain and thunderstorms, which never appeared but most likely kept a few racers away. When forecast is iffy, it is still best to show up !

The awards ceremony was low key. First placers received a paddle trophy as well as a block of Grafton cheese, which 2nd and 3rd place also received. Unfortunately it is wrapped in wax, and mine melted in the car, while eating lunch with my new friends at the Marina restaurant! An 80 year old canoe paddler celebrated his birthday cake with everyone.

The series has a championship race on July 30 starting on the New Hampshire side of the Connecticut River. Information can be found at www.Neckra.org for this and all races in the series.

Charles Island SUP CUP

Kristin Thomas — Fri, 30 Jun 2023 21:15:55 GMT

Charles Island SUP CUP

by Kyle Ann

(founding member & Regional Rep from Rhode Island)

The stoke was STRONG on June 17th at Walnut Beach in Milford CT.

Sup Racing made its return to New England in a BIG way.

The 8th running of the Charles Island Sup Cup was back after a 2 year hiatus.

The day was forecasted to be Stormy, Windy and Rainy BUT turned out to be perfect!

Rained on the drive to Milford and again on the way home. But during the race the Sun appeared and the rain took a break.

The winds were just the just the right amount of challenging, although some described it as paddling in a “gale” LOL.

Many thanks to Jack Egan, Surfrider Foundation, Tina Pritchard and Paddle & Scoot for sponsoring this event.

Well organized with Good Vibes and Great Swag!

This race had everything you could ask for, awesome finisher metals, sweet trophies, FOOD! and a fun funky band that played all afternoon.

There was something for everyone, first timers to seasoned racers. Three races were offered, 5 mile course around Charles Island and two 2.5 mile courses, one for Race boards and one for Recreational Sups.

I think that encouraging those new to the sport and giving them their own course to shine on really sets this event apart. This type of friendly, supportive and all inclusive event will grow the sport of Sup Racing.

Awards were given out in all races, both Overall and Age Group. So everyone had a shot at some glory and bragging rights.

After the Main Event, the Sprint Race was on! Everyone was welcomed to enter and test their speed in this Single elimination event.

It was the luck of the draw who you went up against and it was tons of fun to watch.

The Grand Prize was a CUSTOM Quickblade carbon paddle with SUPer cool Surfrider graphics generously donated by Jim Terrell.

Just a fabulous day that will be remembered by all.

This event is always held the mid June so be on the look out for Charles Island SUP Cup 2024 and make sure to sign up

What Is Your Race Strategy?

Kristin Thomas — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 14:02:36 GMT

by Juerg Geser

(founding member living in California)

Great race for a good cause over Memorial Day Weekend hosted by Newport Aquatic Center (NAC) and Operation Open Water, supporting the health of every First Responder & Veteran through unique training programs, fellowship, and open water experiences.

Had to quickly change my race strategy based on who actually showed up at the race. Last minute registrations by Jake Graham and Paul Pianowski made me quickly realize that this will be a battle for 3rd place for me. These two guys are just too far out of my reach. They are leaner, younger, stronger, and just better paddlers than me, congratulations to you two for 1st and 2nd place!

The 3rd place was up for grabs for a few, especially Rich D'Souza who has had an incredible season so far, and then back from Peru we had Paul Gonzales who is faster every time I see him, then we have Dave Anderson, the fastest one off the line, Shawn Tierney who is a wild card, he is always one to look out for, depending on how far back his last private lesson with Danny Ching was Kenny Kwong must have had some miracle breakfast as he showed up in my draft and pushed me hard at the beginning of the race.

With this all going on, my new strategy was to go out hard and keep a mean pace. The pace was faster than my original plan for sure, and luckily, I was able to take advantage of the two buoy turns to shake the draft train behind me at the halfway point. Right after the turns, i paddled as hard as possible to create a gap to the paddlers behind me and then just kept my head down going against the wind and paddle my heart out till the finish line showed up. Really had to earn my 3rd place .

Training is now shifting from short distance events to long distance, getting ready for SUP 11 City Tour in September.

Carolina Cup - A First Timer's Perspective

Kristin Thomas — Fri, 02 Jun 2023 13:39:19 GMT

by Sam Gentsch

(Founding Member & Southest Regional Rep living in Georgia)

I have been fascinated with videos of the Graveyard race at the Carolina Cup for years. I am a river and lake paddler, and just getting off and back onto the beach looks brutal in years past. I sit in awe watching paddlers of all ages and on various craft battle the waves just to start the 13.2-mile race. This year I decided to go to the Carolina Cup, participate in the shortest race and run over to watch the graveyard (this was wildly optimistic on how quickly I could finish the Harbor Island Race, more later…). I took a couple days off work, to leisurely drive from Atlanta to Wilmington Beach, and to attend Dan Gavere's Rough Water Racing- Technique and Strategies clinic. Dan’s clinic was fantastic. We learned a lot of skills for choppy and challenging conditions and received a lot of personal technique tuning. I heard great reviews from the other clinics also. It was very much worth a vacation day to channel with Dan and similarly skilled paddlers.
Race day was very well organized, warm, and sunny and all the racers were smiling and chatting while we waited for the safety brief. I love our community, and it was fun meeting so many kindred spirits! The 5km Harbor Island race started off with a water start on the front/bay side of the Blockade Runner Beach Resort, we paddled the course and due to some construction along the original course did more like 8km. The course was fun and lots of boaters made it challenging for flat water paddlers like me…though Dan’s clinic helped me a lot!

The 8km took me longer than I planned for the 5km, HAH, call me Captain Obvious, so I missed the graveyard start…dang it! I took the time to chat up some other racers of the shorter races and test out one of the sponsors, Kona Brewing Company, adult beverages. It was not long before the amazingly speedy racers started surfing in and running across the finish line. I overheard many racers talking about how challenging the conditions and course were. Some very skilled racers could not make it out of one of the inlets…the conditions had them paddling as hard as they could and they just could NOT get into the ocean, they chose after fighting for a while to call it a day. I KNOW how hard it is to admit defeat to the course and really give props to those racers. Next year. Next year you will crush it!

After the race, the free food and beer/seltzers, the paddlers, the support crews (aka family), and award ceremonies were enjoyable! I enjoyed talking to people at sponsor tents, USA SUP crew, racers from all over. SIC, 404, Allstar had boards on display, and it was informative talking to experts about all of them. Listening to Danny Ching explain the design process of the 404 Jump and new LTDX was fascinating. Jonathan Bischof shared so much knowledge about Starboard and 404 boards. The SIC crew (so sorry I do not remember the name of who I spoke to) was also awesome. Salt Life had a tent up and cornhole contests to win free stuff and there were many others.

It was outside of my normal distance to race rule, AND well worth it. I WILL race the Carolina Cup again. I hope to someday be good enough in the ocean to do the Graveyard, but if not, I will still come to NC, attend clinics and race on the inland races!

Hanohano Ocean Challenge

Mike Wang — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 19:00:06 GMT

Hanohano Ocean Challenge Recap

Written by Mike Wang (owner of Mike's Paddle)

Once a year hundres of paddlers (SUP, OC, Surfski and Prone) descend upon Mission Beach, San Diego, to attend one of the largest paddle race in the country. Hosted by the Hanohano Outrigger Club, it’s an amazing event with all the SoCal racers plus many folks traveling as far as NorCal, Arizona, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada and even Candana & Mexico! It has become a truly Pan West Coast Race over the years. And since many of the top manufacturer teams are based in SoCal, you have some high caliber paddlers from Starboard, SIC Maui, Quickblade, Infinity, and 404 as well as many very competitive amateur paddlers who have been training hard during the pandemic. I felt like it’s THE race to go during winter when it’s too cold everywhere else.

Surprisingly a very local race drew 700 paddlers! The short course was for SUP only (~5 miles) with some very wide turns, currents, around Disney Vacation Island and a very exciting finish. There were 165 stand up paddlers (the rest were OC & Surfski), 124 boards were 14’, 27 were 12’6 and only 13 under 12’6. Clearly 14’ boards have progressed to the dominant race length these days. Kudos for the organizers to still recognize the other classifications but it’s clear that 14’ are here to stay and going to the standard lengths in the future.

With so many great paddlers and local favorites I did some analyzing of the top ten mens and womens and wanted to show you how wonderful these folks are!

Top 5 Womens:

Candice Appleby – the Queen of SUP continue to surprise us with so many years of racing history and is still on top. How does she does she do it? Her Ocean Academy continues to train and develop young and adult athletes and we wish her and the Infinity SUP Team the best in 2023.

April Zilg – Many of us remember April’s early careers up and downs and she really persevered through hardship and have finally peaked in her paddling career (and more to come). April has also stared her own coaching business and she's an amazing one! She was less than 2 minutes behind Candice and I’m sure she’s going to make it up at another race this season. We whish her and the 404 team the best in 2023.

Lindsay Weidner – Lindsay is not a full time profession paddler. A RN by day and also pro by night! She’s not only a charger in race and surf, she also teaches yoga! Here’s what I mean by “amateur” paddlers being on the heels of pros – she was only 4 minutes behind April Zilg.

Soryn Preston – Under 14 being 5^th in such a competitive race is definitely not an under achievement! Soryn, sponsored by SIC Maui, paddles race, surf and outrigger. She’s an all around athlete to watch for. Plus she has a dedicated dad who takes her to every race and training as well as having Canidce Appleby as a mentor and friend, so her future is bright!

Madeline Leblanc – A ray of sunshine usually accompany this bright and funny Canadian paddler from Toronto. She’s staying SoCal for the winter to train and escape the Canadian Winter. You can find her on a sail boat in San Clemente ready to paddle anytime. Maddi (how she calls herself) is one of the top Canadian Starboard SUP paddlers and have amazing background for teaching, racing and surfing. Look for her in the international competitions!

Honorable Mentions Top 10 Womens:

Samantha Eastburn (founder of SUP Pups) – if you have haven’t met this fireball of a person, go take one of her classes. She’s an amazing teacher, funny, exciting and patient on top of being an all around athlete in all board sports.

Kristin Thomas (OG racer/surfer and USA SUP board member) – What can I say that no one else know about Kristin? She’s THE most vocal advocate for our sport. Sponsored by Infinity SUP - she's still one of the best racers in the US!

Anik Wild (owner of Tahoe Waterman’s Landing): along with her amazing husband Jay Wild, they run a great paddle shop, OC club, and a café! Tahoe is a tough place to operate and train but they’ve managed to make it their passion and career. We wish them the best!

Katie Kasprzyk and Terri Plunkett (top ten with a 12’6) are all regular paddlers in the race scene, and we would love to hear more about them as we do more member related interviews!

Top 5 Men’s

Danny Ching – If Canidce is “Queen”, Danny certainly deserve the “King”s title (at least in SoCal). Adept in many watercrafts, Danny still brought it home sprinting past Bodie at the end and won the race by 7 seconds. Another paddler over 40 and with kids is peaking at his performance give us all inspiration and motivation to do better as we age. SUP is certainly sustainable as a life time sport. We wish Danny and his 404 brand the best in 2023!

Bodie Von Allmen – Bodie, from Oregon, has taken the SUP world by storm in the last couple of years, racking up various medals in different races. It’s amazing to see that Bodie still just 17 years old and is competing in open levels and winning them. As a SIC Maui rider, he’s certainly brought a lot of attention to the SIC RS!

Thomas Nielsen – Another young paddler coached under the umbrella of the Paddle Academy has made several debuts in local races. Coming a few seconds after Bodie is no small feat!

Riley Jaggi – Riley, another under 19 paddler, has risen to the 4^th place in such a competitive race. Sponsored by 404, Riley races, surfs, OC, and is still attending college. We wish him the best in his future endeavors!

Dan Miller – Dan Miller is no stranger to the race scene with tons of race, foiling, prone and whitewater racing experience. In addition, he's a Doctor! Sponsored by NSP, he came all the way from Canada to this race.

Honorable Mentions Top 10 Mens

Pete Gauvin: always my local favorite in the SF Bay Area, was only 45 seconds behind Dan Miller. Paddling an old school 404 and over 50, he’s still at the top of his shape and we love him for it.

Rafael Apodaca: Rafa is one of the best paddlers from Mexico. Living in Sayulita, he regularly comes to SoCal and NorCal to compete and support his Sayulita Junior SUP Team. We are so inspired that he trains not only those who can afford it but also local kids who can’t and getting them into the sport early. Kudos Rafa!

Paul Pianowski: You can always find Paul paddling in SoCal with all the regulars. He’s intro on Facebook: One day I went Stand-Up Pddle Boarding THE END. ‘Nuff said. We love you Paul.

Ian Connor: Being an all around amazing athelete (Colorado waterman), Ian does it with grace in sup race, wing, surf, whitwater sup and many other disciplines. He’s also so generous that he brought a starboard for Maddi Leblanc from Canada to use for the race so she that she can get to the top 5!

Sean Pangelinan: We don’t always see Asian Americans being front and center represented in paddling sports, but Sean represented Guam in two Olympics at flatwater canoe sprinters. Sean is also an amazing personal trainer (owner and trainer at the Fit Lab) and still paddling at top shape! Coming in the top ten is a great accomplishment. We wish him the best in 2023!

Video Recap! Seattle's Fake Race

Adam Tischler — Wed, 01 Feb 2023 04:31:18 GMT

If you haven't seen Jay Ruffo's creative, thoughtful and occasionally goofy videos, you're missing out. He does some great race videos, big and small, and here he captures a weekly "pick up" race that takes place on Seattle's fresh water ship canal.

Last Paddler Standing with John Knippers

Kristin Thomas — Sun, 18 Dec 2022 01:24:11 GMT

by John Knippers

***** RACE RECAP: "Last Paddler Standing" *****

First of ALL, MAHALO everyone involved in this crazy race. Whether it be the directors, volunteers, the elite endurance racers from across the globe, to the thousands of people who were following it through the 48hrs of livestream via SUP Racer, FB live, and on YouTube Live! *MAHALO NUI LOA!!!

**************** BONUS! ****************

The FINAL 12 hours are still on YouTube if anyone wonders what it was like & would like to watch it!

(*I'll attach a link in the picture of the livestream!)

The EVENT was truly something extraordinary, and I am SO grateful to have been a player who made it until the end (2nd to "LAST PADDLER STANDING").

*This meant i had made 47 laps around the course, a 3.33 mile loop an hour, & eventually surrendering to an extraordinary pro paddleboarder from Italy, Paolo Marconi... AND what an honor it was to share the last few hours of this thing together! He is a STRONG, inspirational, SOLID athlete & Father!

(NOW A LITTLE BIT OF MY TAKE ON THE EVENT)

Sleep deprivation, fatigue, paddling alongside an accomplished group of ultra distance racers ALL set on winning... IT was MENTAL beyond MENTAL!

AND on that 44th hour, when it was down to just me and Paolo on our second exhausting night out there... well wouldnt ya know an approximately 5 ft gator surfaces about 40ft in front of me right on my course under the moonlight. (*AND I'm on an inflatable LOL). Talk about mental. Needless to say though I paddled another three laps around the course until it was the "proper" time to surrender.

****** Some might ask why did i surrender? ******

Well, let me explain... it had been 47 hours and 45 minutes, 150+ miles no current w/ headwinds, and at that point i was exhausted. Plus, had the event gone one more lap, the loop would be increased to 4.9 miles, a distance that after 48hrs pretty much no sleep, seemed inconceivable to do more than once. In addition, i really just didn't have enough gas in the tank to give Paolo a run for his money & why add more time to my recovery?! So here I am today approximately 10 days later, thankful I made that decision, because although i'm pretty much recovered, I do still have numbness in my toes which will probably take some time to get normal.

That being said, I'm SO grateful to be the "ASSIST"!

* (Now for the LONG LIST of MAHALO's.) *

First of ALL, Greg Wingo, race director, organizer and brainchild of this AWESOME event that will be no doubt filling up quick come January for 2023.

QuickBlade Paddles, the paddle i used for almost 48hrs, had the perfect flex, & i didnt get one blister! Yster SUP, the official board sponsor of the 2022 LPS, who allowed me to fly there for a proper 48 hours testing the new incredible linear 17'3 x 26 touring ISUP... *(Swedish designer Per, if you see this post, I'd be honored to do some more testing, wink wink lol). Mason Gravley of Athletic Brewing Company, who not only helped w/ the commentary provided TOP shelf non-alcoholic brew for the guests & even athletes all throughout the event...

*(Note: As someone who doesnt drink alcohol anymore, but did however in the past enjoy IPA... they actually had a delicious non alcoholic option)

ALSO, thank you to the AMAZING Volunteers who helped pull this all off together, as well as the BRAVE racers & friends from around the globe who participated in this never been done before crazy ordeal. To my RAD brother, Mark Knippers, who continually backs me up in these wild paddle ultras. The LPS racers & friends who paddled 12 hours like Tracy Cullinane & Patrick B. then hung around for the rest of the event showered me w/ ALOHA & then treated me like a KING afterwords. Josette Lata (who also paddled 12 hours) and hubby Eddy Okinsky, who 2/3rds into the race announced VIA the livestream they were giving me a new 14' raceboard for being inspiring. THATS JUST CRAZY AWESOME, AND i'M SO GRATEFUL!

Göran Gustavsson, one of my fierce competitors from Sweden who not only did I enjoy paddling 40 hours & laps with, was also blessed to hang out with for 2 following days there. Then there was Bobby Johnson, 2 time winner and LEGEND of one of the toughest races in the world, "The Great Alabama 650"... This guy, is possibly the fastest ultra distance surfski guys on the planet, had only been SUP'ing a few weeks before the race, & "What an honor it was to paddle with ya Bobby"! Alexis Somoano, you as well my friend... And lookout if your thinking of doing it next year... he WILL be a contender i know in 2023 something fierce. Huge thanks to my next door neighbor and friend, Chad Blackman... who looked after my first mate paddle dog Jericho here at the house while & i was out of town. THAT WAS HUGE! Krystal @ Country Pets Bed & Breakfast who runs a TOP notch kennel on a ranch outside of town and always takes good care of the rest of my furballs (Zeus, Zoe, Sup, & Koa).

Then, the BIGGEST Thank you of ALL AWARD has gotta go to Mike Dodd an old friend rom Hawaii, and Efrat Almog, who really came through there in Sarasota! Besides just being in my camp hollering encouragement, or as I would paddle under the bridge on the loop, the many vulnerable times too when I really felt like quitting! They periodically would bring me coffee, a taco, burger, or tasty treat that could break the monotony of my normal routine of vacuum sealed spinach, sweet potato, sprouted quinoa, dark choc, Blueberry, banana, beet powder, "nutrition bar stuff" I typically make for these ultras, just get tired of it after 24 hrs LOL.

And last but not least Chris Parker, Kelly Margetts, & Kristin Thomas for encouragement throughout the 48 hour, never been done before LIVESTREAM!

Y'all knocked it out of the park keeping thousands of friends, family, and people entertained across the globe & in the "LOOP", (so to speak LOL). ALL DAY ALL NIGHT on this WILD CRAZY SUP EVENT!

*BIG MAHALO's to ALL the friends too who sent kind messages and congratulated me ALL week!

*Almsot forgot to mention USA SUP & TotalSUP...

(Thank you both for hyping up the event & sharing)

******* MAHALO NUI LOA EVERYONE!!! *********

How I got “Off Da Couch” and took the leap into racing

Kristin Thomas — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 21:16:55 GMT

by Keva Andersen

The picture on my Instagram story on race day morning was captioned “wondering WTF I got myself into!” That was a pretty good indicator of how I’d been feeling since I made a last-minute decision to enter the “Off Da Couch” race, held on October 22 in Newport Beach, California. At the beginning of the year I’d set a goal for myself to be more intentional about my paddleboarding and to expand on my skill set. I’ve been paddling since 2011 but I’d never really set distance or speed goals for myself. And while the sport was still great fun I wanted to see how much further I could go if I pushed toward specific goals. Yet racing still really wasn’t on my radar as something I thought I could do. And if I’m being honest, as I was standing there that morning waiting for my turn to head out, I still wasn’t sure this first attempt wasn’t going to end in disaster!

The “Off Da Couch” race day schedule started with the safety meeting at 8:30 am, the 9-mile long course headed out at 9 am, followed by the 6-mile board race a few minutes later, and the short course at 11:30 am. Since this was my first time out I opted for the short course, so I had a lot of time on my hands to reconsider if I was really cut out for this. I knew the distance would be fine but seeing the crowd with all their gear was a little intimidating. Especially as I was standing there with my 12’6” inflatable Infinity Blackfish Air. But watching “the big kids” take off on their boards, cheer on other racers, and finish strong was so inspiring I knew I’d be kicking myself for weeks if I chickened out. So when the time came to head to the start point for the short course I checked the pins on my race number for the millionth time, tightened my leash, and followed along at the back of the pack.

We gathered on the water at the start line just south of the Newport Aquatic Center with the OC-6 and OC-1 crews leading the charge along with surfskis and some prone paddlers. The skies were mostly cloudy, the temperature in the low 60s, the breeze had definitely picked up and there was already some chop on the water. The SUPs were the last to go and as we waited to take off, I decided to start the race kneeling. I knew this would be a no-go in a professional race situation but given how choppy the water was after the other craft took off, I knew my inflatable didn’t stand a chance of staying upright if I was standing. After getting tossed around for a while I hopped to my feet and took stock of how things were looking. Most of the group had taken off and were well ahead of me but they didn’t seem too far ahead, all things considered. We were pushing against the outgoing tide but the wind was at our backs and I thought, ok, I can at least keep this respectable. One stroke at a time, keep your balance, don’t crash into anybody. I kept that as my mantra until there was no one close enough to have to worry about that last one!

As I approached the turn around point most everyone was well ahead of me, with the exception of the hardy crew of 12u racer Lily in an OC-1, her dad following along on a SUP, and a man in a kayak. We made our way around the metal buoy to head back to the start when we were hit by a headwind I can only describe as gnarly, I believe between 10 and 15 miles per hour. Every bit of speed we gained from following the outgoing tide was getting flattened by that breeze. But no matter. Lily led the way in her OC-1 as I put the hammer down on the paddle and just tried to keep up.

With the finish line in sight, we could hear the cheers as we approached with the crowd encouraging Lily in what I think was her first race. But then I heard another voice yelling for me too! There was Suzy, who before that day was a friend from Instagram I hadn’t yet met in person, encouraging me to push hard to the very end. I remembered to yell out my number 79 to the team at the finish with the race director teasing me “ok, 1 clap for you too!” and just like that it was done. I was sweaty, tired, and ready for a snack, but really stoked.

In the end, the official race results said I came in second to last but I really didn’t care about that. I had such a good time out on the course and was so excited to meet that goal of finishing that I couldn’t wait to try my hand at another one, now that I knew what to expect. And everyone at the event was so nice and encouraging, especially when they found out this was my first race. I had a lot of fun meeting new people and one woman even stopped me in the parking lot to tell me she thought I did a great job on the inflatable and her kindness and encouragement has stayed with me. “Off Da Couch” is also a fundraiser in honor of NAC’s beloved Sam Couch, who died of Cystic Fibrosis. CF has also touched my family and it felt great to start my racing journey in a way that was also giving back to the community.

I’d been hearing that the racing community was really fun but for years I’d been hesitant to try it. I was lucky to have run with a fun crew of paddlers through Salmon Bay Paddle when I lived in Seattle but even after years in L.A. now I hadn’t been able to replicate that. I’d watched the racers on Instagram and felt like I was missing out but thought I didn’t have the right gear or the right skills or the timing just wasn’t right. I live in an apartment so inflatables have been my only option, and while they’re fun they’re not exactly built for competition. So what finally convinced me to give it a shot? I kept going back to a July SUP Connect Instagram live conversation with Kristin Thomas and Jen Fuller about racing. It’s no secret that SUP can be very expensive and it’s easy to get caught up in the idea that you have to have the fancy race boards and paddles before you can compete. In that live interview I asked if there was a way to get into racing on a budget and it was Jen who offered this advice: “paddle the hell out of whatever you’ve got.” Everyone starts somewhere and dialing in your stroke and your skills on something unconventional can help build a base that will benefit you down the line. That advice kept rattling around in my brain until finally I said stop second guessing yourself and registered for the race. And I’m so glad I did. I’m hoping to upgrade my board sometime next year but until then I’ll be paddling the hell out of that inflatable and I’m looking forward to racing again at Hanohano in San Diego in January.

Ballard Elks Halloween Race

Adam Tischler — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 23:31:27 GMT

A collection of costumed paddlers preparing for ghoulish gusts
Photo credit: Michelle Black

The Ballard Elks Paddle Club in Seattle, WA held the annual Halloween Race on October, 30th. The race features two constants: great costumes and high winds. The 2022 edition was no exception as everything from kraken to Howard Stern showed up to race along with predicted winds in the 15-20 knot range. On a somewhat sheltered course the field paddled well and survived the fresh breeze to enjoy a breakfast buffet and some libations, in the Ballard Elks Lodge #827.

Nick Papa won the SUP first place after pulling away from the field. We won't dwell on the fact that he was one of the few uncostumed competitors and will instead focus on his exceptional performance. Jessi Wasson won the women's division, handling the heavy weather well... while wearing a costume. Sarah Hess won the award for best costume - an octopus.

After the race, many participants chose to take part in a downwind on the building southerly that swept across Puget Sound.

Chattajack 31 Adventures

Kristin Thomas — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 21:15:48 GMT

My Quest for the Buckle

by Roxane Robinson

This Race. Chattajack 31. It’s like no other. A race where the registration begins at midnight (EST) 6 months in advance and has been known to sell out in under an hour. This year we have over 700 competitors and a waitlist of over 200.

I first decided to so this race in 2015 and convinced Shawna Macnamara to do it with me. We started training in April (in New York) wearing wetsuits. Every 4 four weeks we would paddle around Shelter Island, approximately 20 miles or so. It was exhausting. Then there was the panic about the cut-offs. 10 miles…2 hours and 30 minutes. Due to family medical issues, I was unable to paddle for the two months leading up to the race. The week of the race, I realized, I had trained, and whatever happened was going to happen, so off Shawna and I went. My first Chattajack was a bluebird day. Lovely weather, low 70’s, and a bit of a push from the current. I didn’t own a Garmin, and had mis-set my phone app, so at no time did I know where how many miles had I gone, how many did I have left. What I know now was approximately mile 27, I met up with Chandler Bold and Danielle Goldston, two of my favorite prone mermaids. They told me we were almost there. Once we spotted the Hales Dam, which I thought was a mirage, we paddled even harder. As we got close to the turn, there was Shawna. We had trained together and We finished together!!

I was hooked. I had to do this race again!! So finally, 2017 I was back in Tennessee on my quest for the buckle. It was such a tough year weather wise, 55 degrees and raining at the start…then the temperature dropped 10 degrees, and it was still raining. Over 70 people dropped out during the race that year, due to the cold and hypothermia. For months after, I heard that people couldn’t feel their finger tips and toes. I was ok, a bit cold, but ok. When the race started, I figured that I’d warm up enough for it not to be an issue. I had learned how to finally set my phone app so that I could hear the miles and pace, so I made a couple of friends that needed that information also. Around mile 7 I fell off my board, and wondered, how can I do the next 25 miles from in the water. It was so much warmer than the air. But finish I did, in just over 7 hours.

2018, the year of not as much training as I wanted. The morning started ok, I met Michael Dunlap at the board staging. He was so excited, his first race of any kind. Who starts with a 32 mile race? Loved his enthusiasm! But halfway through my race I was done. I had nothing left. My shoulders were on fire, my body hurt. It was raining off and on, it was kinda cold. Thoughts of “I’m never doing this again” “I’m too old” “What was I thinking” and yet I kept paddling. Then about 5 miles from the finish, I ended up paddling next to these two guys, Jim Powell and Ken Taber. I’m convinced that if it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have made that final cutoff. I finished with about 20 minutes to spare.

2019 was just an exercise in tenacity. I fell off my board before I even got to the Bridge and timing boat. Thank goodness the current was good. I got my first 3 miles done in about 30 minutes. Around 15 miles in I thought, I’m going to finish in about 7 hours. Yippee. But that was not to be, the wind had started picking up. Headwinds, side chop (actually waves you could surf), and the wind gusts were up to 40mph. My last two miles took me almost 55 minutes. I was actually shocked that when I finished, I still had 15 minutes to spare.

2020, the virtual year. So there’s that. It didn’t count for or against the five consecutive years that you have to paddle to earn your belt buckle.

2021 had the fastest current ever. All kinds of new records were set. As I was definitely undertrained but determined to finish, I decided that considering the previous years, I would join a SUP-4 team, “Here for the Beer”. I even fell off this monster inflatable, and took half the team with me. But we finished!! It was so exciting, MY first Podium finish. 3rd place. I was giddy!! And I had one more year to go for the Buckle!!

So here we are, 2022. My buckle year. It was the largest buckle class since this race started, almost 80 paddlers were expected to receive their buckles. I had moved, again, and found a training partner in another state. We would both drive an hour to meet on Saturday mornings at 7:15. Sybel Pacis Sierra was the best, we would discuss nutrition, strokes, and both of us finishing our race successfully. But I was still worried. No one knows what the weather will be that day. Will we get lucky and have the current of 2021? Will there be wind? I reached out to my Facebook friends and asked for good wishes and positive thoughts which I received. It meant so much to me and I used those as my mental energy.

Race morning came, in the low 40’s but no wind. It was going to be a sunny day and warm up to around 70. Finally, it’s announced that we need to start getting on the water. Row by row we pick up our boards, walk down past the live band playing Kashmir (Led Zeppelin) which is so cool. We all got on the water so fast, they were able to start the race 10 minutes early. I wasn’t quite ready for that, but off I went. The amazing John Puakea had given me some advice on Friday regarding my stroke which took me from a very solid 15 minute mile to 12 and 13 minute miles. OMG!!! Which was great as there was absolutely no current. If you stopped paddling, you stopped moving completely.

Paddling down the river is beautiful no matter what the weather. It’s truly one of my favorite places to be. You hear people on the river banks, on their docks, on boats, cheering for you as you pass. I love their support!

As I neared my final 5 miles, I realized how good I still felt. Still strong, still maintaining a good pace, chatting with Cassie Salter and friends from the UK, it was going to be a good finish. Coming around Hales Dam, seeing my friends on the dock, and then my son, Hugh. I was so happy he could be there for the finish of my race and see me receive my buckle. A big thanks to Ben Friberg and Kimberley Friberg for creating this race that brings us back year after year. I know I’ll be back on that river again.

Battle of the Bay

Kristin Thomas — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 21:02:05 GMT

by Mike Wang

Battle of the Bay has been a culminating race for Northern California for many years. Usually hosted at the end of the season, folks from all over NorCal come to the iconic San Francisco Bay to get a taste of what’s it like to race on the bay. In the past it has been hosted in a number of awesome locations such as Crissy Field (round Alcatraz & Golden Gate Bridge) and McNear’s Beach in San Rafael.

My first BOTB was epic. The 7 mile course was set from Crissy Field to circumnavigate Alcatraz and then round the south tower of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was the hardest race I had done with just 2 years of paddling SUP. I wasn’t a total stranger to paddling underneath the bridge (having lots of experience in sea kayaks), but on a stand up it was totally humbling. With an almost 6 knot flood current, paddlers were completely knocked off course and drifting back into the bay at times. When I finished, I was beaming with excitement and it is still the best race that I done with 9 years of paddling.

This year, although a little more muted since the Golden Gate years, Steve Pugh still put on an amazing race with the help of all the local retailers and coaches from Sausalito. After the pandemic, it feels like the paddling community is much more inclusive and less competitive. We all felt what we had lost and treasured the moments together. David Wells from 101 Surfsports managed the registration and timing with grace and precision sacrificing his own urges to be #1. John Hadley did the announcement after running his own race the previous weekend (Sonoma Surfriders Foundation race at Doran Beach). Gaelan Schmidt from Seatrek did safety on his boat as I did safety and photos from my new “used” boat that I use for Mike’s Paddle. It was great to see all the folks who love this sport so much to support each other.

Both the long and short course gave the paddlers a sense of being one with the water. Richardson bay is relatively calm in the morning with less than 5 knot wind but the current can be challenging. Paddlers came up to the opening of Richardson Bay with conjunction of Racoon Strait - which can be a really challenging place to paddle with added currents with constriction between Belvedere Point and Angel Island. It was amazing to see 100 paddlers going across the bay, seals popping up here and there, strong currents in the strait and the scenery of the open bay with Blue Angels flying by occasionally for the air show.

Results with all the local favorite paddlers winning awards and that’s how we like it!

Womens:
7 Mile Long Course: Jen Fuller our local favorite SUP coach finished first, battling out with USA SUP board member favorite Kristin Thomas from SoCal by only two minutes. Tiffany Cleveland finished third.
4 Mile Short Course: LeeAnn Petersen (a Mike’s Paddle instructor) finished first, Clare Mazzetti (Ohana Paddle Club member) finished second just a minute behind, and Brenna Raugewitz lost to Clare by only 10 secs.

Mens:
7 Mile Long Course: Peter Gauvin (a consistent winner here in the Bay Area) finished before BB (Bojan Bernard) and Chad Raugewitz. All three finished just over an hour which is quite a feat!
4 Mile Short Course: Riley Hurd first win with Rob Heinemann (only a first year paddler from Ohana Paddle Club) coming second, and Jason Dachtler coming in third all within a minute of each other, it was a close call!

Narrows Challenge

Adam Tischler — Sun, 09 Oct 2022 23:10:40 GMT

This race recap was originally posted by Ivan Storck (pictured below next to #41) on his "Good Paddle" Facebook page

As I looked to shore from my paddle board, the land wasn’t moving. I was paddling as hard as I could. Not going anywhere. The current of the Tacoma Narrows was against me. If I can’t make it past this, I won’t make it back to the race start in Gig Harbor. The current was so strong they couldn’t anchor the turn-around buoy in the channel, and had to use a boat to hold the buoy in place. Then the boat must’ve got distracted, because I saw it moving the buoy back to the place where it should’ve been, near the day mark. Or maybe the humpback whale that was seen on the course earlier was in the way, I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fault of the Narrows’ famous giant octopus.

The 2022 Narrows Challenge pits human powered vessels against the strong tidal currents between Tacoma and Gig Harbor. About a third of Puget Sound flows through the deep and narrow channel. The race is open to stand up paddle boards (SUPs), outrigger canoes, open water rowing shells, and is mainly attended by surf skis, also called high performance racing kayaks (HPK)s. It has 5K (3 mile), 10K (6 mile) and 20K lengths. The Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak club puts it on and it’s such a great adventure race. Especially the amount of kids that participate from the sponsoring club.

During the 10K SUP race, as we neared the turn around point, Nick, who was about 50 feet in front of me, got the short straw and ended up going about a quarter mile more than me, chasing the buoy/boat against the current. Crawling against the bubbling currents in the shallow water on the shore side of the eddy line was the only way to make any progress. I saw Adam, who smartly remembered where the buoy should have been, gliding downstream, positioning to be in 1st place now. We got to the shore together, with me just in front, then started paddling hard upstream in the shallow back eddy there. Whenever a group of rocks would stick out into the current, there was no escape from the water and waves piling up. The only way forward was to power through, in as little water as possible.

If there was a boulder, better hope you see it before your fin hits it, and you get launched forward off the board . On the other hand, if you know whitewater currents, you know boulders create back-currents that push upstream. The rocks were sometimes barely visible under water, and a lot of quick corrections were necessary. I gradually gained distance from Adam and solidified my lead in first place.

It’s not a position I am in often. I’m much better with a “rabbit” to chase. I had to use a lot of mental self-talk to try to do my best, without pushing too hard, or taking it too easy. When the current eased up and I could see the finish line, I didn’t dare look behind me, because I knew Nick would be chasing me down. It was amazing to get cheered in, in first place, by the race committee and crowd at the harbor’s entrance.

As is typical in our SUP community we stayed at the finish to cheer the other 10K racers in before we paddled back to the awards ceremony. I love the support we all give each other in this sport, it’s one of the things that just makes it even better.

Sunshine State Games - All Around SUP Class

Kristin Thomas — Mon, 26 Sep 2022 23:49:14 GMT

Sunshine State Games All Around Class Standup Paddleboard (SUP) Event, presented by Amazon International Beach Games - 09/24/2022

What happened at this years event was a landmark success!

Kevin Woodin's Perspective

How can I summarize this event? EASE, PLACEMENT, TOGETHERNESS, and INCLUSIVITY.
This event received some extraordinary feedback from all the participants, volunteers, spectators, and sponsors. We celebrated each and every win together, and that's an extraordinary accomplishment. We had a couple of new paddlers out there for their first or second time, and everyone gave them amazing support. The event emphasized on the all around board class (SUP Surf/planing hull design), time trial format (staggered start), short course (with easy/moderate turns), two laps, three heats, and the entire event was fully visible from shore. Every paddler was center stage. All paddlers of different skill levels had the opportunity to claim a podium finish on an equal playing field. It all came down to your best, not the best. The winners were determined by the lowest total time of the combined heats.

Even experienced paddlers had to dig a little deeper. Some took advantage in the distance between turns. Some had the advantage in the turns. Some favored the tail winds. Others did better in the head winds. Some went out to hard, and some to slow. Some just enjoyed being part of the amazing community experience and fantastic Florida weather. After each heat the paddlers had a short break before starting again. Some of the newer paddlers took this time to ask more experienced paddlers for some tips, and then made some changes in the next heat. Some paddlers switched boards because this event brought together a wide range of all around class board brands, shapes, and sizes to choose from. All the connectedness and conversations were truly amazing. The fun was just non stop until the very end.
Event results here

A big thank you goes out to everyone involved in making this years event possible.
Event organizers: Danny Smith, Karren Watson, and Mitch Varnes.
Event support and volunteers: JD Smith, Daniel Patala, Pattie Kelley, Jeri Bergen, Manuela Woodin, Leah Cortez, Sharon Robinson, Anastasia McCauley, Vicky Stanevich, and Cyndy Seifert.
Business partners: Paddling Paradise, Paddle Sports League (PSL), Fin Box Lock, Sunshine State Games presented by Amazon, and Smooth Running.

SUP Life encourages people to fall in love with the uncomfortable space of growth, development, and reward together. With ease, placement, togetherness, and inclusivity, we hone our skills of power, stamina, paced effort, balance, flexibility, strength, and allow movement to reward the body, mind, emotions, and Life energies. We need to create a positive energy in our community that enriches and informs our body and mind of knowledge and feed our energetic and emotional wellbeing. Together in Nature we can find sanity and purpose in witnessing the beauty around us, and participating with that beauty through engaging in our curiosity, wonder, and playfulness. With ease and placement, let's make more of this fun happen together!

WHEN YOU FIND YOUR TRIBE, LOVE THEM HARD!

2023 All Around Board Class Event Series COMING SOON!
We are already hard at work planning a series of 10 events for 2023. We want to work with other organizers to host multiple locations. The format remains the same, but we'll add a half-that for the new paddlers. Get ready to share more good vibes!

Paddle Sports League Facebook Page
Paddle Sports League Events

Appreciate all the Love, Love all the support,
Kevin

The power and control of everything you are is right there in every breath.
BE KIND to YOURSELF!
Avoid negative labels!
YOU ARE STRONG!
YOU GOT THIS!

❤️
#LIVEITBEAWESOME

Blueline Surf and Paddle Tuesday Night Race League - Summer Series

Adam Tischler — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 03:13:21 GMT

Originally submitted by Blueline Surf and Paddle race director and instructor, Jeremie Vaine
Photo credit: Lisa Bee

Those smiling little faces on the front of the board, splashing, playing and laughing are adorable. They also add the exclamation point on the aspect of fun. These little ones help encourage people to join, just by showing that anyone can join Tuesday Night Race League (TNRL) and have a blast while doing so.

TNRL is for everyone, no matter your age or ability level. We love to have you bring the kids to ride along, or maybe the pup. Paddle with a few friends to catch up, paddle as a workout or test yourself as a competitive racer.

It does not stop there, as all paddle crafts are welcome to join in. You can just sit in the water and float if that’s how you want to participate.

Here in Jupiter, Florida, we have an amazing community that has been instrumental in growing the attendance by sharing their version with others. The paddlers from the Ocean Rescue have encouraged others to join in adding to our prone and surfski numbers. Palm Beach Outrigger Club has been helping to spread the word, increasing the amount of canoes. The crew at Flying Fish has done the same, bringing their team as well as many of their customers and future customers to TNRL.

On the water, we try our best to have courses that cater to everyone that heads out, and for the people at Guanabanas watching. The start of the paddle is structured in a way that allows each person to experience their paddle in the way they like, while being a part of the group. The paddlers get to choose their distances, 1, 3 and 4 miles. Everyone paddles together on the same course, and returns back to the start for a buoy turn, adding some excitement for those watching along.

After the paddle the night is not over, our great friends at Guanabanas host the post paddle social. Guanabanas is an outdoor restaurant that is situated amongst numerous palm trees and tiki huts adding that Island feel and paddle vibe.

Included in the entry fee, $10 with your own craft, $20 with a rental, a ticket is provided for a beverage. This season Kona Brewing and Costa Tequila sponsored TNRL, providing beverages for the paddlers. You do not have to indulge in the beverages, but you may want to take a look at Guanabanas menu and surely not miss the stories from the paddle as the camaraderie aspect is in full swing even if you just have a glass of cold water.

At TNRL there are no awards and we try our best to capture everyone's time and post it in our Facebook group for those that are interested. We are very fortunate that our friend, who is an amazing photographer, captures the night for the paddlers. You may have seen her photos as they are shared throughout social media, the moment they come out. Leisa M. Bee changes her perspective each week and captures her aspect of the night. Helping everyone share the fun of Tuesday Nights with friends far and near.

Our weekly community paddle has grown and last year we added a Winter Saturday series and this year we will be expanding it!

Starting on October 4th we will move to one Saturday per month. The first one will be on October 29th, knowing this community, costumes will be part of the day. In November we are hosting our first Turkey Day Paddle on November 24th. The remaining winter dates will be added soon. But for those Tuesday Night enthusiasts, don't worry we will start back on Tuesday Night in March of 2023.

We would love to have you join one of our paddles if you are in the Jupiter area. But if not feel free to join our Facebook Community Page and follow along.

THE SUP WORLD BASKS IN THE AFTERGLOW OF OKLAHOMA

Kristin Thomas — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 20:47:27 GMT

Rodgers and Hammerstein Never Saw This Coming

By Harrison Withers

How did we get to Oklahoma?

It was early March and snow still blanketed much of the northern hemisphere. Russia had invaded Ukraine just a few weeks earlier. The world of sport scrambled to move or cancel any event that was to take place in Russia. The International Canoe Federation was in a tough spot, the Canoe Sprint Super Cup and 3^rdevent in the SUP World Cup was scheduled to take place in Moscow, just a few weeks before the World SUP Championships in Gdynia, Poland.

The ICF made the best decision possible and made the obvious choice to move the event to Oklahoma.

That’s right, Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin’ down the plain, and the wavin’ wheat, can sure smell sweet, when the wind comes right behind the rain…

Careful examination of the rest of the lyrics did not reveal any mention of Paddling, SUP, or even water beyond the aforementioned rain. However, as it turns out, Oklahoma is known as a top destination for rowing, in fact it’s been an official US Olympic/Paralympic training site since 2009. There was also previously a Super Cup event at the facility in 2021. Having been there before, it was a safe bet for the ICF. There’s also a ton to like about the race location, Riversport OKC is a publicly funded gleaming concrete and glass facility with 3 boathouses, a 4-story finishing tower, and a state-of-the-art whitewater center. In addition to that, it also most has an amusement park feel with climbing walls, zip lines, and even surf and ski simulators. Most paddlers, myself included, would seriously visit his place on vacation even if the SUP carnival wasn’t in town.

A Plan Takes Shape

So the ICF knew Oklahoma, but Oklahoma didn’t know what’s SUP. But all that was about to change. The ICF tapped SUP veteran and Riversport OKC Lifestyle Director Brent Allen, and USA SUP’s Kristin Thomas to pull together a world class SUP competition in less than 6 months. Even with a world class facility, there was a lot to overcome, not least of all how do you get enough athletes to go to the middle of the country in August to a place that’s known for its 100^oF plus temperatures. And how do you get race boards to a location in the middle of the country where SUP is an unknown quantity, and the nearest dealer is in Kansas?

Somehow, someway, not only did they get boards there, but also managed to get 45 paddlers there including some of the fastest men and women in the world. Of course, a $10k prize purse didn’t hurt for those who could expect to partake in it. Had the paddle world realized what kind of a world-class event this was, the numbers would have been much higher.

The World Paddlesport Festival is Born

The whole event was dubbed “The World Paddlesport Festival” and really consisted of three events: ICF Canoe and Kayak Super Cup, ICF SUP World Cup Event #3, and Red Bull Rapids which was a build your own boat and see if it makes down the rapids in one piece while wearing a costume type event. Within the SUP event there were three types of racing available; Sprints, Technical, and Distance and one registration price got you into all three. The net effect is that folks who wouldn’t normally do things like sprints, like the author, found themselves expanding their horizons. Racing took place over three days with qualifiers for sprints and technical races on Friday, finals for sprints and technical on Saturday, and the distance race on Sunday.

As a participant, the fact that this was not going to be a “typical” US paddle event started at registration, The process was painless, the packet was clean and tidy, the swag was of great quality, but the real difference was after you checked in you were ushered in front of a green screen where you picture was taken and all participants recorded a 15 second motion video to be used in the live broadcast quality live stream.  You read that right, it wasn’t ON TV, but it was live on YouTube with full graphics and Commentary by Brent Allen and guests. As a competitor, it was super cool to watch the stream, learn from your mistakes and see your name up in lights. Head on over to the Planet Canoe channel on YouTube and check it out for yourself.

Friday

Friday morning started with the 300M sprint qualifiers. The canoes and kayaks went first and then the SUP’s got going about 10:30am. Sprint heats were run like clockwork with a sprint race starting every 7-8 minutes. Everyone knew what order and what lane they were in in advance and the whole thing ran super-smooth. This is really where the ICF shined. They know how to do this kind of racing. The starter got people lined up incredibly efficiently and sounded the horn. The lanes were perfectly straight and picture perfect just like you’d see in the Olympics. The finish line featured photo finish technology. The top 2 finishers passed on to the Semi Finals, 3-5 went to the quarter finals and the rest were eliminated.

Connor Baxter displayed his usual sprint dominance with Daniel Hasulyo in the first heat of Open Men. The Jakes of Portwood and Graham cleaned up the second heat. Eri Tenorio edged out Bodie Van Allmen in the third. Sprint canoeist Ian Ross crossed over and made a valiant effort.

In the first round of the Women’s open, Katniss Paris upset Kim Barnes by .02 of a second in the first heat. In the second heat, sprint canoeist Ten Kusaka decided to try her hand on a stand up and took the top spot followed by Jennifer James. The third heat featured April Zilg followed by Juliette Duhaime.

The Men’s Master class (45+) was hotly contested all weekend starting with the first of three heats won by Alex Sandler with Aleksy Synkov getting the pass to the semis. Flying fish riders John Batson lead founder John Meskauskas in the second heat. Bryan Block lead Brenden Sweetman in the third.

Onto the quarterfinals, top two advanced with the remainder eliminated. Steve Miller and Josh Smart added themselves to the Semi Finals in Open Men, Tracy Hines and Katherine Wallace in Open Women, and James Nickerson and Morris Pallet in Men’s Masters.

After the Quarterfinals were complete, the course was reconfigured for the technical heats.  5 buoys were set in a star-pattern, with three lefts and two rights covering just shy of 700M. For this race organizers decided to use pneumatic gates that rose above the water. Competitors would nose in to the gate tripping a sensor letting the starter know they where in position. The gates would then drop allowing the race to begin.  Since the gate were really intended to be used for sprint lane racing it spaced the competitors out fairly wide, putting those in the outside lanes further from the first buoy than those in the middle lanes. That’s something that will have to be looked at for future events. As with the sprints, the top 2 from each heat advanced directly to the semi finals with finisher 3-5 going to a quarter final.

Men’s Open advancers were Jake Portwood over Bodie Von Allmen, Connor Baxter over Eri Tenorio, and Daniel Hasulyo over Jake Graham. Women’s Open feature Katniss Paris over Tracy Hines, Kimberly Barnes over Juliette Duhaime, and April Zilg over Jennifer James. The Men’s Masters featured John Batson once again over John Meskauskas, James Nickerson over Adam Pollock, and Michael Schweitz over Karl Eugster.

Quarterfinal advancers were Miller/Smart in Open Men, McCoy/Wallace in Open Women, and Block/Paillet in Masters.

Racing was done for the day just after 2pm giving participants a chance to rest up before Friday night’s World Party which featured food and drink, and Olympic style flag parade, and local riders demoing their skills on the facilities surf simulator. The evening was capped off with a full-scale fireworks show, but with racing the next day, the crowd had thinned by the grand finale. Regardless, it was and impressive party and personally I enjoyed watching the younger world cup athletes from different countries “interact”.

Saturday

Saturday morning got started with the Sprint Semi-Finals. Once again, the top 2 finishers from each heat advanced, this time to “Final A” with the remainder passing to a consolation round dubbed “Final B”. In Men’s Open Baxter/Von Allmen and Portwood/Hasulyo advanced. Zilg/Paris and Barnes/Duhaime for the Ladies. Meskauskas/Sandler and Batson/Block in Masters.

In the end of the Sprint Competition John Batson stood atop the Master’s podium flanked by Bryan Block and John Meskauskas. April Zilg dominated while Katniss Paris just edged out Kim Barnes. Connor Baxter continued his sprint dominance with Daniel Hasulyo and Jake Portwood rounding out the podium in Men’s Open.

After conclusion of the Sprints, the technical Semi-Finals were up, once again, top to finishers went to “Final A”, with the remainder of each heat placed in the “Final B” consolation race.

The first heat saw Eri Tenorio and Jake Portwood advance to the Final A along with second heat top finishers Connor Baxter and Daniel Hasulyo. Juliette Duhaime bested Katniss Paris and Zilg finished ahead of Barnes to set up the women’s Final A. In the Men’s Masters John Batson continued his winning was with Adam Pollack in tow. John Meskauskas and Bryan Block finished out the lineup for the finals.

Other events then took center stage including kayak and canoe relay races and the Red Bull build your own boat and try-not-to-die-in-it contest.  Also known as the Red Bull Rapids, the event featured watercraft of dubious construction and dubious materials piloted by persons of dubious experience levels while wearing costumes the matched the aforementioned dubious watercraft launched down a pretty serious looking set of man-made rapids designed to test the heartiest of whitewater enthusiasts. A large crowd of locals were on hand to witness the event, and while the first few participants were entertaining, the author choose to remove himself from the almost 100-degree heat until the evening race schedule.

You read that right, evening race schedule. This place has lights! In addition to canoe and kayak finals, the SUP Technical Finals were scheduled for the evening session. Quite a few locals lined the riverbanks with lawn chairs and were active if not fascinated by the SUP competition. The Men’s Masters was first up where John Batson once again captured the top prize, John Meskauskas and Brian Block swapped positions on the podium from the sprints. For the Women, April Zilg once again took top billing followed By Juliette Duhaime and Kim Barnes. In the Men’s Open division, Connor Baxter once again found his way too the top, along with Jake Portwood and Eri Tenorio. More fireworks ensued…literally. The fireworks bill alone for this event had to be more than the revenue for most major US races. This included a blast as the winner crossed the finish line. Someone probably should have warned poor April Zilg who was the first to receive the salute and looked as though she might have had a small coronary infraction.

Sunday

Sunday morning was dedicated to the distance race, and while it was the main event for most participants, it kind of had the distinct feeling of something that was happening after-the-fact. Seems most of the kayak and canoe folks had either slept in or gone home. It was breezy, enough to present a little challenge, but not enough to make it a struggle. The unique sprint race-oriented location limited the course options and in the end a course was set consisting of one longer lap and two shorter laps adding up to a total of just over 8k. There was some grumbling about the shorter distance than usual, but organizers had to play with the cards they were dealt. The water start consisted of two waves, men and women.

For the Men’s open it was all Daniel Haysulyo, who broke away and finished almost a full two minutes ahead of Bodie Von Allmen. Eri Tenorio was a mere 6 seconds behind Bodie and for the first time in the weekend, Conner Baxter found himself on the outside looking in.

The Men’s Master’s class was no slouching affair with John Batson making a clean sweep of the weekend. While he was first in-class, he was also 6^th over-all. All of this left perennial bridesmaid John Meskauskas in 2^nd. Kevin Sampson was able to put himself on a podium for the first time in the weekend placing third. Two-time medalist on the weekend Bryan Block was edged off the podium by about 5 seconds. The entire Master’s field completed the distance in just over one hour, making for close competition from front to back. Which makes the author feel less bad about his last place finish.

In the women’s open division, Kim Barnes dug deep and put the hurt on April Zilg preventing a gold medal shutout. In one of the more exciting finishes on the weekend, Katniss Paris charged the finish with Juliette Duhaime in hot pursuit. The photo finish showed a less than 2 second margin.

For this first time of the weekend, there were enough women to have a Master Class race which was won handily by Linda McCoy, with Veronica Sosa claiming the silver medal.

Awards were watched from the water by most astride their boards, in exhaustion, or shock, or just disbelief that it was all over. Speaking only for myself, having the distance race be a little shorter was welcome after two prior days of paddling. It felt nice to dangle my feet in the water and offer my congratulations to some of the fastest paddlers in our sport.

The Afterglow

It’s been a couple days since most if not all of us have returned to our homes, a lucky few find themselves frantically preparing for Gydnia. Poland just about a week from now. Despite life moving on, there is a lasting buzz in the SUP community about OKC. The IFC did a lot of things right:
· Awesome location
· Solid and well-organized all-business around registration, heats, and lane assignments
· Super sucessful multi discipline format
· Major event atmosphere with Olympians and Olympic hopefuls
· Cross-over appeal for athletes and spectators
· Night racing with a real amount of spectators

As for the things that could be improved on, that’s a conversation better left to the competitors and the IFC. If you’re reading this article, and you weren’t in OKC, then there is no reason to publicly throw shade. One exception, I really wish someone would have told me about sandburs before I walked 15 feet across the grass in bare feet to get my board. I’m still trying to get a few of those things out.

One thing is for certain, a new standard has been set for what constitutes “good”, and we have been subject to a preview of what SUP competition is going to look like on the world stage. I’m not sure we need as many fireworks, but most everything else represents an elevation of our sport in positive ways.

Results for all the events can be found here.

2022 SIC Gorge Challenge - Hood River, OR

Mike Wang — Tue, 02 Aug 2022 18:52:28 GMT

The following race report is filed by Bruce Barry, a long-time West Coast SUP racer and downwinder, windsurfer and foiler who currently resides in the Seattle area of the USA SUP Northwest Region.

2022 SIC Gorge Challenge Downwind Race – The Agony and the Ecstasy

First questions first: how windy was it and how did it compare to “big” gorge days? It was windy enough and utterly beyond most forecasts. In fact with all the forecast models available none really caught the day prior to the race (windy Friday) and even Saturday morning between the forecasts and the morning gradients I was not expecting the level of wind we had for the race. At the skippers meeting I was telling people to expect solid 20’s with gusts in the 30’s, instead we had solid 30’s with a few qusts to 40. Forecasts aside, the visuals on the drive from Hood River to Viento dispelled any doubt, it was going to be windy.

Taking a detailed look at the wind graphs from Viento, Swell City/Hatchery, and the Event Site we could summarize by saying that during race time it was a fairly consistent 30mph with a few gusts to 40. And of course there were points along the course with some fairly big holes from the bit of SW cant to the wind and I found two of them by staying closer to the Oregon side hoping for current relief. From a race day standpoint it probably was the windiest of the Naish/SIC series of the 11 races so far, the first race oh so many years ago was also quite windy at the start but it fizzled by the end.

From a “big” day standpoint it was nowhere near the intensity of the 2018 Gorge Downwind Champs nor was it anything remotely like I would consider a “big” day based on my years of experience on the river. For me a pretty big day is when I chose to wear a true life jacket, not the inflatable type. A big day is both life jacket and helmet. There have been a few of those. So for those with a fair amount of skill the 30ish average with a few gusts to 40 was just setting the table for a great ride. 40 gusting 50 plus begins to be a somewhat sobering experience. Kind of fun, but with a lot of potential for disaster.

That being said, the wind velocity did pose some interesting challenges for many. First off, the tool underfoot. The problem with the course is that it has significant and generally predictable changes in bumpiness and waves along the course that favor very different board types. While the first mile off Viento can be quite windy, the water is generally flatter and favors a more race (all-water not flat water) oriented board- SIC RS/Allstar/NSP Carolina, etc. With the amount of wind we had during the race miles 2-6 generally favored more downwind specific boards like the SIC Bullet, etc., – my weird little custom SIC DW 14 absolutely reveled over this part of the course and was quite fast, just up to the last ¾ of a mile where the bumps subsided a bit favoring flatter rockered all-water type race boards. I talked to several people on Allstars and similar who got to take a lot of water breaks mid course. Simply put, the narrower or fatter tailed boards all water race boards either lost just a bit of stability or had too much power off the tail leading to river enforced cooldowns. But this is a common problem with this race – choosing DW specific or race board. Because of space constraints my son-in-law had to choose just one board for his trip to Hood River, and based on my recommendation Wednesday with it looking like a potentially very light air race brought his Allstar rather than his DW specific SIC Bullet. Way to go dad -hahahaha. In any event, a 10-20 mph forecast is going to favor all-water race boards of various widths. And narrower will always be faster, as long as you can stay on top. Even with the wind conditions for this race the more talented folks on the all-water boards were a bit quicker overall. Spencer Lazzar was first in the open on a 14x21.5 SIC RS, I was 7^th overall in the open and likely the first in on a true DW board as I know that at least 4 of the 6 people ahead of me were on all-water boards. Fins themselves are another perspective and I keep being surprised by the difference in DW performance between the pretty serviceable stock fins on my SIC’s and the stability and controlled afforded by an aftermarket addition like the Black Project Maliko. Huge difference, and the faster you are going and the more mixed up the chop and swell conditions the more noticeable it becomes.

As just noted, over and above the board choice is the level of experience. The river can be fairly unforgiving for the unprepared or unskilled. There were lots of strong paddlers who did not have the best race placement this year based on board use, but they still got down the river just fine with some screaming fast drops although at times a bit wet. There were others that despite the very obvious conditions, may have made a better call by simply letting this one go by and catching the next race in conditions better suited to their abilities. Again, it was very obvious from the beach that this would be a challenge for the lessor skilled.

So to summarize, from a statistical standpoint and looking just at gorge race days, it was pretty windy. An absolute blast for some and a real problem for others. The Agony and The Ecstasy. Somehow I don’t think I can claim coming up with that particular wording.

Next up for those interested: what was the fastest line down the river? Golly gee but I give on that one, except for the last ¾ mile. With the strong current many including me seemed to think the Oregon side was favored and I trended that way. Bob Rueter trended a bit further inside of me towards Oregon and did great for awhile but slowly faded back, so I think I was probably in a bit more wind closer to the middle which overcame the current advantage. A bit east of Mitchell Point life was looking good for me as I couldn’t see any green shirts ahead of me, I could no longer hear Spencer hooting and hollering so I assumed I had pulled ahead, and Marius Lina and I kept trading places – anytime I can even see Marius in a race means I am doing well. But Spencer and Gregg Leion trended middle to slightly Washington and while I thought I was clear ahead of both I was stunned at the mid channel red buoy to find them on my left peripheral vision coming up on the Washington side and slowly working ahead as I was caught in a lull. Yes Virginia, for the unlucky there were lulls to be found. Both got well ahead of me at Split Rocks/Ruthton Point, but then on the Wells Island expressway I ducked pretty tight into Oregon with a direct line from Split Rocks to Wells Island and my little needle nose board settled nicely into the shallows and short waves and I had my fastest miles of the race on this current reduced stretch. By the east end of Wells Island I had caught up to Gregg who had stayed just a bit more Washington side, and was literally drafting him as we entered the flats east of Wells. At which point I made a tactical decision based on my earlier in the week runs that proved wrong by going deep inside the Wells kimchee bowl hoping to ride the usually blasting SW winds out to the finish line. Except I paddled straight into a lull. Gregg and Marius got safely ahead and such is racing. So sometimes the Oregon side was faster and sometimes the middle was faster. Learned a lot there, right on. And speaking of conundrums we follow below……

And no question about what the best line was can be safely answered without understanding what in the world happened with the Pro Men and Pro Women, and Open Women’s groups that started 30 and then 20 minutes ahead of the Open Men. Comparing times, the first 14 men in the Open BEAT CONNOR BAXTER??? And all the Pro Women finished in an impossible less than 40 minutes which has to be a Race Committee error. But the fastest Open Women who started with the Pro Women finished in a likewise hard to believe WAY LONGER time than almost all of the men. Neither the pictures nor the wind graphs give much of a clue. Did these folks go around BOUY 32 and then have a nasty beam on paddle for 1 mile? Was the Race Committee timing somehow off but in different directions for these 3 groups? For the Open Men – I know the timing was right as it was within a minute of what my watch recorded. Could the current have changed that drastically in 30 minutes. Was there a huge mid river lull that the recording stations didn’t capture? I would love someone to fill me in. I will say that just prior to the Mens Open start I was at the east pin end and heard the starter remark that the safety boat was saying the Pro Men were getting the biggest waves they had ever seen in the history of this race. Quite the mystery here. But I am all ears to theories.

So another great DW race is history, and this time with the added dimensions of all the different foiling craft and boats. Great racing. May the force be with you.

Bruce Barry 7/27/22

A few pics follow.

The first below shows me 1 second from Ecstasy. Joel Yang on the safety/photo boat caught me balanced on the tip of a wave, figuring out my line, and one single stroke away from dropping into the biggest bomb of my race. You can kind of get an idea of the elevation by simply looking at the much lower water level behind me.

Next up is a good view of my custom 14x24 SIC. 22#, around 225 liters of flotation, no flotation in the forward third of the board, and fairly flat with the rocker achieved simply by shaving foam off the forward bottom. This board is an absolute rocket if you can keep the nose skimming the water ahead for 14’ of drive and then moving back quickly (I mean really quickly) to avoid playing lawn darts on the drop in. Of course in the flats as this shows it rapidly becomes a 12’6” or so, whatever competitive gains I make need to happen before the flats at the E end of Wells Island.

Finally, the day after. Viento on Sunday in 10mph winds. Even in light air another very addicting kind of rush.

PaddleSplash Festival 2022 @ Lake Natoma, Sacramento, CA

Mike Wang — Mon, 01 Aug 2022 20:33:49 GMT

By Shelly Alves (Race Organizer of PaddleSplash Festival 2022)

Hello paddlers!

Thank you to everyone who joined us at PaddleSplash 2022. We had a greattime and are so proud of all the racers for their accomplishments
especially the 20 people who were brave enough to try racing for the
first time and the 22 kids who raced their hearts out! Having Candice
Appleby at our event was AMAZING, I had numerous paddlers come up to meafter taking her clinics and say how much they learned from her and whata wonderful teacher she is! If you have any photos please feel free to
post on Facebook on our PaddleSplash Festival page or tag us on your
page posts @norcalsup and @PaddleSplashFestival on Facebook.

We gave out over 150 Life jackets to the community and were please with the amount of people who joined our Nor Cal SUP Groms team on the beach clean up!

We really appreciate your support of our program and look forward to
next years festival. We will send out a "save the date" email to all of
you as soon as we have confirmed the 2023 dates.

https://results.changeofpace.com/results.aspx?CId=16356&RId=6102&EId=1

See you on the water.....

Shelly

NSCA-CPT

Paramedic-R

https://www.facebook.com/NORCALSUP

We are a 501c3 Charity

Missoula Montana's Windermere SUP CUP - A Race Full of Alo-HAAWW!!

Kristin Thomas — Thu, 21 Jul 2022 22:50:51 GMT

Missoula Montana's Windermere SUP CUP - A Race Full of Alo-HAAWW!!

by Linda McCoy - USA SUP SouthCentral Region Rep

I had so much fun in Missoula this weekend at the 10th Annual Windermere SUP CUP! The race benefits the Watershed Education Network and the Missoula Food Bank's EmPower Pack Program. The EmPower Pack program provides food for children to eat over the weekends when they are not able to access meals at school! It's so fun to see the Food Bank team paddling dressed up as various food items- like a strawberry, banana, bacon slice, egg, ketchup, or a carrot! They raffled off a BOTE inflatable paddleboard this year! The lucky winner was a Montana local, Doreen Stokes! Most of the 70 participants are locals from Montana and Washington, but paddlers come from all over the US and Canada!

My CenTexSUP team from Austin, Texas attended for the third year and we plan to go every year! Shoutout to my teammates Veronica and Julia - this was their first river race and they both finished strong!! The race is sponsored by Windermere Realty and the volunteers do an amazing job! This year, they extended the course to a 4.5 mile course ending at McCormick Park. Once you check in and get your timing chip in the morning, you load your board on the truck and hop on the shuttle to the start line!

It is professionally timed by Competitive Timing and it's a race against the clock! Paddlers cross the starting line carpet start at Sha-Ron fishing area and hit the water as fast as possible. The eddy at the start line is a challenge right off the bat! The Clark Fork River, one of a limited number of "wild & scenic" rivers in the US, has a nice steady flow and a few spots of bumpy water. This makes the course quick and fun! There are two "drops" along the way that are a little intimidating, but navigable. Next year's race will be held Sunday, July 16th, 2023 - mark your calendars!

The Clark Fork River is an amazing river and the scenery is astounding! You may even see a bison on a paddleboard (even if it's just on someone's shirt)! Missoula is such a cute town - full of restaurants, cute shops, ice cream stands, and breweries! But I have to say that my favorite part of this race is definitely the people! Everyone is so friendly!! It is great to connect with people year after year and see how our USASUP community continues to grow!

Awards are given for Men's and Women's Elite (cash prize) and Recreational Men's and Women's (prize packs) as well as recognition for the fastest team! To enter as a team, you need to have at least 5 people paddle the course. The average of the top 4 paddlers on your team determines the winner! I'm proud to say that our CenTexSUP team has won the top team honors 3 years in a row! My teammate, Jim placed 2nd Men's Elite and I placed 2nd Women's Recreational. Watch out Missoula! Texas will be back next July!

This year's podium finishers include:

Elite Men's: Dan Miller (1), Jim Nickerson (2), and Mitchell Schafhauser (3)

Elite Women's: Jonni Pekus (1), Sue Miks (2), and Tricia Lyons (3)

Recreational Men's: Carver Butterfield (1), Jeff Haacke (2), and Cameron Stewart (3)

Recreational Women's: Sarah Lucero (1), Linda McCoy (2), and Doreen Stokes (3)

You can find the full results here: https://competitivetiming.com/windermere-sup-cup-results/
Congrats to all of the paddlers for coming out and finishing the fun and challenging course!

I hope to see y'all in Montana next year to share in the Alo-HAW spirit of the Windermere SUP CUP!

https://www.facebook.com/SupCupMT

http://supcupmt.com/

Go to USASUP.org and join today! Without U, we are just SASP :0)

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Rodgers and Hammerstein Never Saw This Coming

By Harrison Withers

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A Plan Takes Shape

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Friday

Saturday

Sunday

The Afterglow

2022 SIC Gorge Challenge - Hood River, OR

PaddleSplash Festival 2022 @ Lake Natoma, Sacramento, CA

Missoula Montana's Windermere SUP CUP - A Race Full of Alo-HAAWW!!