Surftech Kalamalka Classic Race Report

We had a great weekend in eastern B.C. 80 degrees, clear skies and great folks. The two day event started Saturday with a 3.5 mile stock SUP race. The race included a 200 yard portage across a spit of land on Lake Kalamalka. Myself and Norm Hann of Squamish got out to an early lead ahead of the rest of the pack. Norm is a super strong paddler and I had to really dig to put a little time ahead of him. I beat him by only about one minute or so.

Saturday night they had a great dinner/party/awards ceremony. Good food, drink and bocce ball.

Sunday was a 10 miler point to point race that covered the length of Lake Kalamalka. Myself, Norm, Bodie (Surftech rep) and 17 y/o Mitchell Santaga of Vancouver left last in the "unlimited" division although we were all on 14 foot boards. Once again Norm was hard to shake and I only beat him by about 5 minutes at the end. It was HOT. My Camel Bak was empty by the end and I wasn't really sweating anymore.

Kelvin Humenny of North Vancouver won the stock class on Sunday, paddling a beautiful, hollow cedar SUP that he made as well as a home made paddle!

It was a great event and all the new SUP folks I met were awesome. Great ohana! (Look it up if you don't know this Hawaiian word)

Some of the racers after Sundays race...

The top 5 guys from Saturdays race...
Myself, Norm & Bodie after the 10 miler...
Myself and Norm about 100 yards into the 10 miler...

Juan de Fuca Race Photos

Photos courtesy of Michael Lampi....

Beau Whitehead rounding the hook at 11 miles...

Rod Parmenter with Don Kiesling (prone)....
Rick Graves, 13 miles on a 12'6" board!
The legend Bill (Pono) Babcock... dressed for the Arctic....

The Naish Javelin!

Myself & fellow team mate Karen Wrenn were the first two people on the west coast to receive these boards. They are Naish's most recent project in developing a 14 foot flat water race SUP.

The board is constructed of EPS foam, wrapped in pine, epoxy and carbon fiber cloth. It is light!

It is 26" wide and 6 1/4 " thick! It is the fastest board I have paddled next to a 18 foot Bark, and honestly, it might be just as fast. On a recent Wed. night training race I covered the course in 38 minutes which equalled an avg. speed of 5.52 mph.

But this impressive speed comes at a cost... stability. If you are a beginner, this board might only suit you in dead-flat water. But if you are a capable waterman/woman, this board can take you to the podium in many water conditions.

This nose cuts through chop like nothing else...

My new Rainbow Fin Company racing fin...

I added some bungie tie-downs for things like GPS, water bottles or those pesky PFD's required at some races...

Glamour shot...

Juan de Fuca Race Report

The downwinder that wasn't.... Well, there was a breeze out of the west, but it was light. But the flood tide did help with the overall speeds on the 13 mile course.

The course went from Freshwater Bay, 11 miles to Ediz Hook and then 2 miles south into Port Angeles. 7 SUP's started with a mix of prone paddleboards and a few ocean kayaks. The fast surf skis and OC's started 30 minutes behind us.

According to Don K. who was on a prone board and paddled with us for the first 2/3's of the race, we averaged 7.2mph for the first hour. It was HOT. All I was wearing was wet suit shorts and a t-shirt and I was drenched in sweat & worried about dehydration. I emptied most of my Camel Bak bladder before the end of the race.

The first 11 miles all had a following breeze, but the last two met us with a side wind that was like a slap in my very tired face. That last two miles seemed to take forever.

I thought I was going to be the first vessel from our wave in, but a solo kayaker passed me with 1 mile to go. Then I finished at 1:52 followed by Don K. on his paddleboard. 2nd place SUP was Rod Parmenter from Hood River on his 18' F18 and then bad-ass Portland firefighter Rick Graves was 3rd on a 12'6" Hobie!

Great job to all. Pictures to follow.

Rob Casey Tidal Surge Article

A good article about an adventure we had a few months ago...

http://www.supthemag.com/features/intro-to-tidal-rapid-suping/

Ski to Sea 2010

Nothing to do with SUP...

Once again I did the mountain bike leg for my Ski to Sea team. Same team I've been on for 10 years; Beavers Tree Service. Was on my bike about 8 times this winter prior to the race. Still managed to have the 11th fastest time out of 465 riders. Shows you what SUP racing and Tac-Fit training can do for you. Although I did almost lose it for us as I was caught by our competitors biker and lost a minute to him. Our kayaker killed it though and regained first place.

Our team was 7th overall and 1st in County Division... my wife's team was the 2nd woman's team, first woman's county team & 23rd overall.