Urban Surf/Naish Final Points After 6 Race Series

Mens Results: RUSSEL D'CARD 12 JEFF UNDERWOOD 33 BEAU WHITEHEAD 34 TYLER HESSE 35 LEE MURRAY 35 PATRIC ALO 51 ERIC SCHULER 57 JEFF BIGLER 59 BOB MCDERMOTT 62 DAVID QUASUA 72 MARK RIBKOFF 73 BRANDON HEISER 75 MARK BENTLEY 78 KEITH HARKNESS 82 GREG GILBERT 84 JEFF B 86 JORGE 87 GREG U. 88 JEFF R. 91 MICHAEL MACENKA 91 JOSHUA THOMPSON 92 JAY MARCONI 92 MATT PARKER 94 MAX EFFGEN 94 JASON 96 DUSTIN SOUSLEY 96 JOSH 96 ALLAN BEELER 97 CHRISTIFER 98 DEVIN CARROLL 98 MARTIN TOBIAS 99 TANNER 99 HENRY AKA PARA PADDLER 99 PHIL G 100 CARL G 100 GREGG 100 COREY DOLAN 100 COLIN 101 JOE SCHENCK 101 JAMES 101 JUNIOR WRIGHT 102 Womens Results: TATIANA LESSEN 10 KATIE HILL 23 SUZY CORNELL 23 NIKKI WAISS 24 KATRINA IDILL 25 JEAN ANNE DOBROWOLSKI 27 JENELLE STUSSY 27 ALLISON BRUNER 28 JEN MORRISON 29 KATIE PAULSON 29 LAUREN SUMMERS 31 KATIE STORKMAN 33 VICKI GEZON 33 HEIDI HENG 34

A Good Cause...

Not everything is about paddling. Sometimes we need a little reality check when we get too caught up in what we think is important. Who's winning what race, who's surfing who's wave. It doesn't really mean squat in the big picture. I had the honor of spending a few hours today with some great kids at the Camp Phoenix Burn Camp on Samish Island. These kids come from all over the country to spend a week with kids who have the same problem... disfiguring burns. This is a place where they can just be kids and not worry about getting teased or stared at. It was truly humbling and a great experience for me and my fellow Bellingham firefighters.

If you are ever looking for a very worthwhile cause to donate to, this is a good one...

http://www.burnedchildrenrecovery.org/

Me & Austin, a cool kid from Texas...
Austin offered me $1 million for my dog Anna....
My fellow f.f. Chris Starkey helping a camper with a RC boat...
Me and a camper after we exchanged Facebook info (-:

Ta-Hoe Nalu Results and More Pics

Full 2010 Results...

http://ta-hoenalu.com/events/

A few more great pictures shot by Dave Chun of Kialoa Paddles and Ryan Salm...

Kialoa/Naish Team rider Karen Wrenn on her way to 3rd in the

Elite womens field....

John Wrenn finishing the brutal Open race...
Mitchell Santaga of Vancouver B.C. finishing the Open race...

I love this pic of Chuck P.... just a little chop.

The Elite field after the race...
Start of the Elite race... Brandon Rambo is already up and going, while I'm still slogging out.
Check the kiters in the back ground...
One more lap, one more lap, one more lap...

Ta-Hoe Nalu 2010

Normally Lake Tahoe is calm & hot. Not this weekend though. The forecasters called for high wind warnings on Saturday & Sunday and they got it right unfortunately. I chose Tahoe as one of my "big races" this summer because of my lack of skill when the swell gets big. I had pictures in my head of mirror-glass conditions and hot, flat water racing. It turned-out to be the opposite.

The wind and white-caps would come marching across the lake at about 9 a.m. each morning. Saturday the wind hit gusts up to 40 mph and steady at 25.

Saturday morning started with the Open 5 mile race that followed the shore line out 2.5 miles and then back. Shoulder-high side chop the whole way. Many people couldn't even stay on the boards while kneeling. It was brutal for those guys. Rod Parmenter finished 3rd in that one.

I was seriously stressed out waiting for the Elite race in the afternoon. My Naish Javelin is so fast, yet so tippy. At the last minute team mate Karen Wren and I swapped out for 12' Naish Glides. Not fast, but excellent for the waist to shoulder high chop we were going to battle in and out with. When the referee blew the whistle, it was the first time I ever paddled the Glide. It was a 4 lap race, with a beach run every lap. I spent the entire first lap figuring out the board, and by that time my race was over. I was in "just finish" mode. I ended up 19th out of 21 elite men. Bummer. Glad that was over! Karen smoked me and all her time on Hood River and Maliko really showed! Danny Ching won, followed by Rob Rojas and Chuck Patterson.

The next day was the 10 mile distance race. I showed up at the beach wearing pants and 4 sweatshirts, trying to stay warm. They moved the start time up to 9 a.m to try to beat the wind, but literally at 8:45 it blew in again. Crap. Not as bad as Saturday, but again there was chest high chop out there. It was a 5 mile out into the wind, turn around, and "surf" back. Again we were scrambling for more stable boards 30 minutes before the start. Karen got a 14' Glide and I got a 12'6" Ron House, sweet!

The first 5 miles seemed to take forever... gusts up to 30mph would almost stop me dead in my tracks. I was stoked though because I was keeping up with Rod on his 18' SIC. I knew that anyone with downwind experience was going to smoke me on the way home. We rounded the buoy, finally, and Rod was gone... bye bye. I think he put 12 minutes on me in the last 5 miles. Again I'm on a board I had never paddled before! I gotta quit doing that! Then came the muscle cramps in my legs and lats. Then I started falling in for no reason. Felt like my body was turning on me. Ended up finishing around 20th place and 2nd in Stock Division. 2 hours and 26 minutes to go 10 miles, a new "slowest average" record for me.

Danny Ching won the OC division while Rob Rojas & Chuck Patterson took the SUP division on their unlimiteds. Karen Wrenn was the 2nd female, a great weekend for her again! Great job Karen, you are a force to be reckoned with.

My awesome sponsors Dave and Meg Chun of Kialoa gave me a bed in their condo and fed me and basically took awesome care of me for the whole weekend. They are the greatest folks in the world and I am honored to use their paddles. They got "soul." They ain't flashy, they just do it right, and they treat their riders awesome. Chuck Patterson came over for dinner and along with Karen and John Wrenn it was great.

The atmosphere, like at most these events was super cool, friendly and laid back. Dave had a huge cooler full of beer in the Kialoa tent that anyone with a smile was welcome to drink. A great weekend, all in all, except for the 28 hours of driving to get there and back...

Jeff Underwood after the brutal open race...

Me & Chuck Patterson... I'm half his size!

Me and Danny Ching... I'm half his speed!
Danny and Dave Chun of Kialoa Paddles...
Me & Dave... the best sponsor a guy could have!
Chuck & Meg Chun talking paddles

Chuck's boards...


Seattle boy Greg Gilbert getting it done!
Hood River local Rod Parmenter finishing the open 3rd!
Start of the open 5 miler... CRAZY wind.

Brandon Rambo pinky-lifting the 13 pound 404
Hollow carbon 404's!

Dave & Chuck at the Kialoa condo...
Chuck playing with his dog in front of his mom's house...
Danny Chings OC1

My friends Mitchell & Kelly from Vancouver B.C...

They had a longer drive than me!

Naish/Urban Surf Race Points Standings After 5 Races

Naish/Urban Surf Seattle Series

Points standings after 5 of 6 races... (lowest score wins)

RUSSEL D'CARD 11
BEAU WHITEHEAD 18
TYLER HESSE 29
JEFF UNDERWOOD 30
LEE MURRAY 30
PATRIC ALO 49
ERIC SCHULER 50
JEFF BIGLER 51
BOB MCDERMOTT 53
MARK RIBKOFF 57
BRANDON HEISER 59
MARK BENTLEY 66
GREG GILBERT 68
DAVID QUASUA 68
KEITH HARKNESS 71
JORGE 71
GREG U. 72
MICHAEL MACENKA 75
JEFF R. 75
JOSHUA THOMPSON 76
JAY MARCONI 76
MATT PARKER 78
MAX EFFGEN
JEFF B
DUSTIN SOUSLEY
JOSH
ALLAN BEELER
DEVIN CARROLL
CHRISTIFER
MARTIN TOBIAS
HENRY AKA PARA PADDLER
COREY DOLAN
GREGG
PHIL G
JOE SCHENCK
COLIN
JUNIOR WRIGHT

2010 WOMEN'S RESULTS

TATIANA LESSEN 9
KATIE HILL 15
SUZY CORNELL 15
KATRINA IDILL 17
JEAN ANNE DOBROWOLSKI 19
ALLISON BRUNER 20
JEN MORRISON 21
NIKKI WAISS 22
JENELLE STUSSY 24
KATIE STORKMAN 25
KATIE PAULSON 25
VICKI GEZON 26
LAUREN SUMMERS 26
HEIDI HENG 28

Bellingham Grand Prix Pre-Race #2

Race # 2 went off last night with another great turn-out. The course was lengthened to 4.3 miles. There was a light SW breeze blowing, but enough to give the course some interesting "texture." Which just means I almost fell-in for no reason a few times.

Joost Z. took off like a banshee on my 18' Bark, with Alan chasing hard on a Swetish 14' then me "taking it easy" on my Naish 12'6". I quit taking it easy when I realized that Heather was breathing down my neck at the first turn! Then it was my goal to catch Joost (and maybe not get caught by Heather!) Heather was paddling the bulbous, but very fast Starboard New. Everyones first impression of this board is that it can't be fast... but if you look at race results, and talk to the designer, and then paddle it, it will make you a believer. Yet no one can really tell you why it works. Funny.

Also discovered that the police didn't like the 5 beers I brought down to the beach... perfectly good, cold beer had to be dumped-out on the sand... ah rules.

Here are last nights top 5 results:

Joost Zeegers (18’ Bark) 48:22 1^st

Beau Whitehead (12’6” Naish) 48:44 2^nd

Heather Nelson (12’6” Starboard New) 49:22 3^rd

Allan Lipp (14’ Tom Swetish) 50:50 4th

Dale Plant (14’ Tom Swetish) 52:18 5^th

Here are some photos Lori took from Taylor Dock...

Another great night on the bay...

Jessica paddling hard...
Nice guy Brandon on the slow board of the night...
Josh doing it prone...
Tom S. on his 16'
Brian B. on a 12'3"
Dale going under the first turn...
Me hunting down Alan...
Heather on the Starboard New, only 30 feet behind me...

Naish/Urban Surf Race Points Standings

Naish/Urban Surf Seattle Series

This is the current points after 4 of 6 races... lowest points wins. If you miss a race you get assigned the same points as the last place person at that race...

2010 MEN'S RESULTS TOTAL POINTS

RUSSEL D'CARD 9
JEFF UNDERWOOD 27
BEAU WHITEHEAD 17
LEE MURRAY 25
TYLER HESSE 23
MARK RIBKOFF 40
BRANDON HEISER 42
JEFF BIGLER 42
BOB MCDERMOTT 43
ERIC SCHULER 43
GREG GILBERT 51
GREG U. 55
MARK BENTLEY 55
MICHAEL MACENKA 58
PATRIC ALO 45
JOSHUA THOMPSON 59
MATT PARKER 61
DUSTIN SOUSLEY 63
JOSH 63
ALLAN BEELER 64
KEITH HARKNESS 58
MAX EFFGEN 64
DEVIN CARROLL 65
MARTIN TOBIAS 66
COREY DOLAN 67
JOE SCHENCK 68
JORGE 54
JEFF R. 58
DAVID QUASUA 60
CHRISTIFER 65
HENRY 66
GREGG 67
COLIN 68
JEFF B 61
JAY MARCONI 64


2010 WOMEN'S RESULTS TOTAL POINTS

TATIANA LESSEN 8
KATIE HILL 15
KATRINA IDILL 17
JEAN ANNE DOBROWOLSKI 19
ALLISON BRUNER 20
HEIDI H 20
JEN MORRISON 21
SUZY CORNELL 15
VICKI GEZON 19
LAUREN 21
KATIE 19
NIKKI 18

Huki SUP's For Sale

Check out the Huki site for some 14' race boards that have some minor blemishes...

http://www.huki.com/index.php?page=SUP_Bargains

Just a cool picture...

Sometimes I come across pictures on the net that I just want to share...

This is a guy named Kyron who is on/in a wave around Queensland (Oz)...

What a beautiful view...

Posted by David John on the Stand Up Zone.

Lee Murray Designs...

Great shirt designed by Lee Murray... mouse pads, coffee mugs and car seat covers coming soon... (-: