Old School Board Photos

Nothing to do with SUP... but goes to prove that "once a board-sport geek, always a board sport geek."

While I was at my mom's house for Christmas Eve, I scanned some old photos I found from centuries ago... Pretty good entertainment value... Turns-out there is not a paddle in my hands in any of the pictures...

1986, North Dakota (possibly the first skate-punk to enter the state)

1992? Ski Acres (no longer called that)

I believe this was called a "stale-fish" grab

1989, Chinook Pass
1993? Ski Acres. They closed the pass due to too much rain so we hiked a jump for about 6 hours...
1986, Kent, WA. Note the half-pipe in the back ground

Happy Holidays Everyone!

2010 was a great year for many of us. Let's hope 2011 brings us more great waves, races and friendship. Cheers to all our readers, friends, team mates and competitors!

Sincerely, Beau Whitehead

Lake Washington Downwinder

Fellow racer & Seattle local Greg Gilbert sent me this shot of him downwinding in early November.... you can't tell, but he is wearing shorts.... tougher than I am for sure.

An Exercise In Futility

Today was one of those days that the wind was blowin' hard. 25 mph steady. But no one available to run shuttle cars for a down-winder. So I headed to Marine Park to play in the chop. Little did I know that between 1:20 and 2pm it would pick up to 40 mph sustained with gusts off the chart. (See the big spike on the chart below). MAYBE I was heading upwind at 1 mph. Maybe. But oh boy the ride back was fun... short, but fun. Good, steep waves and nice rides. 5 round trips (about 3/4 mile each) was all I could handle. My arms were done.

Once back on land, the wind was blowing so hard I could not get my board back on the truck. I had to stick it inside and drive to where I could park behind a building that sheltered me from the wind.

Little did I know my old friend Jim Taggert was taking pics from shore and posted them on Facebook almost before I got home. Thanks Jim!

Another Bellingham Bay Downwinder Video

Shot last week (Dec. 8th) by Tom S. A great 3.5 mile run across the bay with 2-3 foot waves and LOT's of rides.

http://www.vimeo.com/17748332

"Race For Your Life" Watercraft Race Series

The Deception Pass Dash was the first of a 5 race series. Points will be awarded throughout the year to the top finishers in each category. Here is info on the other races in the series...

http://deceptionpassdash.blogspot.com/2010/11/race-for-your-life.html

Here are points standings after race #1 (Deception Pass)...

http://deceptionpassdash.blogspot.com/2010/12/race-for-your-life-standings.html

DPD Results

Preliminary results can be found here...

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B0wOxaGjUnFdZGVjZWM5MjUtNWQ2MC00NWJkLThmM2QtMDg0Yzg3NjQ3MWUx&hl=en

Deception Pass Dash 2010

Great race again. Beautiful day and great people. 140+ vessels competed in the 6ish mile course. A little wind, waves, current & kelp made it exciting. I will post results and more photos when they are available...

These pictures were taken by Perfect Wave Surf Shop, an event sponsor. More of their pictures can be found on their Facebook page.

Coming into Bowman Bay for the finish...

The start... 140+ vessels underway....
Perferct Wave team rider Patrick A.
Perfect Wave Team mates Patrick, Bobby, Beau & Blake
Bobby operated the safety PWC during the race...