Stand Up Paddleboarding is my new little passion. I discovered it fall 2008 at Santa Claus beach, a beach just south of Santa Barabara CA. Andrew and I were on our first road trip down the west coast famous highway 101. We were chillin with my teammate Daniel from Yogaslackers and met up with some camp staff I used to work with in MN. They introduced SUPin' to us and I loved it. Andrew's first experience involved paddling side by side with a dolphin, which is pretty awesome in itself. I was on my way to a 6 month trip to South America which involved moutain biking, racing and hiking and soon forgot about this neat little sport I tried until I returned to Vancouver and saw that Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks had started renting some SUP boards. I went out a couple of times and knew this was something I would be involved with. It was a combination of many of my passions (balance from slacklining, full body fitness, and the outdoors)... I needed to know more.... The summer came and left and well so did the winter and school and skiing and lots and lots of great things....

In April Andrew and I flew to Baja Mexico for a 6 day kayak trip and had a couple of extra days to spare. We found a kiteboarders heaven: La Ventana Beach. It was off season for kiting but perfect for SUPin' and so we did just that and explored some SUPin' there again... We saw fish from a new height and enjoyed the exercise and relaxation on the boards. Needless to say I was still intrigued by this new sport.

Spring rolled around and I began working part time at Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks. I realized that I was spending my breaks and time before and after work on the SUP. I decided to race the Indian Arm race on the SUP... It was tough, it was long but it was my kind of race... I found out about this race in Vernon called the Kalavida Classic.. It would be my first real SUP event/race. Andrew, Kala, and I headed over with a board and some mountain bikes. I won both races, I felt great and I loved it. I was onto something.

Deep Cove started a SUP category on their weekly Tuesday Night races. At first this was tough for me because I also love surf skiing and loved using the Tuesday night races as my surf ski training but I was becoming more and more involved with SUPin' and began showing stronger and stronger feelings towards using these races as training for future SUP races.

I traveled the weekend before my wedding to Ucluelet to participate in the Island SUP race series. I had an awesome race coming in 4th overall (regardless of boat class). My presence in the scene in BC was growing and I was finding quick success and passion for this new sport.

I was away on my amazing honeymoon for the two big races in WA state and wasn't feeling organized enough to head to California to race in the biggest SUP race event of the year, The Battle of the Paddle. I was disappointed but determined to make it happen for the following year. To my surprise Bob from Deep Cove Canoe and Kayaks and Assistant Director Mike were heading down and were happy to help me out. I booked my plane a day before I left and I quickly found myself learning to stand up paddlesurf on Dana Point Beach.

I was negotiating the elite race all day/night and the morning of. I decided that in life taking healthy risks usually leads to some kind of growth/learning experience. I would only learn and excel as a paddler if I paddled with the best. So I found myself on the start line with 25 other elite ladies and about 120 elite men.

The course was a W loop course where surfing skills, turning skills, endurance, power and a little bit of luck were all essential to come out on top. I luckily acquired some of these essential skills but confidence and practice in the surf was going to be the difficult portion of the race for me. I had surfed before (not the standing up kind with a paddle) but sparingly, maybe once or twice a year depending on where I was traveling too. The gun went off and onto the board I climbed. I believe I fell off somewhere heading through the surf right off the start, most likely from nerves and being too stiff, so I forced myself to relax and stay calm and just try my best with the skills and knowledge I had thus far. Starboard helped me out with boards, for this race I was on a Free Race 12'6 x 31' Custom board. My thought with taking the slower and wider board versus the more race specific board was to sacrifice my flat water speed by being on a wider board (most elite racers were on 25' or so boards) in hope to stay upright more often in the surf. Well, I had good moments and bad moments... I was lucky at points: where we had to turn in breaking waves the majority of the time I missed the set but I also happen to be unlucky at times or just falter in the surf from inexperience.

I had moments where I wished I had entered the age groups and I had moments of great accomplishments and feeling proud to have taken up the challenge of the elite course. My result wasn't stellar but at least I have time and motivation to work towards improvement. Now, looking back I feel nothing but the feeling of success. I was the only Canadian on that start line, i gave it my all and I started racing and truly paddling 5 months ago. I am stoked.

I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out the expo, talking to reps, sponsors, athletes, etc. It was great to share stories, hear stories, and relax. We spent the night with the Starboard crew.

Sunday turned out to be a relatively big day! lots of good time spent on the board. I entered the distance race. I raced on the 14ft Starboard race board. I had never been on the board which I suppose isn't the best strategy for a big race but I felt lucky to just be there and have a board to stand on. The race included a mass start on the water with 180 paddlers... a little crazy but I made it through noentheless. I was feeling pretty good through the first third but was quickly noticing that I was using tons of effort and wasn't feeling the ease through the water that I naturally do? I pushed hard though through entire race, a little frustrated at not feeling the flow but enjoying the battle of the long course. This is definitely my strength and oddly enough what I absolutely love, just hammering for as long as I possibly can... it's just me against my own strength and determination. I was pleased with my 1:29 time for a 10 miler.. but unlucky for me I was in a tough category... next time..... though watch out folks... I am on a mission.

TEAM CANADA RELAY: 20th out of 50 teams!

I think the highlight of this amazing weekend was taking part in our team Canada relay competition. Kelvin, Norm, Bodie and I rounded out the team. The race consisted of paddling out the surf around 2 bouys back through the surf, onto the beach run 75ft tag your teammate and repeat through whole team twice. We were on the Surftech Bark 12'6, which is a great all around board! My first lap was going great until a board came flying into my head and knocked me off my board (a popular occurrence when you have 200 paddlers going in and out of surf, some with leashes and some without...). luckily I was fine and climbed back on my board to finish off my round.... The atmosphere, the excitement and the teamwork made the experience an unforgetable one. There has got to be something to be said about teammates and working as a team, it is something you just don't get in solo races... It is something I miss a ton from Adventure Racing. The comaderie brings people closer in a way that is hard to match. After our interview for the live webcast and coming off our high, it was all over and time to take down, say goodbye to folks and try and enjoy the last couple of hours in california.

The battle of the paddle is quite the event, it's huge, it's loud, and it's inspiring. The vibe is all about Stand Up and its quite the experience to have hundreds of people so into the same thing.

I have to say I am even more hooked than I was before, and even more keen to teach, to motivate, to give others this opportunity to enjoy this awesome new sport.

live, love, laugh,..DREAM!

lina

Thanks kindly to Bob Putnam at Deep Cove Kayak for his insightful look into the 2010 Battle of the Paddle, Doheny!

Too much fun? If there can be too much fun, my recent trip to California for the Battle of the Paddle (BOP) was dangerously close.

It was a full weekend of hanging out in a cool location, with nice people and all the SUP toys you can imagine. The grand scheme was to make this a weekend of experiencing the SUP culture and industry first hand. Gain skills and knowledge so Deep Cove Outdoors, and DC Canoe & Kayak Centre can be on the cutting edge of SUP stuff. It was also a test of physical stamina and endurance on several different levels. Jam as much activity into one weekend as possible. Late nights, early mornings, schmoozing, surfing, racing and info intake.

I traveled with the instructional team from Deep Cove Canoe & Kayak Centre to Dana Point, CA. Mike Darbyshire and Lina Augaitus. We arrange our flights to maximize the weekend. A 6:30 am departure on Friday (that means getting up at 3:30) and a 9 pm return flight on Sunday. Monday morning was rough!

I have never been south of San Francisco, so I was pretty excited. Dana Point is south of Laguna Beach. We left Interstate 405, and took "Beaches Boulevard" to Huntington Beach. All the big name beaches I had heard of all my life were there. Newport, Laguna, Long, just to name a few. Palm trees and strip malls.

We stopped at "Stand Up Paddle Company" in Laguna Beach. It was definitely "Up Scale". Being a retailer I was ogling some of their roll out display rack that must have been worth a small fortune.

The BOP is more than just a race. It is a gathering of the SUP industry to promote their products and services. Set up on the beach the SUP Circus occupied 500 metres of shoreline. Side by side, 10 x 10 tents promoting every imaginable product that could be related to SUP sport. Jewelry, clothing, storage systems, sun screen, sun glasses, fitness programs, instruction and boards, boards, boards and all the big name paddlers you could possibly squeeze into an area that small. Big names that I didn't even know were big names, and boy do they ever make a big deal of the big names. I could have been standing next to Joe Bark and I wouldn't have even known it. Muscle man SUP paddler, Chuck Patterson could have kicked sand in my face and I wouldn't have even appreciated it. I was pretty naive.....still am!

One huge benefit of this event, is that you can test pretty much any type of SUP board you want. A word of advice, bring your paddle and bring your leash as these were in short supply. On Friday the manufactures were still setting up and the only board I could get my hands on was a 12' Riviera with no-leash. After trying to get my surfing style going, (read no style) I finally had a major wipe out and lost the board. Fortunately the board made it to short in quick order and I swam in like a goober as some 10 year old beach kid rescued the board from damage. Luckily nobody seemed too concerned. Note to self: must find leash. Waves were 2 - 4 feet. It was pretty good for a novice.

Friday Night: party at one of the original Hobie Stores, free beer and burgers, live music and I might have rubbed shoulders with big name SUPers. Tanned big dudes, with big smiles and big laughs. I had a great chat with Jake the owner of the Hobie store. Nice guy and very forthcoming with advice.

Saturday was race day, Lina had bravely signed up for the Elite race. A very challenging course that ran in and out of the surf zone. One of the 180 degree turn marks had 4 foot waves regularly breaking in front of it. Imagine approaching a 180 turn and a wave picks you and your surfing past the mark, now add 10 of your dearest and closest competitors on the same wave. Yes, it was carnage! Lina had a brave face but you could see her questioning her judgement prior to the race start. Although she is very fit and she can grind away for hours at most activities, this course required a high level of technical surfing skills, most of which she is still trying to acquire. She toughed it out and we were proud of her effort.

Mike and I signed up for the Open race. A much less challenging course, once out through the surf, followed by 5 laps of a square course and then back through the surf. Piece of cake, eh? My training had been minimal, and any delusions of success I had prior to the race were mere fantasies as I was soon to learn. Fun? Yep for sure! Mike had a great race placing 3rd in the 19 - 29 category and Deep Cove SUPer Kelvin Humenny also got a 3rd in 40 - 50 surf category. Well done boys!

After that I was feeling pretty done. The gas tank was near empty and I loafed around the beach and entertained thoughts of heading back to the hotel for a snooze. But after a couple hours of hanging out on the beach the lure of surfing dragged me back out.

My body was starting to fail me, new surfing and SUP muscles were making their presence known. This late afternoon surf session was the highlight of my weekend. I was paddling a Starboard Whopper 10'6" x 34" in TAC (that's the wood veneer) What a great looking and fun surfing board it is. The crowds were waning, there was a reggae band on the beach and the sun was low in the sky, it was pretty good! On one surf into the beach, Declan from Starboard asked me to tell the other guys to come in as it was time to pack up. Ken, Declan's business partner, was out surfing too and when I relayed the message his was repsonse was, "Tell him to get his ass out here"...or something to that effect. It wasn't long before Declan was out on the water, and we surfed for another hour.

A late night at the Double Tree lounge, an early morning getting Lina to the distance race. I was a hurting unit and all day to surf. I had to visit Bodie Shandro from Surftech. Deep Cove Outdoors will be carrying the SurfTech Brand for 2011, so I had to check out their boards. Its work I tell ya! Laird Hamilton surfers, Joe Bark race boards. They are all awesome. Bodie, Lina, Kelvin and Norm Hann made up Team Canada for the relay race. They all seemed to have great fun in the relay.

On the way home on Mike's suggestion we stopped and Huntington Beach and watched the surfers from the famous pier. It was the end to a great weekend.
I have to admit I'm hooked on SUP!
Bob

Thanks again for your report Bob, and you can check out deepcovecanoeandkayak.blogspot.com for more information about Deep Cove Kayak and everything else SUP related going on down in the Cove!

I've heard so many amazing things about the Battle of the Paddle over the past couple of years, that I knew I had to attend this event sooner than later... Preferably sooner.

The Superbowl of SUP, the biggest SUP event on the Planet, the best weekend ever on an SUP... The list continued to the point where I really started to feel I was missing something major by not attending.

2010 was to be THE year, the year I was to finally get to the BOP. That is until that piece of paper came in the mail. Bedazzled with fake diamonds, a pink bow, all enclosed in an intricately folded envelope. "You are requested to be in attendance on October 2nd, 2010 for the marriage of"... Shit, maybe next year.

Starting on the Tuesday leading up to the races, reading my Facebook newsfeed was like an extra large kick in the teeth... "I'm in SF on the way to BOP!", "YVR-PDX-LAX, BOP", "just got back from sweet surf session at Doheny, amazing!", etc. etc. The build up was unprecedented, and unprecedentedly depressing for me as pretty much everyone I knew that's involved in the Canadian SUP race scene was making their way down to Southern California for the weekend of events.

So on Saturday morning, I tuned into the webcast to check out all the action I was missing out on. Danny Ching blazing the field with Jamie Mitchell rolling in at second place, Candice Appleby taking first place in the ladies.

It really was impressive to see the contrast between the pros and the rest of the field... Fluid, rapid strokes propelling their boards through the surf, in between the other competitors and around the buoys... Quite the sight to see for sure!

And though the video feed didn't show much beyond the race action and the chicane transfer section on the beach, you could just tell the atmosphere on land was absolutely electric!

So anyways... Enough of my "on the outside looking in" banter, here are a few posts from some of our fellow Canadian racers  who were lucky enough to be in attendance...

• Lina Augaitis: "I have to say I am even more hooked than I was before, and even more keen to teach, to motivate, to give others this opportunity to enjoy this awesome new sport."
• Kelvin Humenny: "met legendary Gerry Lopez as well as surf pioneer Mickey Munoz. Surfed some very nice clean waves as well..."
• Norm Hann: "I was super excited to be competing in, and experiencing the superbowl of SUP racing."
• Bob Putnam: "Too much fun? If there can be too much fun, my recent trip to California for the Battle of the Paddle (BOP) was dangerously close."
• Kevin O'Brien: "Plenty of crazy falls, collisions, and wild action for one of the most amazing sporting events you’ll ever see."

I gotta admit it wasn't all bad... Even though I constantly wished I could have been down in Dana Point, the wedding ended up being a really good time. Like, for a wedding at least.

Next year... Next year for sure!

Some words and photos from Kelvin Humenny, one of the top placing Canadian paddlers at this year's Battle of the Paddle Doheny, California...

Bodie put together team Canada for the relay with Lina, Norm and myself.

It was a frantic competition, each team member does a lap out and back through surf and runs a loop on the beach before tagging the next paddler (on the same board), 2 laps each, it was a bit like a stock car race, banging into each other going out and surfing in.

We placed 20th out of 50 teams including elite racers.
Kevin and the boys from the Okanagan made it down too and added to the Canadian content.

Lina and Norm raced the elite race, I haven't figured out their positions from the results yet.
(editor's note, full results can now be found here)

Norm placed 7th in his class in the 10 mile distance race.

I however, was late for the start... (don't ask). but had a good paddle anyway, and just a note, surfing an unlimited board for the first time in front of hundreds of people was humbling. Yes, I crashed, but so did Jericho Poppler...

I placed 2nd overall in the open race in the surf class, missing first by 5 seconds to Claudio Chain from Brazil.
But I did get to meet legendary Gerry Lopez as well as surf pioneer Mickey Munoz.

Surfed some very nice clean waves as well....