Additional sponsors include Surftech, Patagonia, Longboard Island Lager and Duke’s.

If you can make it over to Oahu for this event, by all means GO! The Battle of the Paddle is widely known as THE Stand Up Paddleboard race/gathering/all around good times event, and I’m sure the new Hawaiian event will easily live up to the high standard set by the original event held for the past few years at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California. Be sure to check out Bodie Shandro’s (of Surftech/Kialoa) recap of the 2009 event. if you need any further convincing that this is a top notch event!

Be sure to check out the video’s after the press release…

Now come celebrate the modern waterman’s lifestyle at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle Hawaii: a stand-up paddle festival and exposition that includes a series of races and demonstrations for all ages and skill levels. Battle of the Paddle Hawaii invites you to be part of the exciting rebirth of the sport that began right here in Waikiki.

Staged at historic Duke Kahanamoku Beach at Ft. DeRussy, June 12 & 13, the Battle of the Paddle is more than an ordinary paddle race. For the sport’s elite paddlers it presents the greatest championship styled SUP race as well as the sport’s largest cash purse of over $25,000.

There is also an Open Age-Group race, relay races, as well as FREE kids races. At the last Battle of the Paddle in California, the Open Age-Group Race had the largest SUP field ever assembled. The Hawaii race is promising to be even bigger, so come and be a part of history in the making.

New to stand-up paddling? Check out the free SUP Expo. Meet the world’s best shapers and manufacturers, and check out this summer’s hottest designs and innovations. There’ll be a rainbow of boards and paddles available for you to trial free of charge.

Immerse yourself in the local culture and community. Kanalu will be on site shaping ancient style surfboards and providing cultural education and a surfboard history exhibit. Na Kama Kai will also be there with their ocean awareness program, children’s activities and free kids SUP races throughout the weekend.

Everyone who enters The Battle of the Paddle Hawaii will receive a free pair of Rainbow Sandals, event tee and lunch. A special welcoming event and aloha concert will be hosted by Quiksilver on Friday evening, June 11, featuring local musicians. Event proceeds will directly benefit the Hawaiian Community.

Whether you’re racing for the prize or just want to get your feet in the waters of SUP for the first time, The Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle Hawaii is the perfect way to experience the rich tradition of Hawaii’s original surf lifestyle. (Full schedule of events here)

Battle of the Paddle Hawaii

Battle of the Paddle Hawaii, Elite Race

Battle of the Paddle Hawaii, Community

Battle of the Paddle Hawaii, Distance Race

Battle of the Paddle Hawaii, Kid’s Activities

One of four Canadians (that I know of) registered to compete, what is the likelihood that I would be sitting across the aisle of the plane from  fellow BC paddler from Vernon, Kevin Obrien. He looked up from his Stand Up Paddle Magazine and asked me ( reading my Stand Up Paddle Journal ) “you going to the event?”. Too cool for words, a brotherhood was in the making. Speaking of brotherhood, I have yet to experience such a feeling of “family” or “brotherhood” at any event in my life as was evident at Doheny that weekend ! I have surfed the world over the past 25 years and have never experienced such genuine stoke and camaraderie on the beach or in the line-up anywhere. Whether competing or just testing demo boards from the many exhibitors on the beach, everyone shared the “aloha spirit” that was evident in every aspect of this event. From the Hawaiian blessing to start the event, to the Luau on Saturday night, the Polynesian spirit reigned supreme. Even Primo Beer was onsite to quench the pallet of us thirsty paddlers!

I could go into great detail about the winners, and the highlights of the event, but you can find that at www.rainbowsandals.com/BattleOfThePaddle/. The most important message here is that this event is a “must attend” for any individual or family that shares the passion for the genuine surf culture. I came away from the weekend knowing that SUP is destined to be the fastest growing recreational water sport in the world, and it’s enthusiasts are the type of people that truly embrace life’s greatest pleasures !

Stayed up past 2am after the incredible Luau to bring you all this short video showing some of the carnage of the 2nd Annual Battle of the Paddle. Chose Steve Jacobonsky’s “My Name is Lincoln” from the Island Soundtrack for the music. The voice over is a history lesson on SUP from none other then Dr. Paskowitz. Thank you to Rainbow Sandals, Go Pro, and all of the sponsors and event coordinators. Look for the full edit on The Stand Up Project in Jan 2010. Mahalo- Chris Aguilar, Soul Surf Media

Check out the HD version here.

Battle of the Paddle

October 3 & 4

Doheny State Beach

Now come celebrate the modern West Coast waterman’s lifestyle at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez’s Battle of the Paddle, a stand-up paddle festival and exposition with a series of races and demonstrations that offer ocean athletes of all ages and skill levels the chance to experience this exciting new sport.
Staged at Dana Point’s historic Doheny State Beach, the Battle of the Paddle is more than an ordinary paddle race. For the sport’s elite paddlers it presents the greatest championship styled SUP race featuring an offshore course that tests not only endurance but also the open-ocean and surfing skills of the world’s best watermen and women. Not to mention a cash purse of over $25,000.

On Saturday October 3rd in the Elite Race, invited competitors on stock (12’6”) SUP boards, will complete multiple laps on a circuit that will include paddling through the surf and beaching their equipment for a short sand run around a course flag.   Last year’s Elite Race champions were Chick Patterson of Dana Point, CA and Jenny Kalmbach of the Big Island on Hawaii.

In addition on Saturday (Oct. 3) will be the hugely popular Open Age-Group Race open to everyone no matter what type of SUP craft you prefer to paddle.  Last year’s Open Age-Group Race had the largest SUP field ever assembled and this year’s race is promising to be even bigger and will include a new festive costume division.

Sunday October 4th the SUP Distance Race will be open to all SUP craft categories (12’6” stock, 14 ft. and unlimited) and racers will paddle a scenic ten mile course from Doheny State Beach to San Clemente Pier and back.  Additionally, there will also be an exciting SUP Surf Relay Race for prize money to close the Battle.

This year Hawaiian organizations Na Kama Kai and Kanalu will be on site shaping ancient style surfboards and providing cultural education and ocean awareness programs.  The Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association will be organizing kid’s activities throughout the weekend.

At the SUP Expo you’ll meet the world’s best shapers and manufacturers, check out their latest board designs and paddle innovations and be able to purchase these goods at steep discounts.  Naturally there will be demo boards and paddles of all shapes and sizes available for those who want to perfect their stroke or even try SUP for the first time.

Everyone who enters The Battle of the Paddle will receive a free pair of Rainbow Sandals, event tee and lunch. There will also be a special awards luau and aloha concert hosted by the Hawaiian San Onofre Surf Club on Saturday evening October 3 featuring Titus Kinimaka and Ekolu Kalama. Event proceeds will go to the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association.

Whether you’re racing for the prize or just getting started, The Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez’s Battle of the Paddle is the perfect way to immerse yourself in the rich tradition of Southern California’s original surf lifestyle, and the dynamic new surf/paddle discipline known as stand-up paddling.

Click here for all the information!

“The new boards turned out way bet­ter than I expected. I thought I made all of them for big­ger guys than me but after rid­ing them, I found .….. I really like them. And I rode them in some very chal­leng­ing surf in Hawaii at Popular’s, Num­ber Three’s, Kaiser’s, Rockpile’s, Ala Moana Bowls, Old Man’s, Rice Bowls and Zero’s. This was a wide range of dif­fer­ent types of waves and I liked the han­dling in the big­ger waves, the speed, the light­ness, the dura­bil­ity and just gen­er­ally how well they all surfed. I par­tic­u­larly liked the 8’11″ quad and was sur­prised when some of my 200+ lbs. friends floated nicely on it and loved it as well. I think we have a nice trio of good surf­ing SUP boards for pretty much any range of con­di­tions.” — Gerry Lopez

Gerry’s deep rela­tion­ship with the water is exceed­ingly evi­dent in the smooth lines and sub­tle curves of each of his three new Surftech stand up pad­dle­boards. “The 9’6″ & 10′ Surf Music boards were designed specif­i­cally with wave rid­ing in mind. Many SUP shapes lean more toward the pad­dling side but I have taken the lib­erty of assum­ing the cus­tomer has already learned his paddling/balance skills and is look­ing to max­i­mize his surf­ing per­for­mance.” Said Gerry. “The 8’11″ Lil Dar­lin’ is basi­cally a scaled down ver­sion of the Surf Music series but with a quad fin set-up. I have found the quad fins to work very well in wave rid­ing… looser, faster and just as positive.”

The much-anticipated release of Gerry’s three-board SUP quiver has finally arrived! Stop in to your local surf shop or stand up pad­dle­board dealer to check them out for your­self. And don’t be sur­prised if after stroking into your first wave on a Lopez Tuflite board, you find your­self soul arch­ing off the bot­tom into a per­fect crys­tal cav­ern and glid­ing effort­lessly across the wave’s face and feel a lit­tle bit of Gerry with you as you glide over the shoul­der and pad­dle back out for another one…

Click here for the full story!