Naish Paddle Challenge

[PonoBill]

Interesting races yesterday, the conditions were wild. After a few days of no wind, Saturday morning came up howling. The wind was unstable with a big band of clouds moving through and even a little rain, and it died off a little as the day went on, but it made for challenging course race conditions.

I raced in the open group which went off at 10:30. I decided to race the surf class just for the hell of it. After I committed to it I realized that the surf class only did two laps instead of four. My old bod takes a while to get going, and I wanted to do the full race, but I was signed up and had the board on the beach, so I went for it. Turns out almost nobody else did--there were only three people in the surf class.

The start was a melee. Someone stepped on my board when he lost balance, then after I fell in the water he stepped on my head. So THAT was fun. I finally got away just about in last place. At first buoy I got run over by someone going perpendicular to the course because he had missed the buoy, then at the second someone had gotten their leash wrapped around the buoy and pushed their board in front of me trying to get untangled. Three falls in two buoys--nice. But I made up some distance in the downwind leg and caught up to the trailing pack, then passed a lot of them in the upwind leg, got a few more in the middle turns and we were into lap two. I chased down the only other surfboard I knew of and got past him, then pulled a good lead in the downwind leg, got a few more in the paddle to the beachfront buoy and my race was over. Two laps, really only one and a half. Would have been a lot more fun to do the full four. My old Starboard 12'2" was great, it's as fast as a 12'6" race board--at least it's as fast as a 12'6" race board would be with me sinking it.

But that gave me a good spectator position to watch the rest of the race. First place in the 14' class came down to a duel between TJ and (I think) Joel from Big winds. The race was four laps over a somewhat shortened course and the race spread out pretty widely. I don't know if it was the somewhat grueling upwind legs or the side chop in the perpendicular legs, but the paddlers i consider to be about as fast as I am were in the last third. Maybe the surf class was a good idea after all. I don't have the actual finish order and don't trust my memory, so that will have to wait for later.

In the Elite class the battle was initially between Kai, Conner, Slater, Jamie and a few other guys I don't remember. They went at it hammer and tongs for the first lap, then started getting strategic and trying to save energy. Lots of passing and drafting and lead swapping. Final final, Kai won. Again, actual finishing order for the rest later.

This morning the wind was up early, and by the time I got to the event center for the skipper's briefing for the downwind race it was pretty brisk. Probably 30 mph wind and lots of swell because the current is high. From the way things look I'd expect a little more wind by the start at 12:00.

On a funny note, Richard Hammond from BBC (Top Gear and other shows) is here and is going to do the race. Big camera crew and all that. After they finished the standup interview with Kalama and Kai I talked to Richard a little. Asked him if he'd donne SUP before and he said "once, so how do you think I'll do here"? I said "You're well and truly f#@ked" but gave him some basic survival tips, like hug the Oregon shore, don't get stranded on the sandbar off wells, etc..  I'm sure he'll be fine with all the rescue stuff and camera crew, but it's not beginner conditions. I think it's going to really nuke. Of course Top Gear has always had an undercurrent theme of "lets kill Richard" so maybe this is just part of the theme. Seems like a really nice guy and pretty funny.

I'm off to play. I though about doing it on my surfboard, but I'm gonna cheat and do the F16. I'll be DQ'ed, but I'd rather have fun than win another first of two prize.  The other surfboard class guy has a quiver of one, so he he's about to win his first downwinder.

[SUPracer.]

Great to hear your perspective Bill, thanks for sharing.

Sounds like it was a pretty cool race - you rarely see that many pros in the one spot. When Jim Terrell gets 16th (and EJ Johnson 20th) in a flat-water race, you know it must have been a stacked field.

Massive performance by Kai Lenny to beat Jamie Mitchell (and a dozen or so of the world's other top paddlers). Especially after he fell mid-race (see the pics link below).

Anyway I posted the Elite Race results/times if anyone's keen to check 'em out:

http://www.supracer.com/gorge-paddle-challenge-results-2012/

Or to save you the click, here's the top finishers...

Top 5 Elite Men:
1st: Kai Lenny (0:50:26)
2nd: Jamie Mitchell (0:50:39)
3rd: Chase Kosterlitz (0:50:46)
4th: Slater Trout (0:50:51)
5th: Connor Baxter (0:52:09)

Top 5 Elite Women:
1st: Candice Appleby (0:57:56)
2nd: Jenny Kalmbach (0:59:03)
3rd: Allison Riddle (1:00:03)
4th Lina Augaitis (1:00:11)
5th: Karen Wrenn (1:00:55)


Some awesome shots from Gorge Performance on Facebook as well:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151030713545784.428043.184598975783&type=1

[JF808]

I wouldn't count Kai out, he's always a contender.

[CascadeSup]

Full results are here:

Elite Course:
http://home.comcast.net/~race_timer/Results/2012/Gorge_Paddle_Challenge/AGR-Elite.HTM

Open 14
http://home.comcast.net/~race_timer/Results/2012/Gorge_Paddle_Challenge/AGR-Open_14Ft.HTM

Open 12-6
http://home.comcast.net/~race_timer/Results/2012/Gorge_Paddle_Challenge/AGR-Open_12Ft6In.HTM

Open Surf
http://home.comcast.net/~race_timer/Results/2012/Gorge_Paddle_Challenge/AGR-Open_Surf.HTM

[SUPracer.]

Kai just made it a clean sweep...

Day 2 results (unofficial)

1. Kai Lenny
2. Connor Baxter
3. Jamie Mitchell
4. Aaron Abbey
5. Slater Trout
6. Kody Kerbox
7. Dave Kalama

Women
1. Candice Appleby
2. Talia Gangini
3. Jenny Kalmbach

[PonoBill]

It was nucking. Shoulda done it on my surfboard, it would have been a blast. It's picked up even more now, there were thigh-high breaking waves at the Waterfront Park beach, which is remarkable since there is NO fetch.

I don't think Richard Hammond had a great time. I suspect he was on his knees most of the way.

[PonoBill]

Just went down to see my time--1:18:55  Pretty happy with that. I should have grabbed the results sheets, they were tossing them anyway, but I think Kai did 55 minutes. Most of the elite times were in the 1:05 -- 1:10 range.

I should have done it on my surfboard. Would have been nearly as fast. I was on the tail of my board the whole time, so I had at least 5 feet waving around in the air all the time.

[PonoBill]

Geezers were well represented at the front of the open class. If we'd had an over 60 class I still would only have been third, or DQ'd for having an F16 instead of a 14'.  Gerry Lopez was going pretty hard. I thought early on that I could catch him, but he kept getting one and a half bumps for every one I got. . I was trading places with Gregg Leion for the first 1/3rd of the race until I fell and took a long time getting back to my feet. Then I got overconfident and fell three times going past Well Island. Tried to chase Reuter down at the end, but he wasn't having any of it. Super fun day, the Gorge was definitely shown off in all it's glory. I thought the tents in the vendor area were gonna wind up in Idaho

1    161    Spencer    Matt    29    M       1:09:36    0:08:11    0    
2    173    Hopkins    Doug    51    M       1:10:40    0:08:19    1.9    
3    123    Fromm    Derek    15    M    Seattle, WA    1:10:42    0:08:19    3.8    
4    232    Stuart    Nick    32    M       1:10:54    0:08:20    5.7    
5    115    Coleman    Keith    32    M    Palo Alto, CA    1:11:32    0:08:25    7.6    
6    102    Aio    Patrick    39    M    Kent, WA    1:11:43    0:08:26    9.6    
7    198    Dies    Rob    36    M       1:11:53    0:08:27    11.5    
8    234    Lopez    Gerry    63    M       1:13:26    0:08:38    13.4    
9    206    Decoite    Nakoa    24    M       1:13:47    0:08:41    15.3    
10    139    Leion    Gregg    54    M    Hood River, OR    1:13:52    0:08:41    17.3    
11    107    Barry    Bruce     61    M    Issaquah, WA    1:14:18    0:08:45    19.2    
12    213    Tyrrell    Izaak    34    M       1:16:18    0:08:59    21.1    
13    201    Gulizia    Tj    36    M       1:17:06    0:09:04    23    
14    110    Billenness    Dave    43    M    North Saanich, BC    1:17:19    0:09:06    25    
15    171    Wylde    J. Macrae    48    M    Hood River    1:17:24    0:09:06    26.9    
16    163    Stevens    Jim    44    M    Hood River, OR    1:18:01    0:09:11    28.8    
17    155    Rueter    Bob    57    M    Portland, OR    1:18:10    0:09:12    30.7    
18    105    Babcock    Bill    65    M    Hood River, OR    1:18:55    0:09:17    32.6    
19    176    Huntington    Ford    15    M       1:19:05    0:09:18    34.6    
20    243    Wylie    Don    51    M       1:19:11    0:09:19    36.5    
21    119    Dewolfe    Lukas    14    M       1:19:36    0:09:22    38.4    
22    112    Brown    Ryan    41    M       1:22:43    0:09:44    40.3    
23    265    Roddvik    Alexander    39    M       1:23:06    0:09:47    42.3    
24    162    Staples    Brook     44    M       1:23:28    0:09:49    44.2    
25    106    Barna    Randall    62    M    Bend, OR    1:23:35    0:09:50    46.1    
26    238    Wingard    Nelson    40    M       1:23:39    0:09:50    48    
27    235    Oliphant    Dennis    56    M       1:24:10    0:09:54    50    
28    223    Finlay    Robert    40    M       1:24:50    0:09:59    51.9    
29    129    Hanny    Tom    37    M       1:25:17    0:10:02    53.8    
30    126    Grodner    Mike    54    M    Salt Lake City    1:26:00    0:10:07    55.7    
31    168    Wells    Forrest    32    M    Bainbridge Island ,    1:26:19    0:10:09    57.6

[headmount]

Great report Bill.  Funny.  Loved the collisions.

JC, Victor and I did a Maliko today to the tanks.  Tide, everything going our way.  Perfect.  JC loves your old board.

JC checked Hi-tech for Ke Nalus and they had one Maliko left and tons of everything else.  Very rad.

[pdxmike]

Everything PonoBill said about the melee at the start was true.  I saw it all from behind him (Bill--wasn't me that stepped on your head or your board). 

It was a great event to be in (open race) and to watch (elite race).   Hard to believe how many top racers were there. 

The only thing I'd change (depending on what the women think) would be to put the elite women on 14' boards instead of 12-6s.  The announcer made a comment during the race which was totally true--reminding the spectators that the women were handicapped by their equipment.  I'd imagine the 12-6s were especially out of place during the downwinder.   

As a spectator, I'd like to be able to skip having to do a conversion in my head to try to figure out who the women would be paddling next to if they had equal equipment, so were really better than their positions relative to the men indicated.  I would imagine it could only be worse to be a woman paddling alongside men who you could clearly beat if you had an equal board, and especially frustrating to be paddling next to a train of men drafting while the rules excluded you from joining in the draft.  I'm curious about what the women racers think of all that.  That's my only criticism, and I imagine that will get sorted out over time.

It was nice seeing the men on 14s, which pretty much puts everyone on equal footing vs. if it was a 12-6 limit. 

The buoy close to the beach was great for spectators--to me it accomplished the same thing as the running on the beach that happens in other races--which seems very artificial and out of place in a paddling event.

[DavidJohn]

Hey Bill.. Was  Richard Hammond there for a Top Gear episode or some other show?

DJ

[SUPracer.]

Here are the top finishers from the Downwinder

Elite Men's
1st: Kai LENNY    0:55:57
2nd: Connor BAXTER   0:57:26
3rd: Jamie MITCHELL   0:59:24
4th: Kaeo ABBEY   1:00:36
5th: Slater TROUT   1:01:47

Elite Women's
1st: Candice APPLEBY   1:14:20
Talia Gangini DQ'd
2nd: Jenny KALMBACH   1:15:35
3rd Karen WRENN   1:16:31
4th: Fiona WYLDE   1:23:37
5th: Alyson FROMM   1:24:58

Full results going up now on SUPracer dot com (won't spam you with the link)

[SUPracer.]

Talia was the 2nd woman over the line in the downwinder, but was DQ'd for using a different board than the one she used for Saturday's Course Race.

There was apparently a rule saying paddlers had to use the same board both days. I'm guessing the rule was put in place so people didn't have to travel with two boards (which is borderline impossible for the international guys).

Some people DQ'd themselves voluntarily so they could have more fun in the downwinder or do some R&D on different board options (such as Jim Terrell). Not sure if Talia did it intentionally or by accident.

Interesting rule. Don't remember seeing it at any major event like this. I think it's a good idea. It lets the international pros compete in both races, rather than just taking one board and focusing on one particular event.

Plus the average Joe doesn't wanna shell out for a flat-water board, a BoP board, a Downwind board, etc... they just want one board they can race competitively on in all types of races.

There's a lot of questions on the forums about "what's the best all-round board?". I think the major brands could take advantage of this: "Wins In All Race Conditions" etc...

I'm sure Naish will do just that after Kai's awesome results this weekend.

At the top end there's a big difference between a flat-water board and a downwind board, so it'll be interesting to see if other events bring in this rule. Imagine if the did it at the BoP, that'd make things much more interesting in the distance race...

[peterp]

Sounds amazing - can't wait to see the pics of the downwind! How long was the downwind and I see some of the Hawaii greats getting pushed down the order a little - would they have done better on more familiar unlimited boards? Having said that, I fully agree that the one-board rule makes the world of sense for events like this.

[SUPracer.]

Here are a few pics... trying to find actual race shots.