Saturday, April 9, 2011

2nd Annual Hovie Newport Race: A few photos... a few words.

Just got back from Hovie's 2nd annual SUP festival in Newport beach. As advertised, a few photos, a few words... Check 'em out:

Sign up time... early morning in Newport Beach. That's Roland Baker from CaliforniaStandup.com, John Goodman in the background and Robert Howson passing on secret course information- always good people at the stand up races.
Chris Koerner, Magic the surf dog and Andi Johnson.
Roland Baker (CaliforniaStandup.com) offered me the use of Coreban's 14' Alpha racer, a sweet looking board that paddles nicely too. This one's going to be a rocket on the downwinder races. Roland was super cool to bring it out to Newport for me (getting there early too so I could give it a test drive before the race... what a guy) and he helped me finagle a way to attach my GPS onto the board. I think the Alpha is a great choice for folks looking to get out and cover some ground- it's a fast paddler  is super stable and has really nice glide. I paddled it through the six mile Elite course in 1:05 and had a great time on it. Thanks again Roland! 
It's always cool to meet the guys who kicked off stand up paddling from the early years. This is Dave who drove all the way out from Henderson Nevada (check the license plate) with his crew of Mojave BoardRiders... these guys rock and are the epitome of commitment. If there's ever a race in Henderson- I'm driving out there for it and hanging out with Dave's crew.
I was also stoked to meet Kevin from Futures Fins- and then I got all messed up on his fin tree. If you've ever wondered about what your options are in fins, you need to talk to the guys at Futures... I have no doubt in my mind that they'll get you dialed in. Thanks for the hat Kevin!
I had a good race. I didn't quite finish with the time that I was hoping for but I wasn't bringing up the back half of the pack either. The weather, the people and the positive vibes made this an overall success. I would like to particularly commend Byron Kurt and his crew for compiling the results and posting them so quickly- the guys had results up in a matter of minutes. Unreal. Click here for official race results.

4 comments:

David said...

Hey John: Great meeting you and I look forward to future sessions, especially in the surf. You are a great proponent of the sport! Get a 14r like Kiwis 12'6" and you may like the class better. Thanks for the Props. Come on out for a river run!
DK Mohave Boardriders

John Ashley said...

Hey Dave-

Stoked to meet all of you and to find out who Bruce was because he's always kicking my ass out there... changed the caption to Mojave BoardRiders... sweet crew! See you April 30th at Doheny Race.

Kristin Thomas said...

Hey John! Cool to find your blog!

The Stand Up Paddle Radio Show we talked about is live every Thursday morning at 9am Pacific time (11 in Florida), or you can check out the podcasts from past shows here: http://www.30aradioshows.org/category/stand-up-paddle-boarding/

Do you have an email for Mark Field? He asked about it too, but he's not on Facebook.
- Kristin Thomas (I'm the blond in your first pic).

Kristin Thomas said...

Hey John!

The Stand UP Paddle Radio SHow that we talked about is every Thursday morning at 9am in Cali (it's out of Florida). Or check out the podcasts of all past shows at http://www.30aradioshows.org/category/stand-up-paddle-boarding/

Great to find your blog! Keep up the great work and see you April 30th at Doheny.

- Kristin (the blond in your first photo )