Thursday, October 13, 2011

Race Review: Battle of the Paddle and Catalina SUP Festival

I ran into Starboard Team racer EJ at the DogPatch this weekend. EJ was cool enough to send me these race reports from two of the biggest races happening here on the California coast. Check 'em out and if you get a chance, check out EJ's blog at: johnsonbigstick.blogspot.com

EJ Johnson's Race Re-cap of The BOP & The Catalina SUP Festival.

The BOP was bigger and better than ever, with the largest number of paddlers to date. The open age group saw 334 paddlers on the water at one time, and was a sight to behold. The weather this year was more typical of June with a thick marine layer in the morning, which gave way to sunny skies in the afternoon. This year elite racers had to qualify for the main event, by being in the top 50% of their heat. I managed to get 37th of 63, which meant I will be board handling for another Starboard team rider, and by the way was very challenging to not get run over by competitors or other handlers. Super exciting being right there in the mix/ pit.

Elite Course Qualifying Heat # 1: 37th of 63.
138 Johnson, Ej Dana Point, Ca M 48 MElite 37 00:37:23

Sunday 9/25.


The distance race is more my thing, liking open ocean conditions and not having to run with a bad left knee. The count was 226 paddlers attempting to win or just finish this challenging 10 mile coastal run.

Conditions were very mild, with little wind and not much bump in the water,and these water starts are always a bit sketchy with people jumping the line in anticipation of getting a hole shot. It was a grueling race, with many groups of drafting trains, I fought my way past some of the packs, to get to the one with my direct competitors. I stayed with this group until we hit the last right shoulder buoy, and then it was a all out 200 meter sprint to the beach. I was stoked to hit the beach with such great athletes as Jim Terrell and Chuck Patterson, but was edged out on the beach run. I got 4th place in my age division, which was the largest group in the 14' class, and was 15th overall out of 93.

Congrats to fellow Starboard team mates.

Connor Baxtor 1st Elite and 9th Distance.
Bart De Zwart 20th Elite and 8th Distance.
Dan Gavere 34th Elite
Annabel Anderson 3rd Elite and 2nd Distance.

Distance Race 10 mile (14' Mens 40-49 age group 4th place out of 33.) ( 15th overall 14' out of 93.)
727 Johnson, Ej Dana Point, Ca M 48 4 33 01:28:36

The 1st Annual Catalina SUP Festival (Oct. 1st & 2nd 2011)


We disembarked from our home port of Dana Point on our 38' Morgan sailboat named "Librada"to the beautiful island of Catalina on friday, and were greeted to a nice smooth 39 mile crossing, seeing many Dolphin along the way.

Day #1
The race on Saturday took place at the beautiful Descanso beach club, complete with cabana's, palm trees , cobblestone beach and the clearest water on the West coast. My elite course race consisted of three one mile qualifying laps, which were totaled up for a final score. I ended up in tenth, out of 22 which they let 16 through to the final. The final was at 3:00 p.m., with a two lap course around the bay, having 7 buoys per lap. The seas were nice and lumpy, getting extra chop from the big boats coming and going from the mainland. I ended up in 9th, after having a horrible start, being in 15th at the 1st turn. It's always cool to be on the podium with such great athletes and ambassadors to our great sport of SUP.

Top 10 Men (Elite SUP Individual)

Competitor Class Gender Overall
BIB Name Hometown Age Class Rank Rank Rank Time Pace
10
Ching, Danny Redondo Beach 28 MElite
1 1 1 00:27:18
26
Trout, Slater Lahaina 16 MElite
2 2 2 00:28:02
23
Terrell, Jim Newport Beach 46 MElite
3 3 3 00:28:33
15
Pelkey, Rob Dana Point 44 MElite
4 4 4 00:28:45
24
Armstrong, John 40 MElite
5 5 5 00:28:47
11
Kahn, Mitchell San Clemente 51 MElite
6 6 6 00:28:53
7
Maximus, Thomas San Clemente 42 MElite
7 7 7 00:28:55
29
Patterson, Chuck Dana Point 42 MElite
8 8 8 00:28:57
18
Johnson, Ej Dana Point 48 MElite
9 9 9 00:29:00
25
Fielder, Chance Dana Point 39 MElite
10 10 10


Day #2
The distance race was from Descanso Bay to Long Point and back, which is right around 10 miles. It is typically downwind from the point, but due to tropical weather it was all over the place. It was a mass start, with open racers joining us for part of the journey, but turning back at mile 3. I took my own line the whole race not getting involved with the typical drafting packs, and felt strong. The scenery is so beautiful, that your mind starts to wonder a bit, but when you hear the splashing of another board, it sends you back into overdrive. And if you don't know, SUP racing is always a full out sprint, with no breaks unless you count switching your paddle from side to side. Mitch Kahn and I had a great race trading positions a few times, and a sprint to the finish.
Once again, stoked to come in 7th against these tough competitors. I will put this event at top five of the season, and looking forward to this one again in 2012.

Top 10 Men (Elite SUP Individual)
Competitor Class Gender Overall
BIB Name Hometown Age Class Rank Rank Rank Time Pace
10
Ching, Danny Redondo Beach 28 MElite
1 1 1 00:27:18
26
Trout, Slater Lahaina 16 MElite
2 2 2 00:28:02
23
Terrell, Jim Newport Beach 46 MElite
3 3 3 00:28:33
15
Pelkey, Rob Dana Point 44 MElite
4 4 4 00:28:45
24
Armstrong, John 40 MElite
5 5 5 00:28:47
11
Kahn, Mitchell San Clemente 51 MElite
6 6 6 00:28:53
7
Maximus, Thomas San Clemente 42 MElite
7 7 7 00:28:55
29
Patterson, Chuck Dana Point 42 MElite
8 8 8 00:28:57
18
Johnson, Ej Dana Point 48 MElite
9 9 9 00:29:00
25
Fielder, Chance Dana Point 39 MElite
10 10 10 00:29:10

Top 10 Men (Elite Distance SUP Individual)
Competitor Class Gender Overall
BIB Name Hometown Age Class Rank Rank Rank Time Pace
31
Ching, Danny Redondo Beach, Ca 28 MElite
1 1 1 01:36:25
45
Trout, Slater Lahaina, Ca 16 MElite
2 2 2 01:42:34
24
Armstrong, John New Zealand 40 MElite
3 3 3 01:43:19
46
Maximus, Thomas San Clemente, Ca 42 MElite
4 4 4 01:44:08
35
Pelkey, Rob Dana Point, Ca 44 MElite
5 5 5 01:44:58
36
Kahn, Mitch San Clemente, Ca 51 MElite
6 6 6 01:45:13
34
Johnson, Ej Dana Point, Ca 48 MElite
7 7 7 01:45:21
38
Patterson, Chiuck Dana Point, Ca 42 MElite
8 8 8 01:46:25
43
Fielder, Chance Dana Point, Ca 39 MElite
9 9 9 01:49:04
50
Gallager, Thomas Long Beach, Ca 51 MElite
10 10 10 01:50:52

Respectfully
EJ Johnson

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