How to Stand Up Paddle with Verena Mei

Learn how to SUP with Verena Mei and Blue Planet Surf.  

Verena is a professional race car driver. She grew up in Hawaii and recently moved back to Oahu.  She got into Stand Up Paddleboarding and has been a great customer and supporter of Blue Planet Surf Shop. In this series she is getting tips on safety, technique, board handling and more from Blue Planet Surf founder Robert Stehlik.  We will post regularly new videos on our blueplanetsurf youtube channel and plan to release the parts of this series in the Spring of 2016. For new videos please check back here and subscribe to our youtube channel.  

Watch the first video in the series:

How to Stand Up Paddle Board with Verena Mei, Part 1: Safety

SUP is a great, fun, health and safe sport if practiced with some common sense.

Basic points covered in this video are:

1) Be aware of conditions. Light wind and protected water are the best conditions for beginner and learning quickly.  Light winds are fine but the chop created by the wind will make balancing more difficult and you should always make sure to paddle into the wind first to make sure you can get back to where you started.  Don't go out if the wind is strong, offshore winds (blowing you away from the shore) can be very dangerous as they can carry you out to sea and usually get stronger the farther out you get.

2) Always wear a leash.  In Hawaii we are not required to wear a personal floatation device when Stand Up Paddle boarding but you should always wear a good leash and make sure it is attached securely, that way your boards is always attached to you and acts as your floatation device.

3) Know how to swim.  This should be self explanatory, but before you learn how to SUP, you should learn how to swim first.  The rule of thumb is: don't go out further from shore than you could swim back on your own power.

This is the second video in this series: board handling and gear

In this video you learn how to protect your board from heat and fin damage, how to safely lift up and carry your board and some things to consider when choosing your first board.  At Blue Planet we always recommend trying several SUP's before choosing one as nothing beats trying a board to get an idea of whether it will work for you or not.  Balancing should be challenging at first, as your balance quickly improves.  We often talk to customers that bought their first board without trying it first and then finding out that it is just not a good board for their needs.  Let's face it, it does not matter how cheap a board is or how great the deal seems to be, if you don't enjoy using the board and it sits around collecting dust, it's a waste of money.  We want you to get out on the water and enjoy your board, so we want to make sure you get one that is right for you.  

Click here for more information on how to choose the right board and watch the video.

Click here for more information on our free SUP Clinics for Blue Plane customers.

Keep watching the playlist to see all 11 episodes on "How to Stand Up Paddle with Verena Mei"

Stand Up Paddle Technique Drill: Catching Bumps and Waves on a SUP

Re-posted from this Blue Planet Blog posting:
http://blueplanetsurf.com/blogs/news/75266693-sup-tips-catching-waves-and-bumps-flatwater-drills-to-help-you-get-ready-for-open-ocean-stand-up-paddle-boarding

If you are new to downwind stand up paddle boarding, and want to get ready to do some open ocean downwinders, these are some tips and drills you can practice in flat water to help you get ready for riding bumps on a SUP.   Check the bottom of this page for information on coached downwinders. 

This post is focused on downwinders and catching/ gliding on bumps, but this drill is also helpful for catching breaking waves if you want to learn to stand up paddle surf.

In this first video I'm showing how to take a few quick accelerating strokes and then pause, glide and skim/ brace the paddle to keep you stable and balanced while gliding.  If you are doing a downwinder in light winds, this is what you will end up doing:  a few quick accelerating strokes, then pause and glide while you are getting pulled along by the bump in front of you.  In light wind you usually won't have to move the feet back, you can keep the parallel stance close to the center of the board.  It's good to practice this drill in flat water to break the habit of paddling with long, powerful strokes at a steady pace.  Downwinders are about quick sprints and glides, so you have to learn to break up your pace.   The first step is to practice taking 3,4, or 5 quick strokes and then let the board glide for about the same amount of time, so you are only paddling for about half the time.  Don't worry about moving your feet at first and just get into a good rhythm of accelerating and then gliding and skimming your paddle for balance.  Try to skim it as far out to the side as possible with the paddle at a low angle to the water for side to side stability and behind you for front to back stability.  Just skim the paddle lightly over the surface, you don't want to break, just keep the paddle very close to the water or skim very lightly over the surface.  While skimming the paddle acts as a third leg which will give you more control and will allow you to feel more comfortable in rougher conditions.  If you do loose your balance you can lean on the paddle and push your center of gravity back over the center of the board.

This next video shows how to start in "first gear" by taking quick, short strokes for powerful acceleration.  You want to focus on keeping your stroke in front of your feet and using quick bursts of power to accelerate.  Practice this in flat water as well as you will not have time to focus on this when conditions get rough. 

When the wind is stronger and the bumps get steeper, you will also have to move your weight back on the board to keep the nose from piercing and to allow your board to release and accelerate by planing on top of the water surface and to reduce the amount of wetted surface.  So, once you are good at stroking quickly to accelerate and then gliding while skimming the paddle, the next step is to also practice moving your feet back as you stop paddling and glide.  As the board slows down and the tail starts to sink, you then have to move your weight back forward close to center quickly and take some more quick acceleration strokes.  The video below has some helpful tips for moving your feet around on the board without rocking the board and loosing your balance:

 If you do this for a while, you will notice that these quick sprints followed by pauses of gliding will actually be very hard work and your heart rate will go up to a higher rate than when paddling at a steady pace.  I find that my heart rate goes up significantly higher in downwinders than when flatwater paddling which is why it is so important to relax and rest while you get a free ride when gliding on and connecting bumps.  If you don't rest it is hard to catch the next bump.  There is a misconception that when the wind blows hard you hardly have to paddle anymore.  The reality is that you have to accelerate more quickly and paddle even harder to catch the faster moving bumps on the really windy days if you want to keep up with the really fast guys.  The goal is to move as close to the speed of the bumps as possible and the stronger the wind is and the longer the fetch (the distance the wind has to create bumps), the faster you have to move to catch them.

The next video covers the five most common mistakes made by first timers on downwind runs and will be helpful to watch as well if you want to improve your downwind stand up paddle technique.

Thank you for watching!

Aloha,

Robert Stehlik

Copyright Blue Planet Surf 2016,  you are welcome to re-post or share this content but please credit Blue Planet Surf and put a link to www.blueplanetsurf.com

Resources mentioned in the videos:

For more information on our weekly SUP training group, please visit:
http://zenwaterman.blogspot.com/2012/10/weekly-time-trials-in-hawaii-kai-video.html

For information on SUP lessons and downwind coaching by Robert Stehlik, please visit: http://blueplanetsurf.com/collections/lessons

For information on downwind coaching with Jeff Chang/ Wet Feet, please visit: http://www.wetfeethawaii.com/pages/lessons-tours.html

For information on coached downwinders with Jeremy Riggs on Maui: http://paddlewithriggs.com

Safety first:  Downwinders can be dangerous.  Always go with a partner or group and if you are going for the first time, go with an experienced paddler or coach.  Have a plan and set up meeting places if you loose sight of each other, with can happen quickly in open ocean conditions.  Take a cellphone in a waterproof case and/ or a EPIRB.  Always wear a leash and make sure all your equipment is in good condition.

Equipment used in the videos:

Rasta downwind board: 14' x 28" 2016 Bump Rider: http://blueplanetsurf.com/products/140-x-28-bump-rider-2016

Blue downwind board: 12'6 x 28" 2016 Bump Surfer: http://blueplanetsurf.com/collections/2016-blue-planet-sups-2/products/126-x-28-bump-surfer-2016

Paddle:  Kai Zen with 88 blade: http://blueplanetsurf.com/collections/paddles/products/blue-planet-2016-kai-zen-cf-paddle-early-bird-pre-orders-until-12-31-15

SUP tips for beginners: Videos that will help you avoid the most common mistakes

Between our Blue Planet SUP clinics and private and group lessons, we have helped hundreds of beginners learn how to SUP (stand up paddle).  The best way to learn the basics and start having fun on the water with minimum frustration is by taking a lesson with a well qualified instructor that can help you learn proper technique from the start.  If you don't have the opportunity to do that, the next best thing is to read up and watch instructional videos that will help you avoid common mistakes and don't let bad habits become engrained.  Remember to make sure to learn the basics in calm, protected water before attempting to SUP in the surf, even if you are an experienced surfer, you are learning a new sport and have to learn the basics of using the paddle and balancing first.

One of our most popular videos on the blueplanetsurf youtube channel (please subscribe to our youtube channel to see our latest videos) is titled Introduction to Stand Up Paddling.  
We recently added three more videos to our channel to help beginners get started in this great sport.


The first video is titled: SUP tips: Common beginner mistakes
This video goes over some of the common mistakes we often see when people paddle for the first time, including: getting on the board before it is in deep enough water, trying to stand on the board before kneeling first, going with the wind instead of into the wind, holding the paddle straight to go forward, holding the paddle backwards, hands too close together on shaft, not standing in the middle of the board. 




The second video is titled: SUP Balance Tips for Beginners
This video gives some pointers to beginners that are struggling to stand up and balance on the board (it's not as easy as it looks!).  Some of the points covered in this video: getting on the right equipment, centering weight over middle of board, getting the board moving before standing up, different ways of getting from kneeling to standing, using the paddle to brace and lowering center of gravity to help balance, balancing on smaller boards, moving around on the board, getting upright and looking forward, not down.




The third video is titled: SUP tips for beginners: Stoke Technique Drills
This video shows how to practice your stroke while standing in knee deep water and goes over getting good catch with the blade, getting good reach and ending stroke by the feet, feathering the blade at the release and during the recovery as well as using torso rotation to make your stroke more powerful.



This fourth video shows how to fall in safely, flip the board over and get back on easily:


Playlist:  Watch our Introduction to SUP- tips for beginner Stand Up Paddlers playlist to watch all the videos we have put together to help you get started.  



For more videos, including more advanced technique tips for intermediate and advanced paddlers, please also check to our playlist titled SUP technique videos (some of the videos are in both playlists).



Thanks for watching and remember to have FUN!

Aloha

Falling in is part of learning and part of the fun.  This is the right way to fall if you do fall in: hold paddle away from body, fall into water, not onto the board, fall flat on the water surface so you don't go deep in case it's shallow.  

Aloha, 

Robert Stehlik

www.blueplanetsurf.com

Information on Coached Downwind Runs with Blue Planet

If you are interested in learning how to do downwinders on Oahu or want to improve your bump riding skills and timing to go faster with less effort, please consider a private downwind coaching session on Oahu's south shore with Robert Stehlik.  The most common south shore run for experienced paddlers is the Hawaii Kai to Kaimana Beach (Waikiki) run.

For beginner downwind paddlers, the Hawaii Kai to Kahala run is better suited for learning downwind paddling as going around Black Point and Diamond Head can be very challenging when you are starting out.

Hawaii Kai to Kahala downwinder GPS track, approx. 5 miles

For the coached Kahala run, we usually meet in Kahala at the Waialae beach park and take a look at the the reef to go over where the channel is and what to look for when coming in.  Coming in through the reef at Kahala is one of the most challenging parts of the run and can be dangerous, especially on a low tide, so please don't attempt this by yourself without someone that knows where to go.
We leave one car at the finish in Kahala then drive to Hawaii Kai where the downwind run starts.  We then spend some time going over some downwind basics, tips, drills, equipment, and stretching before going into the water.  Below is a map of the meeting place in Kahala and a google map that shows the run.  You can zoom into the meeting place called Waialae Beach Park, just before the Kahala Mandarin Hotel.

Waialae Beach Park, the meeting place for the Hawaii Kai to Kahala Run

View Kahala beach downwind coaching meet here in a larger map

Below is a video of a recent coached downwind run:




If you are planning to do a coached downwinder, click the link and watch the videos with downwind tips for the Hawaii Kai to Kaimana run:
http://www.supthemag.com/videos/downwind-coaching-while-downwinding/

For pricing and to book a coached downwinder, please call Blue Planet Surf Shop at 808 596 7755 or visit:

http://blueplanetsurf.com/products/downwind-coaching-hawaii-kai-to-kahala-downwinder

A  video of your downwinder is available on request (please ask to have it filmed at the time of booking).  

Posing after a successful Kahala run with our 14' Blue Planet Bump Rider boards

For referrals from past participants, please check some of the reviews on Tripadvisor:

• 13 reviews of Private SUP lessons/ coaching with Blue Planet in Honolulu

Aloha, Robert Stehlik

www.blueplanetsurf.com

Narrated downwind run- Hawaii Kai run tips by Robert Stehlik

Downwind runs are exciting and fun.   In the surf, you are often waiting for a set or your turn to catch the next wave.  On a downwinder, there are no crowds, you have long windswells that stretch across the whole ocean to play with, you are always on the move, going from one glide to the next, surfing the bumps.

It's not easy though, it takes balance, timing, patience, good paddling skills, fitness, and experience which comes from lots of time on the water.  
It can also be dangerous to head out into the open ocean unprepared, so make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.
I enjoy sharing what I have learned and have been offering coaching to paddlers that want to experience the joy of downwind paddling.   Click here for more information on downwind coaching with offered by Blue Planet.

I was inspired by a video from Jermey Riggs (click to watch it) on Maui doing a Maliko run to do a narrated downwind run while talking about some of the things I try to teach on a coaching run.  Watching these videos will not replace a good coach but it will be helpful before doing your first downwinder, especially a Hawaii Kai run on Oahu.  I'm narrating while doing a downwinder on a SIC 17 Bullet.  Turn up the volume to the max to hear.  I split it up into 3 videos to keep them shorter, enjoy!  
This is a playlist with downwinder videos, so just keep watching to see all our downwind videos.

This is the Hawaii Kai run GPS track from the Blinker Buoy (last channel marker in Hawaii Kai) to the Windsock outside Kaimana Beach.

Here is the data of this run from my GPS:
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/281329873

Aloha, Robert Stehlik

www.blueplanetsurf.com

2010 Molokai 2 Oahu Race by Robert Stehlik

The Challenge
When it comes to Stand Up Paddle racing, the Molokai 2 Oahu race is the ultimate challenge. After competing in the race for the first time in 2009, I knew I wanted to do it again. I have been thinking about, training and preparing for the race on July 25th, 2010 pretty much since then.

Commitment
No other SUP race I know of requires the kind of preparation, commitment and support from family and friends as this one.
We started doing long distance training earlier this year as I reported in an earlier blog. My training partners and I all significantly improved our race times, see "biggest losers" below, so the training really paid off.

The week before the race, I was talking it easy and people kept asking me, "Are you ready for Molokai?"
I was not sure how to answer at first because I don't think I could ever really say, "I'm ready for this race." Anyway, I had signed up early, trained hard, had my equipment ready, escort boat organized, packing list, air ticket, accommodations, race numbers and I was not going to get faster by training the week before the race, so my answer became: "I'm as ready as I'm going to be."

My escort boat Captain, David Von Hamm, is a commercial fisherman and one of my neighbors. Our sons Christian and Andrew are friends and went along and left early Saturday morning to take David's boat, the Sweet Kimi II from Ko Olina to Molokai, which took them all day. They did catch some nice fish along the way and did a great job supporting me the next day. Thanks guys!



Molokai Bound
I did not want to get sea sick and boarded this 9-seater plane to Molokai on Saturday afternoon. Everyone on the plane was on the way to the race.


The weather was beautiful and the ocean was covered with whitecaps. I was pretty excited flying over the west side of Molokai where we would start early the next morning.

The one taxi at the airport was not big enough for all 9 passengers from the plane so the the driver called his dad to bring the other cab. Gotta love Molokai, it's not overcrowded like Oahu, that's for sure.

We got to the Kualakai resort in about 15 minutes and I made my way to the beach to look for the escort boat. The bay was full of boards and Dave's boat showed up right on schedule, but anchored pretty far outside all the other boats. I was hoping they would come in closer to the beach, but no such luck and I had to swim out pretty far. It felt good to get in the water though. They had a long, but good day of fishing. I was happy to find that my board and paddle survived the trip in good shape.
I paddled back to shore and took a quick shower in the nice condo that Jeff rented. I got to the pre-race dinner late, but there was still plenty of food left. I had a big plate plus seconds and felt pretty good. A lot of things could have gone wrong, but so far everything had gone smoothly and it was time to let go of the anxiety of getting everything organized and relax.
Doug Lock and Jeff Chang's boards where on a boat in the next bay over, north of the resort and I walked over there with them after dinner.




A bunch of people were camped out in this beautiful bay and had beach fires going. I love camping and was wishing I was camping, too. On second thought, it was nice to have a bed, kitchen and bathroom, too, especially the next morning.

Jeff and Doug swam out to the boat to paddle their boards back in the full moon while I walked back. On the way I stopped by the ocean front condo where a bunch of my friends including Kaipo Guerrero, Edmund Pestana, Heather Jeppsen, Ekolu and Honora Kalama, Gerry Lopez, Herbie Titcomb, and a bunch of others were hanging out and talked story for a while, then headed back to our condo where I prepped my hydration packs, GPS and gear for the next morning.
Jeff and I relaxed for a while and went to bed early. Kevin Seid was still doing last minute work on his board, glassing the rudder assembly on his new Everpaddle unlimited board. The poor guy had to endure the night before seasick on his escort boat as he could not get a standby flight on Friday. Then he spent all day Saturday working on the rudder system for his board. He finally came in at 11:30 pm after taking a test paddle in the moonlight and finally seemed pretty content and ready to go.

Race day
The next morning we got up early, had some coffee and breakfeast, got our stuff packed up in the cool drybags that all competitors received and headed to the beach. I paddled out to the the anchored boat to drop my bag. I missed the Hawaiian Prayer (Pule) as David anchored his nice boat even further out, about half a mile. It took me a while to paddle out to the boat and back into the wind but I figured it was a good way to warm up.
Oahu was visible for a while but by the time the prone paddleboarders started at 7:30 AM, it was shrouded in clouds again.


My SIC F-16 on the beach ready to go. Along with my C4 Pohaku paddle. I had tried lots of boards over the last year and decided on this one because it catches bumps well and is stable enough for the rough channel conditions. Thanks to Evan Leong from standuppaddlesurf.net for letting me try his board and then selling it to me, I hear these things are hard to get.


I had my Garmin GPS mounted on the deck using the two unused screw inserts on the deck for the goofy foot rudder mount. I used a piece of foam, taped the GPS to it, then screwed it on. The GPS was pretty key, more on that later.

Ok, it was time to head to the starting line and join all the other amped up paddlers. Everyone was excited and ready to go, the start boat had to keep pushing back the starting line.
Aaron Napoleon provided some comic relief by pulling his boat up right in front of the starting line. Riggs jumped off the back right at the starting line- first class service. Aaron and Kai Bartlett had the fastest crossing last year. He would have been a favorite this year too, but he skipped the race so he could escort and coach his 12 year old son, Riggs- pretty cool.

Start
The horn blew at 8am sharp and everyone was off to a fast pace. The prone paddlers had headed out on a really northerly route and the pack followed them. Oahu was not visible and instead of following the pack, I followed the arrow on my GPS which pointed me in a more southerly direction. Last year was the opposite with the pack heading south of the direct line. More on that below.

Dave Kalama was the only one in front of me south of the pack. I had a good start and was trying to keep up with him for a while but could not match his pace. He was wearing a white shirt while the solo paddlers all had green shirts, so I thought it could not be Dave as I knew he was paddling solo and the two man teams were wearing white shirts. He ended up finishing the race in record time with a comfortable lead and I'm pretty sure his direct line gave him an edge.
My ambitious, personal goal was to finish in under 5:30 and top 5. I knew I would have to go fast all the way across to meet that goal.
The first part was pretty smooth until we got out a mile or two where the bumps started getting bigger and got more defined. The trade wind was not as easterly as I had hoped, it had quite a bit of north in it. The Molokai race is not really a downwind race like some of the coastal races where the wind is straight from the back most of the way, as you are really quartering the wind and bumps all the way across. The bigger, faster windswells were really northerly so I had to fall off the direct line to catch them and trim along the wave as long as possible, then between bigger waves gain ground again on smaller, slower bumps going in a more easterly direction. This was working well, I was making good time and I was feeling pretty confident.



The first 10 miles went by pretty quickly. I was paddling mostly on the left and occasionally took some hard strokes on the right side to catch the bigger swells. Despite hydrating and refueling regularly, by the time I reached 16 miles, my muscles (forearm, triceps, lats, abs and even toes) started cramping, interestingly mostly on the right side where I was taking less, but more powerful strokes.




Cramping
I was drinking Gatorade, eating shot blocks and gu gel, which provided some relief, but I had to slow down and deal with cramping muscles by stretching them which is not easy while paddling for the rest of the race. Luckily I was able to keep paddling more or less normally on the left side and only cramped when I took hard strokes on the right. Needless to say, the cramping had a big impact on my race and I spent lots of time after the race researching it as I don't want to go through this painful experience again next year. Although I had some cramps at the end of last year's Molokai race, I never have cramps during training or shorter races. If others have had this problem and found some solutions, I would like to hear from you. I did get some varied advice from other paddlers after the race, including Advil, salt tabs, baking soda, Rolaids and more. It's really quite interesting, exercise-induced cramping is not well understood scientifically and there are there many theories. I might write a future blog on this. For now, I can recommend this page for further reading on cramping on the Hammer nutrition website:http://www.hammernutrition.com/problem-solver/cramping/



Anyway, back to the race. After making it through the painful second half of the race I finally got close to Portlock point, where the water got sloppy and there was less and less push from bumps. I saw Zane Schweizer on a faster line, closer to the wall and passing me pretty easily. I had fallen off too far south too early and had to paddle hard to get to the point, but I was close now and determined to finish.



The waves were tiny but I caught one by China Walls and cut through the opening in the reef. The headwind in the bay was overwhelming and it was obvious that I would not meet my goal time of under 5:30. Dave Parmenter and Archie Kalepa were right in front of me at the point, with a jet ski, switching out every few minutes. At this point I was wishing I had a partner, too and did not even attempt to keep up with them. I followed their line, hugging the coastline where the wind was a little lighter. The tide was high so we were able to paddle right along the breakwalls.



Finish
The final approach to the finish. At this point I was no longer feeling any pain, just happy to be there. My wife and kids were there to greet me with hugs and a lei. I made it!
My time was 5:41 and 34 minutes faster than last year. The scene at the finish was great, lots of smiling faces, food, drinks, even a massage. Now that the pain was gone, the endorphins were kicking in and despite the fatigue, I was feeling great. We stuck around to watch and cheer as more of our friends finished. Some of the later finishers actually got the loudest cheers and anyone who finishes this race is a winner. Rigg's finish was awesome and emotional. He made the Napoleon Ohana proud- way to go Riggs!

The awards dinner at the Outrigger Club was first class and a great way to finish this amazing day.
A big Mahalo to everyone who made this great race possible and better than ever, including all the Sponsors, Mike Takahashi, and the Molokai 2 Oahu team. Many thanks to my wife and family for letting me go on long training paddles and to my training partners, especially "coach" Jeff Chang without whom I would not be doing all this.

Please support 32:32 - 32 for a cause by purchasing a cap and shirt for $32 and supporting some great organizations at:
http://www.molokai2oahu.com/2010/07/20/3232/




My secret weapon: using the GPS
Using a GPS with a pointer gave me an almost unfair advantage over other paddlers, especially in the beginning when Oahu was not visible. After using a GPS in the last two races, I would not want to do the race without it.
There are advantages to taking a more northerly route (you can drop off and go faster later) or a more southerly route (get a faster start and then ride the bumps more north), and knowledge of current is key. Nevertheless, knowing the direct line is very helpful, even if you don't follow it and especially if you are not experienced at crossing the channel. I know from experience that following everyone else is not always a good strategy, because they could all be off course. Although the direct line may not always be the fastest line, it is the shortest distance, and for anyone doing the race for the first time I highly recommend a GPS with a pointer for this race.


I saved the finish in Hawaii Kai as a waypoint and set my GPS to point to it. I set the screen to also shows the elapsed time and distance. Knowing the distance is also key because Koko Head starts to look really close even though you are still 10 miles from the finish and you need to save your strength for the last 5 miles or so, which are the toughest of this race.



This is a picture of the direct line from the start to the finish on Google Earth.



This is a close up of the line intersecting Oahu just North of Hanauma Bay



And the view of the line from the water. At this point it's tempting to run more downwind towards the tip of Portlock but it's better to aim for the saddle and get close to the wall before rounding the point. I let myself drift too far south at the end this race. If you get pushed further south before going into Maunalua Bay, it can be almost impossible to make it to the finish, this is important adivce if you are thinking of doing the race for the first time.



Molokai race: "biggest losers"
Many of the paddlers in this year's Molokai race improved their times from last year. Regardless of where you finished in the field, improving your own time is always a big achievement. The conditions played a role in this but I like to think that better equipment, training, preparation, nutrition and mental state played a bigger role for those who significantly improved their race times. I compared race results from 2009 to 2010 for solo and team SUP racers that competed in the same division both years and calculated the difference.
I may have missed some but here are some of the SUP racers with the biggest improvement of race times (minutes difference, not counting seconds)

Connor Baxter: -103 min !
Dave Kalama: -50 min
Team: Alika Willis, Tony Moniz: -49 min
Jeff Chang: -38 min
Andrea Moller: -34 min
Robert Stehlik: -34 min
Kevin Seid: -33 min
Carolyn Annerund: -22 min
Team: Christian Bradley, Todd Bradley: -18 min
Scott Gamble: -16 min
Jenny Kalmbach: -9 min

Congratulations to all finishers and thanks to the organizers and sponsors for a great race.

Aloha,

Robert Stehlik

www.blueplanetsurf.com

Cali SUP trip part 2- Battle of the Paddle by Robert Stehlik

Battle of the Paddle pictures courtesy of Doug Hopkins and Jeff Warner

Battle of the paddle 2009

Saturday, October 3rd 2009 was the big day that many of us had been training for- the second annual Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle. Probably the biggest SUP event of the year with four races, a SUP expo and $25K in prize money. Sparky, the owner of Rainbow Sandals had a great vision and this second event was great. I did not make it to the first BOP and was excited to be in Dana Point for this event.
The first race in the morning was the age group race. This had to be the biggest field of SUP racers ever, with hundreds starting in each division from the beach in a staggered start. Mark Raaphorst had the fastest time and Zane Schweitzer came in first in the Stock division with a 5th place overall, beating a lot of guys on unlimited boards. My training partners Jeff Chang and Edmund Pestana got 1st in their divisions- good job guys!
Follow this link for complete race results. I did not enter in the age group race as I wanted to save my strength for the Elite race which started at 1:30 pm.
There was a big crowd of people on the beach and many companies had demo boards available to try. Check the video I shot of the race, pretty amazing to see that many people racing.

Battle of the Paddle 2009 age group race video from Zen Waterman on Vimeo.


The Elite Race
With a $25K purse and a spectator friendly format this invite only event has established itself as the most important SUP race of the year. I did not go to the first Battle of the Paddle last year and was not on the invitee list for the Elite race but I really wanted to be part of this ultimate SUP race. I e-mailed and called organizer Barrett several times with my race results and asked to be allowed to enter with no replies and was getting worried. I finally got a message a few days before the race that I could enter- sweet! Just being part of the event as one of the Elite racers made me feel pretty darn good.I printed out this map and spent some time studying it before the race but was still confused by it. The route turned out to be easy- just follow the other guys!
I was so pumped up and ready for the start. I had visualized and practiced the start many times and my heart would start racing just thinking about it. I really tried to stay cool and keep my heart rate down as we were standing close to each other on the beach, holding board and paddle, ready to charge into battle...

BOP 2009 elite race start

Doug Hopkins took this picture, I'm in the middle just about to get up. I got off the beach and on my board quickly and had no paddlers next to me in my peripheral vision for the first few strokes. Then I saw Aaron Napoleon leading the charge and a bunch of guys appeared all around me- the pace was frantic. The waves were fairly small and gentle but during the Elite race there were some pretty good size sets coming through which made the race super exciting. After passing the outside buoy, the course was M shaped with the third buoy marking a 180 degree turn inside the surf break. With many racers on each wave approaching this turn, the announcer was having a field day with collisions, pileups and just general mayhem at "the hammer". I kept hearing things like - "Ooooooh, they're having another yard sale at the bone yard!"
The Elite women division was launched a few minutes behind the men. Candice Appleby on the left getting ready to launch.

After completing the first round, we landed on the beach, had to run through the "chicane" with the crowd cheering us through the 75 foot beach run and launched back into the surf. Jeff Warner was my board handler and had the 12'6 Everpaddle board I was using ready on the other end. The low tide made the launch tricky as my fin touched bottom quite often. Next time I'll bring a fin that's not as deep.
Jeff in the Legends "sweeper" uniform did a great job handling my board and keeping me going.

Everything went fairly well and I went into the third round close to the lead pack probably in 15th place or so. I kept thinking I should have trained harder as the level and speed of the paddlers around me was fast and furious. I usually try to be relaxed and focused while I race but that went out the window, I was going all out and relied on my instincts to get me through the race. As we came down the outside stretch in the third round, Ekolu called out one of the day's biggest sets approaching. I turned the buoy just in time to catch the first set wave from all the way outside and started riding it towards "the hammer". Other racers took off on the wave and we were angling towards the inside buoy. I somehow angled too much and as the wave jacked up and broke, I was not able to straighten out in time to control the board and got flipped off. Without a leash, the board took out the rider next to me as well and got washed inside with the whitewater. I started swimming in with my paddle, hoping to body surf the next wave to get to my board. The next wave came full of racers hollering at me to watch out as I actually considered body surfing between the out-of-control boards and wide eyed racers but opted to put safety first and dove under the wave. By the time I reached my board, more than 10 racers had passed me and I could not make up the lost time. I finished in 24 th place and in one piece, the battle was over.

It was the most exciting SUP race I have ever been in and I have compared it to riding bumper cars, gladiators, ice hockey, windsurfing slalom racing, and demolition derby. The format and close interaction with the crowd on the beach made for a highly charged event. Respect to the impressive top two finishers Jamie Mitchell and Slater Trout and congratualtions to all finishers. Thank you Sparky for the vision and Rainbow Sandals for putting together an amazing race.

Evan Leong of standuppaddlesurf.net took this picture of Hawaii racers Kainoa Beaupre, Edmund Pestana, Zane Schwietzer and Robert Stehlik after the distance race on the day after the Elite Race.

Aloha,
Robert Stehlik
www.blueplanetsurf.com