Battle of the Paddle–Lots of Pictures
October 12, 2008 · Print This Article
…The beach break behind me looked about head high. I thought “oh great, I’m going to finish the race by getting worked in front of 500 spectators” but I managed to catch it before it crumbled and got out in front of the whitewater. I beached the board at full speed and stumbled up the steep bank. I ran into the chute for the finish line, but my legs started wobbling as soon as I hit the soft sand. So I just walked through the serpentine and crossed the line, losing four places with my geezer plodding. But hey, I made it…
The Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle was remarkably well organized for a first year event. Simply put, it was a historic occasion, and the organizers rose to the challenge, and then some. I’ve put on an event or two, and achieving this degree of organization is very hard and very expensive. Everyone involved deserves more than just congratulations. They deserve your support and encouragement. Next year should be amazing. One word to the organizers–get some food vendors for the spectators. A thousand hungry people on a beach is a great opportunity.
On to the pictures, I’ll flesh this article out more later:
Set Up Day: The day before the BOP
New quickblade paddles with beautiful wood blades
Modeled by the lovely Diane
“But I don’t want to be on the Internet”
There were paddles everywhere, here’s some new colored quickblades
New 12′ starboard for the pro race with a centerboard fin. Ekolu Kalama (right side) paddled it and looked fast during practice but retired early as the race conditions made the board impossible.
Everyone was so happy with the flat conditions. They lasted until about two minutes after the race started.
Jimmy Lewis came with three of his Distance boards and others to demo.
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Sorry there weren’t any food vendors. We couldn’t get the permits for anyone to sell food. We didn’t expect as many to show that did and we ran out of the food we brought for the competitrs. We’re very sorry. Now that we know what to expect, next year’s battle of the paddle will be even better! Promise you won’t go hungry
Pat, you guys did an amazing job, I’d say for a first year event but it would be really, amazing if it was your tenth anniversary. And I got food no problemo, I just saw the opportunity since people all around me were complaining that they couldn’t buy food on the beach.
BUT–kudos to your team. the event was great, the vendors were all stoked, the party and party venue was first class. Loved it.
Thought you might like to view this video:
http://southcountysurf.com/bop.htm
Bill, can u say point to point board testing day?! So many now on the market… JL, starboard, naish, hobie, bark,ding king guys,c4…Please explain why the starboard “point” wasn’t appropriate for the conditions…. also, did you try any boards? Great job! … did you like the race format? Thanks for all u do, many mahalos… raebert
Congratulations to Thibert Lussiaa and Jenny Kalmbah from Kalaoa Paddle Company. Way to represent the Big Island!
Hey raebert,
I see Bill hasn’t responded yet…on his way to Maui so he’s probably not online much at the moment. I can answer part of the question. It wasn’t a Starboard Point at the BOP. It was a prototype sub 12-6 board that was very narrow, had a centerboard to add stability but the conditions were too much for it.
BTW, I agree we need a point to point board showcase….right Bill?