New Race Board

Some time ago there was a somewhat heated challenge on the StandUp Zone (the most active forum in the SUP world: http://www.standupzone.com) regarding the notion that a long hulled racing board with an average paddler on it could beat an elite paddler on a 12 foot board. In the course of the debate (I favored the long hulled board) I wound up buying the board in question.

I know you might have some trouble making that jump. All I can say is that you kind of had to be there. But I’m thrilled with the outcome. There is now an amazingly zooty-looking 18’8″ 572 Penetrator making it’s way to Maui with my name on it.

My “ownership” of this board is kind of a debatable concept. There’s already quite a queue of people ready to use it for a day or three, and it’s being spoken of as sort of community property that I’ll be storing. That’s a fine thing. I’m looking forward to sharing this thing. I just want to pat it at night and perhaps wax it now and then to preserve the shine.

Should be here on my Birthday, or thereabouts. I plan to paddle it 62 miles the first few days (NO, I’m not going to try to do that in a single day) to celebrate.

Battle of the Paddle–Lots of Pictures

…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.

New Features on Ke Nalu

Get a free Ke Nalu Rash Guard!

I have added several new forms with some special features to Ke Nalu, they are part of a new approach to board and paddle showcases.

The first is a Board Showcase form that is a do-it-yourself review form. If you have boards you’d like to see in the showcase you can enter all the information on this form, including photo uploads for pictures of the board, and submit it. Your review will appear as soon as we format it. You can also use this form to add your opinions to any board that is already reviewed in the showcase. Manufacturers and board builders are welcome to add their boards to the showcase in this manner.

Second is a Paddle Showcase form. It works the same way–you fill out the form, upload any photos you like, and click submit. You don’t need to have all the information to submit the form. The reviews are going to become wiki-like. they will accumulate information and depth as people add to them.

Third and finally, I’ve added a photo upload form that enables you to load up to three photos at a time. You can do this as often as you like. You may have noticed the photo band that appeared on the site briefly. This was driven from Flikr, and I didn’t like the way it worked or the photo quality, so I’m turning it over to you folks. The more photos we get, the merrier. Once we have enough photos the band will change every time you visit the main page.

Join the crowd, get your Ke Nalu rash guard

The first 30 people to submit a board review, a paddle review, or send three or more photos will get a Ke Nalu rash guard. We have most sizes, but might run out of some and have to substitute, so get your submission in ASAP. I’ll contact you at the email address you specify to get your mailing adress for your rash guard.