Battle of the Paddle–Lots of Pictures
October 12, 2008
…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.
Noosa! Big Fun Down Under
March 31, 2008
Bonga ripping
Michi Schweiger From Naish International attended the Noosa Surf Festival which ran from March 2 to March 9, 2008. He sent us this photojournal story: