The following week was the Hennessey's World Championships in Hermosa Beach, CA. I was 4th in the prestigious 14' class. The next day was a unique event called the Surf Race to Victory in Huntington Beach, CA. The event featured heats of 10 paddlers racing through a course that went in and out of the surf three times. It was an elite field with participants preparing for the Battle of the Paddle the following weekend. There was a surfboard division and an elite division for prize money. I won the surfboard division, then followed it up with winning the elite division. The field was tough featuring 2 past Battle of the Paddle winners, 3 australians, and 3 Top 10 Battle of the Paddle finishers. In an exciting finish I finished ahead of the legendary Jamie Mitchell.
I enjoyed the new Battle of the Paddle format with heats and finals. Placing 18th in the elite race turned out to be a challenge. There were so many fast paddlers that I was pleased with the finish. I also placed 6th overall in the 14' division of the Distance Race (10 miles). It was an exciting distance race with 4 of us jumping off our boards at the same time racing up the beach for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th. Unfortunately for me I was the slowest up the beach, but stoked with the finish.
Finishing off the month I entered the Stand Up World Tour of surfing Trials in Huntington Beach. 64 trialists were surfing for 8 spots into the main event. In only my 3rd SUP surf contest ever I made my way through 4 heats into the semi-finals of the trials, and making it to the main event. Although I was knocked out in the first round of the main event, I was excited to surf Huntington Pier in the first ever World Tour event on the Mainland.
Next up:
SUP surfing contest in Ventura Oct 14-15
Paddle Royale in Puerto Rico Oct 29-30
Los Cabos Classic Nov 5-6
Namotu World Paddle Challenge Nov 13-18
No comments:
Post a Comment