| Racing Dana // Event 04 October 2009 By: Sue Sheard Location: California We rolled into Dana Point, California in our 32ft motor home two days before the 2nd Annual Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle was scheduled to begin. After convincing the security guard at the entry gate that we were vendors for the weekend SUP Expo, he allowed us entry into the restricted VIP parking area which was right on the beach, just thirty metres from the event and competition arena. And that's pretty much where we stayed for the next four days. We could feel the atmosphere building as the real vendors began to set up their stalls on the beach. It seemed as though everyone who has anything to do with stand up paddling was there. Seeing as we had no tents, tables or products to set up, we started demo'ing a few boards as we each needed to find one to race on in less than forty-eight hours time. All the vendors were very obliging and helpful when we spoke with them, particularly when they heard our Australian accents and realised that we had travelled so far to be at the event. After meeting Ron House and paddling several of his 12'6" race boards I ended up choosing one that he explained was more suited to flat water. It had a sunken deck and made you feel like you were standing at water level. Danny on the other hand had more trouble finding a board to carry his 6'4" frame and 100 kilograms. That afternoon we met up with the other Aussies. There was eight time reigning champion of the gruelling Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard race Jamie Mitchell and his girlfriend Jocelyn Kempe, Shakira Westdorp and her partner Mick Di Betta who manufactures Lahui Kai Boards on the Gold Coast, Sean Campbell and SUP expert and big wave surfer James 'Billy' Watson. Mick had shaped and produced a new board for each of them specifically for this trip and had them shipped over to California. It was around this time that Danny and I decided, for different reasons, not to compete in the invitation only Elite Race that brought us here. We opted instead to enter the Open Age Race being held in the morning. Danny decided that he'd rather watch the Elite Race instead of compete in it and he also wanted to help out the younger Aussies who had trained hard and had a good chance of doing well. Billy jumped at the offer of Danny handling for him in the race and in return Danny was offered the use of Billy's Lahui Kai board as the races were being held at different times. I on the other hand had decided that the thirty or so kick turns, twelve paddle legs out through the surf break, twelve surfing legs and four run legs of about fifty metres each was beyond my capability. So I decided to act my age and race in the Over 40s category. A decision I ended up being so glad I made. The next morning the place was alive. It was like Disneyland with the car park soon filling up, there were people scurrying around, hundreds of boards of all shapes and designs being placed on the beach, paddlers lining up to register and the vendors were in overdrive. Everyone was smiling and happy to be there. The conditions were great with one to two feet of surf, a high tide, no wind and blue sky. The Open Age Race went off in stages with the men going first starting with the unlimited length boards and then two minutes later the 12'6" division. Danny quickly came and found me before the start and told me to get to the North end of the beach before the start of my race as the line to the first buoy seemed better there. That sounded easy in theory but trying to manoeuvre past 250 men carrying 250 boards on high tide in a couple of minutes proved a challenge but I managed to get there in time. The men's beach start was fantastic to watch with over 250 of them hammering through the break. Danny's start position theory seemed right as he lead to the first buoy. The women started two minutes behind the men and there were about eighty of us. I lost pole position to Nikki Gregg, a Hawaiian girl who was being marshalled and coached by boyfriend Dan Gavere who makes Werner paddles. The horn blasted and she had a great start getting straight on her board and making it through the two foot shore dump which of course landed on my lap. I managed to get up and going before the next wave hit and from there held second position for most of the five kilometre race. Apparently from the beach the 320 paddlers looked like ants going around and around the four lap circuit. Before the race I hadn't really given much thought to the fact that this race was open to anyone wanting to paddle anything as long as it was less than 12'6". A lot of these paddlers just wanted to be out there and if that meant racing their regular 10' surfing board then so be it. For me, this meant weaving, dodging and passing over 200 paddlers, something that was hard enough on the beach already. During the race you could hear the 'plops' all around you as competitors fell off their boards but you dared not look around in fear of becoming a 'plop' victim yourself. It wasn't until the final lap that another lady came along side of me. We exchanged smiles and we exchanged places a few times and when she too became a 'plop' victim, I tried to paddle harder than ever before. We ended up turning the final buoy together and I remember hoping, or was it praying, for a lull in the surf but nobody was listening. I turned around to see three men coming straight for us on a three foot wave. As I paddled onto the wave and stepped back into surf stance I clipped my heel on the back wall of the sunken deck and fell. A few words came to mind as I clambered back on and finished the race in third position overall and second in the Over 40's. For the next hour the ants kept coming in and it was fantastic to watch. Danny ended up seventh in the 12'6" category and fourth in the Over 40's. Phew! The race was done and now I looked forward to relaxing and watching the professionals show us how it's supposed to be done. Within three hours the ocean had completely changed. The tide had dropped, the wave height had increased dramatically and instead of one break there were now three making up this course. I later learnt from the Head Lifeguard of Doheny Beach that a south swell had come in during the day causing parts of the course that very rarely break - to break. Apparently the south swell in California originally comes from Australia where it affects us several weeks earlier. I remember reading this also on Blane Chambers' Facebook page a week prior to the Battle. He was excited that the south swell from Oz had arrived in Hawaii and he was going surfing. Two weeks after originating, it had arrived at Doheny Beach just in time for the Battle of the Paddle.  By the time the race had started there were thousands of spectators on the beach all looking forward to watching these elite athletes perform in the spectacular conditions. Again the men went first with the ladies starting two minutes behind. The Aussies all got a good start with Jamie and Billy in the lead pack of six paddlers. That was until they got to the break that rarely breaks. I found out from my lifeguard friend that this break is called The Hammer and that's exactly what it did. All six paddlers got hammered at the turn buoy which was placed right in the middle of the break. The Americans like to call what happened a 'yard sale' because that's exactly what it looked like - boards, paddles and people everywhere! The Aussies' hopes were nearly dashed when they had to swim almost to shore to recover their gear. By the time Billy and Jamie had found their gear and started to paddle again the second wave of thirteen paddlers had caught them and they had lost almost ten places. Jamie later commented, "After the wipeout at the south buoy, I put my head down and told myself that I wasn't going to make any more mistakes".  Meanwhile Shakira had taken the lead right from the start of the women's race and was pretty much unchallenged for the entire race. This 26 year old professional lifeguard from the Gold Coast was on fire. Not only did she smash the women's race taking home the US$3,500 prize cheque but she came in 25th overall out of a total of 97 male and female competitors. I remember at one point watching her in awe as she came in at the other end of the beach at the break they call The Boneyards. By now the tide was completely low and The Boneyards was a shallow break over rocks with paddlers having to negotiate through the exposed rocks while on a wave which once again required turning a buoy placed right in the middle of the ride. With 97 competitors spread out over the six kilometre course negotiating three breaks there was so much to watch and I only saw Jocelyn and Sean once or twice the entire race. Just to finish this race in those conditions was a massive achievement for anyone. Sean finished the race in 56th place and Jocelyn 14th in the women's division.   The lead in the men's race changed continually and at one point Jamie and Billy were in first and second place. It was about half way through the race when Jamie managed to negotiate The Hammer with more success while the other four guys on his wave had yet another yard sale. Jamie then caught an impressive wave in the central arena to secure a comfortable lead which he widened even more during the final one and a half laps of the race. Jamie was an extremely popular winner taking home the US$10,000 and the crown of the 2nd Annual Battle of the Paddle Champion while Billy came in at an honourable fourth place. That night the presentation of awards was held outside in the park. The party consisted of a slideshow on the big screen, a huge meal, multiple beers and a live music performance by Titus Kinimaka and Ekolu Kalama. It was the perfect finish to a great day. We decided to call it a night and walked all of 30 metres back to our motor home for some shut eye.  The final event of the weekend was the Teams Relay where each team consisted of three male and one female paddler who each had to complete two laps in and out through the break as well as run up to 100 metres. The tide was low and the beach was covered in thick clumps of seaweed just to make the course even more challenging. Competitors also had to watch that their fins didn't hit the sharp rocks as they began each leg. The Australian team consisted of Jamie, Billy, Shakira and the old anchor leg Danny. One thing that impressed all competitors were the teams consisting of the event organiser Barrett Tester, Rainbow Sandals Major Sponsor "Sparky", surfing legend Gerry Lopez and one of the most respected shapers Ron House. I'm guessing all of these guys are at least in their 50s if not older and as Chuck Patterson commented afterwards at the presentation, "It was a highlight of the weekend to see these old guys not only organise and put on the best SUP event in the world right now but they also got out there and got amongst the action and we as competitors think that's what the stoke of this sport, and in particular this weekend, is all about".  Billy led the Aussies off to a great start coming in equal with Team Ohana's first paddler. Team Ohana actually tagged their next paddler first, their female, who unfortunately was up against none other than Jamie Mitchell. The Aussies who were all experienced Surf Life Savers had decided to tackle this race like an Australian Lifesaving Taplin Relay where you always start with your strongest competitors to get as much lead as possible. Jamie took the lead and caught the wave of the afternoon on his first lap. The commentator not realising who he was at that stage made the remark, "Look at this guy coming in, he is surfing that 12'6" race board better than most of us can surf a regular board". She then realised who he was as he got off the board and started to run.  Shakira and Danny both had faultless paddles and the team led for the remainder of the race and ended up winning convincingly with Team Bark second and Team Ohana in third. Immediately after the race Mick Di Betta and his Lahui Kai boards were swarmed by people who wanted to know more about his highly successful race boards and where they could get one.  At the presentation the announcer wanted to know what the Aussies' secret was after their continued success in all the races throughout the weekend. So the Lahui Kai team carried Vegemite sandwiches up onto the stage when they received their awards. The crowd got a laugh out of it and I'm sure many went home and Googled Vegemite. Who knows maybe being raised as kids on Vegemite helped and maybe that south swell from Australia that our members probably surfed two weeks earlier had helped also. The team were awarded with the most inspirational performance of the weekend and coach Mick Di Betta proudly went up and accepted the trophy.   It didn't take Danny and I long to pack up our vendors stall. We threw our 4 paddles into the motor home and headed out of Dana Point straight to Legoland. What an amazing weekend we had experienced. One I will never forget and one that I'm looking forward to repeating again and again and again. | |
