Original story from My Local Lineup

Oceanside, CA — One would think that in a race with about 400 registered competitors, including professional athletes, contestants would time their performance to the milliseconds, using time to pace themselves and gauge their showdown. That was surprisingly not the case at the 2nd Annual Surf Monkey Challenge, an endurance sports competition, featuring a run and swim but also a paddle and stand-up paddle division. After paddlers strode along the final stretch, some with and others without paddle in tote, few (or, more accurately, virtually none) could state their time. Putting aside how pesky that can be for a reporter, this odd commonality underscored the reversal of priorities among the athletes, with fun, not placement, taking the first seat.

Corporate executives, alongside fierce professional athletes, lined up at the water’s edge South of the Oceanside Pier, under cloudy skies and light south winds on Saturday morning. Divisions were broken up into basically a 4-mile and a 8-mile stretch, where orange buoys delimited the path and often times became the site of paddle jousting, as racers inched off for the top position while maneuvering around the orange floats. But once setting foot ashore and crossing the finish line, even the most competitive at heart joined in on the bonhomie of the rendezvous.

In the stacked 8-mile stock division, Russ Olyer came at an incredible 58:45 min, slightly ahead of Ben Vaughn (1:02:03). That is not to say that there weren’t some impressive performances. Both in the 4 and 8-mile races, there were jaw-dropping paddle speeds. In the 4-mile unlimited class, riding a 19 ft. Ohana board, Rob Rojas came at 37:52 min, trailed by Todd Drake (46:18 min) and Dave Kalama (47:25 min). In the 4-mile stock (i.e., 12.6” and under) division, Dennis Cameron came at 48:42 min, minutes ahead of a tight pack of Denis Poroy (55:06), Dave Anderson (55:22), and Mike Kubeska (55:26). In the stacked 8-mile stock division, Russ Olyer came at an incredible 58:45 min, slightly ahead of Ben Vaughn (1:02:03), but with a substantial lead over EJ Johnson (1:27:29) and Byron Kurt (1:27:40). And only a few minutes behind them, the women in the open 8-mile race had Brandy Baksic (1.31.31) and Elsa Harrison (1:45:09) arriving first and second, respectively.

Legends Team Results:

Kevin Coffman – 1st place – Mens 14′ 8 Mile (1:34.41)

Jeff Warner – 1st place – Whatever Guy Open 8 Mile (Time Unknown)

The Rock to Rock Paddleboard Race is an annual paddleboard race that starts at the Isthmus of Catalina Island and ends 22 miles away at Palos Verdes. For the Legends team it was our first channel crossing and a stepping stone to the legendary Catalina Classic.

Overall it was a bumpy crossing, but the wind backed down a couple hours into the race. It was a great experience crossing the channel and sharing it with the Legends Surf team was great. Kevin Coffman and Paul Parizeau.

Board of choice was a 14’ Hobie all carbon, generously loaned by Jeff Alter. The board was excellent, stable, light and extremely fast. Water transportation was on the luxurious Cabazon captained by the very capable Tony “Hodgie”. First and second mates Jack and Hannah Warner were very helpful. The food (Cardiff Market tri tip and carne asada) generously supplied from our main sponsor Coffman Specialities. Thanks to everyone it was great!

The King & Queen of Dogpatch went off in 2-3 foot surf Saturday May 16, 2009 at San Onofre State Beach. Legends and beginner stand-up paddleboard surfers alike from California and Hawaii joined the local standouts at Dogpatch to surf it out for silver dog bowl trophies. The raucous and hilarious stand-up paddleboard (SUP) surf contest directly benefited the newly formed San Onofre Foundation.

“We achieved our aims of having a great time and helping out the San Onofre Foundation. In this contest surfers displayed more than pure surfing and paddling ability many showed panache and aloha in their spirit and style. We had costumes of all types and several surfed surprisingly well with their dogs.”

- Rainbow Sandals owner Jay “Sparky” Longley

John and Manya Clark of San Clemente were crowned King & Queen of Dogpatch for showing true aloha spirit and family fun. John surfed as the King himself, Elvis, and their ten year old daughter Alleanna made the final in the Wahine Intermediate division.

“On behalf of Rainbow Sandals we want to thank everyone who participated in the King & Queen of Dogpatch. It was a chance to raise awareness and necessary funds for the San Onofre Foundation’s vital mission of providing education and interpretive services for the California State Parks at San Onofre. It is great that the Dogpatch SUP community was able to do this and have some fun.”

- Rainbow Sandals event coordinator Barrett Tester

Dogpatch is becoming a mecca for SUP surfers. It is located at the far south end of the San Onofre State Beach surfing area. The towers of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station are near by.

Results:
King of Dogpatch John Clark, San Clemente
Queen of DogPatch Manya Clark, San Clemente

Men Advanced
Noah Shimabokuro, Carlsbad
Chuck Patterson, Dana Point
Kyle Mochizuki, San Juan Capistrano
Tom Lloy, Dana Point
Leleo Kinimaka, Hawaii
Byron Kurt, Dana Point

Wahine Advanced
Candace Appleby, San Clemente/Hawaii
Elsa Harrison, San Clemente
Jericho Poplar, Long Beach
Jodie Nelson, San Clemente
Nikki Gregg, Hawaii
Rachael Calkins, Dana Point

Men Intermediate
Chris Sardelis HB
Greg Branson San Clemente
Todd Drake Carlsbad
Paul Binquist Costa Mesa
EJ Johnson, Dana Point
Steve Adler Surfside

Wahine Intermediate
Diane Wenzel, San Clemente
Tracey Engleking, San Clemente
Abbey Larson San Clemente
Gail Ross La Jolla
Jennifer Kurt, Dana Point
Alleanna Clark, San Clemente

A testament to Dave Parmenter’s shaping ability, the C4 Waterman Subvector 9-3 is the only SUP board accepted in the category of Surfboard of the Year in the prestigous 2009 SIMA Image Awards. The Surf Industry Manufacturers Association Image Awards’ goal is to identify the surf industry’s most influential companies and recognize them for their efforts to advance and grow the industry over the past year.

View Board +

Specifications:

• Length: 9′3″
• Nose: 19 1/8″
• Width: 28 13/16″
• Tail: 19 1/4″
• Thickness: 4 1/4″
• Weight: 22.5 lbs
• Hard Diamond Tail
• Fin array: 2 X 1 or Quad (Five Boxes)
• Fins Included: SB1 350 Sidebites and 7″ Center Fin

We are nominating the C4 Waterman Subvector 9-3 stand up paddle board as the surfboard product of the year for three reasons: (1) it is without a doubt the most finely tuned and advanced short SUB on the market, (2) its Thermal Epoxy Compression molding construction is strong, light and eco-friendly, and (3) it is short enough to rip, stable enough for a beginner, and rides with a “feel” that is so important to good surfers.

Based on one of C4 shaper/designer Dave Parmenter’s most successful surfboard models, the ‘Stubb-Vector,’ this new model has a progressive rocker, flat bottom, firm edges, angular boxy rails, and double-barrel inverted vee panels, the “C4 Subvector” delivers sports-car-like speed and snappy handling characteristics. Its lightly concave deck carries out to a crisp, soaring deckline, providing the maximum of usable deck width and, thus, increased stability; the concave deck blends at the tail into innovative new foot wells, which lower the center of gravity and grant the rider’s back foot more leverage and grip in radical turns.

C4 Waterman is a company dedicated promoting the life of the waterman. Our goal is to bring products to market that bring out the hidden waterman in everyone.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Boards nominated are:

C4 Waterman Subvector 9-3 Stand Up Board by C4 Waterman/Boardworks
GTR by Rusty Surfboards
Proton by Channel Islands
Shane Beschen Rocket by …lost
Taj Pro Model by Firewire Surfboards

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony during SIMA Surf Summit 12 in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, May 6-9, 2009. The awards ceremony will again feature a video component highlighting and introducing each nominee and winner.

Some say they are drawn in by the schools of grunion, others will tell you it’s the water content created by run-off from the nuclear power plant that sits perched atop the cliffs overlooking the popular surf spot. My personal hope is that it’s part of their plan to start thinning out the rapidly growing population of stand-up paddleboarders. Whatever the reason may be, great white sharks have been continually drawn in and attracted to the waters of San Onofre in Southern California, and they are once again turning heads and making their presence known.

“Over a one month period, ending with today February 1, 2009, I have had 3 encounters at the same location. The ocean floor at this location is primarily sand with a few scattered rocky areas. Only on one of occasion did we observe a seal swimming North about 100 yards offshore. It didn’t seem to be alarmed. In each case, we were paddling South toward the South end of the power plant. We were going to surf a beach break at that location. In each case, we saw the shark(s) at approximately the same location each time”

The month of January has been abnormally busy for white shark sightings in an area that is becoming known for it’s true resident locals…the kind that will eat you instead of just punching you out. While a few of the sightings have made headlines in area newspapers, a great place to keep tabs on the shark situation in San O’ and the rest of the Pacific Coast waters is Shark Research Committee. On top of documenting sightings and encounters without the hype that comes from trying to sell newspapers or drive traffic, there is all sorts of educational and informative content to be found there. The type of content that actually lets you know that while there have been many sightings in the area, the sharks who at times see fit to call San Onofre home have never bothered anyone. Do they make it a bit spooky at times? Definitely. Is it something to get worked up about? Nah, not really. And the numbers back me up on this. Just use caution my friends.

When SUP surfing, there are Kool things and things that make you a huge KOOK! This section is dedicated to Kook & Kool! Check out the top 10 and make sure to keep yourself in line…

1. You paddle out floundering to a lineup with surfers. You can barely stay standing but proceed right into or outside of the lineup. You paddle for waves while people scramble out of your way only to fall off before you can even get on the wave… Your big board becomes an extremely dangerous projectile… Kook alert!! KOOK!! KOOK!! KOOK!! KOOK!!

2. You can barely stay standing so you practice in an area where no one is around that you could endanger or bum out. You care about the world wide effects of SUP surfing so you paddle and surf with Aloha. Very KOOL!!

3. You start to get the hang of it and want to surf better waves so you decide to surf a more popular spot. You paddle out and stand outside everyone. The sets come and you paddle in like a locomotive right thru the pack. You get waves in every set… KOOK!!

4. You start to get the hang of it and want to surf better waves so you decide to surf a more popular spot. You paddle out and check out the situation. You see waves off to the side that a lot less people go for. You catch a few of those… Since you don’t want to wear out your welcome, you decide to catch only a few set waves at most. You surf with Aloha… KOOL!!

5. You paddle out on an in-consistent day to a crowded spot. You stand outside everyone the whole duration of the lulls. You never sit down so you tower over others the whole time… You make sure you catch a wave from every set. KOOK!

6. You paddle out on an in-consistent day to a crowded spot. You feel like you’re on stage so you stand off to the side or sit down between sets because you don’t like blocking everyone’s view of the beautiful ocean. You catch a couple waves then move to the inside or on to another spot or just paddle around because you figured out how to surf with Aloha… KOOL!!

7. You’re pretty good and can get in and around the surf well… You surf crowded spots and catch all the waves you can. Small ones, set waves etc. Because you can surf good you get plenty waves. You’re always calling people off your waves. You just can’t help yourself to sit sets out so you basically take over the spot for the duration of your surf. HUGE SELFISH KOOK! HUGE SELFISH KOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. You’re pretty good and can get in and around the surf well… You go to a crowded spot and check out what’s going on. You see some of the lesser quality waves going un-ridden and surf those. You catch a ton of waves but ones that no one really wants. You paddle out and get a few set waves but you make sure others get waves by quietly cluing them in to incoming sets. You become a quiet spotter of sorts for others to score good waves…. You always sit out a few sets. You use your high vantage point to stoke others out. KOOL!!

9. You see how cool SUP surfing is because you can paddle fast and want to get back at those greedy longboarders. You decide to get into it to take over and be the dominent surfer at any spot at any time. Do the entire surfing world a favor and don’t get into it. You are the biggest KOOK!!!!!!

10. You see how cool SUP surfing is because you can do something that is a challenge, get great exercise, paddle far up the coast at will, have a blast riding waves you never thought would be fun, discover new spots, like to enjoy the comraderie of the SUP surfers around the world. KOOL!!

Note: If there are more than one of you SUP surfing, everything becomes doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. Avoid heavy rotations with other SUP surfers when surfing with others. Be aware of your actions and the actions of others. Be KOOL!!