Tofino SUP Surf Race!!

I’m sunburnt, tired, sore and in a 2 hour ferry lineup…yes I just spent a July weekend in Tofino.  There are certainly worse ways to spend a weekend. Thanks to the whole gang from Surf-Sup/Compass Adventures for putting on a super fun weekend of surf racing.

I drove into Tofino late on Friday night and was kindly greeted with a cold beverage and roaring beach bonfire thanks to Kristian from Starboard.  After a few more beverages we decided on an early morning surf session before demos and clinics started on Saturday.  I was skeptical at the time, but impressed the next morning when I was woken up for a 7am surf session.

After checking out Long Beach and Chesterman we ended up at Cox Bay which looked the best based on the swell direction.  Cox Bay is not typically a place I would recommend for Stand Up Surfing but with the small swell and a very early morning we were able to find some nice waves to ourselves.   It’s super important for us as Stand Up Paddlers to be respectful out on the water.  I want SUP to be accepted in places like Tofino and the only way that will happen is if we respect other surfers and follow the etiquette. I could and probably will write a whole entry just on SUP surfing so I will leave it at that for now and get back to my weekend of racing.

Saturday was a day for Demos from Starboard SUP and Clinics put on by Stu from Compass Adventures. The usual summer fog was hanging around so Saturday was a little bit quiet on Mackenzie Beach but it was a nice day to relax and try out some boards.

Mackenzie Beach is located North of North Chesterman Beach and is one of the best spots in Tofino for SUP.  You can always find sheltered flat water in the Southern Corner of the bay and in the Northern corner depending on the swell direction you can usually find some small, uncrowded SUP friendly waves.  In the winter Mackenzie Beach can get some good sized swell which brings in the surfers but in the summer it is mostly quite calm.  Tofino Paddlesurf, which is owned and operated by Catherine Bruhwiler,  has set up shop on Mackenzie Beach in conjunction with the Tin Wis Best Western Resort. Catherine runs lessons, tours and rentals and is definitely the person to talk to if you want some info on SUP in Tofino so go check out her shop! She has some awesome Starboard SUPs and some cool accessories and clothing in her new shop.

Festivities on Saturday night included a video and presentation from Norm Hann and his Stand Up For Great Bear initiative.  Look out for his new video STANDFILM.  Following the video was some live music to finish off the evening.

Sunday was the big race day and I was looking forward to this one as the 3^rd stop on the BC SUP Cup Series.  We awoke to some awesome sunshine and a little bit of wind which was perfect for race day. Perfect weather to provide a fun atmosphere on the beach and some challenging conditions on the water.

The day featured a Kids Race, Women’s race and then a Men’s race.  The group of kids/groms/youth, whatever you want to call them, were awesome.  Some really strong paddlers and I’m sure they are going to be leading the way in the mens races in a few years if they keep it up.  The women paddled next and were also very impressive. Even in the past year it has been great to see some more female paddlers coming out and making these races very competitive.

All of the races were on a counter-clockwise course in and out through the surf zone at Mackenzie Beach.  The course was set up very well to allow for different angles into the wind and waves.  There were definitely some challenging sections and the run certainly didn’t allow you to rest in between laps. 12’6 Men had to do 4 laps of the course.

I got off to a slower start than I would have liked and the first lap was grueling as I tried to make up some ground on Norm and Stu who were up front.  After a couple of hard laps I started to feel stronger but it wasn’t enough to catch Norm and Stu who kept pulling away after each lap.  I finished in 3^rd behind two very strong paddlers and I had a lot of fun out on the race course so I couldn’t complain.

 

Course racing with a beach run component is so much fun and is great for spectators.  It feels great to get cheered on by other paddlers and spectators as you make the run in between each lap.  Definitely makes me want to get down to the Battle of the Paddle this year and challenge myself against a tougher course and some world class paddlers…as long as I have a cheering section to push me through each lap.

All in all it was a very well organized race and a super fun course with a great BBQ and prizes afterwards.  Great job to the race organizers for putting together a great event.  I’d say there were close to 50 total racers which is an awesome turnout for a destination race.

A few of us discussed the idea of having the big races on Saturday rather than Sunday to allow for some post-race festivities without everyone rushing to get home or catch a ferry.  That way you can get the big important race out of the way and party it up on Saturday night! Sunday could be set aside for demos, clinics, surfing and fun.

Thanks to Surf-SUP, Compass Adventures, Tofino Paddlesurf, Starboard SUP, Werner Paddles and most importantly thanks to Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre for giving me the weekend off to race!