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!

Weekend with the Pros

This past weekend I got the opportunity to share my neck of the woods with a couple of Starboard Team Pros, Nikki Gregg and Dan Gavere.  After much planning and a weekend of racing in Vernon at the Kal Classic I was stoked to get some surfing done.

The plan was to spend two days up at Skookumchuck Rapids surfing the standing wave that forms there on a large flooding tide. For those who aren't familiar with the wave, it is a smooth glassy wave that forms over a rock shelf during the flooding tide.  The wave is clean, glassy and green up until about 10 knots of current. When it gets above 10 knots the wave foams out and is not as easy to ride.  Above 10 knots the whirlpools, boils and waves also get considerably harder to deal with if you fall off the main wave.  For the brave few, the wave also greens out again at around 14-15 knots but the mess behind the wave gets pretty scary....maybe next trip.

We made the trip up to Egmont the night before our surf day and camped at the put in at the Backeddy Resort and Marina. From here it's about a 30 minute paddle into the wave...or a 45 minute walk.....or a 2 hour trek through the woods on a mountain bike with 4 boards on a homemade trailer(see video).
Sketchy gear shuttle into Skook

I paddled into the wave on a Starboard Coast Runner towing my 9'0" Starboard Converse which worked out very well.  We had a tough headwind but we made it there much faster than Dan on his bike. When I arrived on my board the wave was just starting to form.  It's amazing how fast the current builds, one minute you would think you were in Deep Cove on a glassy morning and the next minute you start to see eddy lines forming and boils and whirlpools beginning to form downstream.

The glassy wave is best surfed on a Sea Kayak or SUP so we shared the wave with a few sea kayak friends from Deep Cove.  I started the session waiting for the wave to get bigger so I decided to try surfing the Coast Runner.  14' of board was a little bit challenging to move around but once I got it on the wave it held pretty well.

As the wave built to the max current speed of 9.2 knots we had a nice steep wave that held some shorter boards in very nicely.  We even got a little bit of sunshine to dry us out.  My board of choice on the wave is my 9'0" x 30" Starboard Converse.  I feel like it has just the right amount of stability and maneuverability.  Other boards that worked really well were the Starboard Whopper 10'x34", the Starboard Element 9'8"x30" and when the wave was steep we had some fun on the 8"5x29 Starboard Pro.

After an awesome day of surfing we spent the evening at the Backeddy Resort and Marina...(and Pub). I went to bed ready for another day of surfing and an even steeper wave.  I awoke to torrential rain that wouldn't let up. After a quick breakfast we packed up and got on the water.  The rain still hadn't stopped and I was glad to have my Kokatat Drysuit instead of a wetsuit.  I literally lived in my drysuit for 2 days and managed to stay warm and comfortable in some pretty ugly west coast weather.

We surfed our way through the rain and had some awesome surfs.  The wave foamed out pretty quick but there was still a small pocket of green wave that we could stay in.  Dan was working the little pocket really well, carving in and out of the foam.

The sun finally decided to show itself after about 11 straight hours of pouring rain and we had a nice paddle back from the wave....The only downside being that now we had 3 people and 6 boards to paddle out.  Chris towed one board behind the 11' Starboard Slick he was on.  I managed to stack my 9'0 onto the 10' Whopper and paddle them out together.  Dan put together his Search and Destroy Rig which consisted of a 14' Coast Runner, drybags, camera bags, rolling luggage and an 8'5 Starboard Pro duct taped to the nose.

As if two days of surfing wasn't enough, we decided to get back to Vancouver and run the Capilano River the next day.  The Cap was running at a lower level which made it a little bit rocky but there was enough water to have a lot of fun through some of the rapid sections. The Starboard Astro Whopper was the right tool for the job here, very stable and could handle getting bounced off the odd rock. There aren't too many Stand Up Paddlers running rivers yet but I can see some potential for the sport to grow.  It was very challenging but a lot of fun and I was very glad to have Dan in front of me so I could follow/copy everything he did.  I'm stoked to get out there some more and hit up some more rivers.

Overall, it was an awesome weekend hanging out with some top paddlers in the industry. Thanks a lot to Dan Gavere and Nikki Gregg for coming up to see what BC has to offer for Stand Up Paddlers.  Also a huge thanks to Chris Emerick for shooting photos all weekend, hanging out and paddling.  And a big thanks to Starboard SUP, Werner Paddles, Kokatat Watersports Gear and Deep Cove Outdoors....without them I would be cold, wet and swimming.

Tour de Indian Arm 2012 Recap

2 weeks of beautiful weather that just couldn't hang on for one more day!  The first rain in days didn't keep the racers at home over the weekend for another instalment of the growing Tour de Indian Arm Paddlesport Race.

In the past the race has been primarily a Surf Ski and Kayak race but the growing SUP division made up a good share of the racers this weekend.  Last years race was the first to feature SUP as a category and we had a total of 12 racers.  This year we had a total of 31 Stand Up Racers in a variety of categories, not a bad turn out for an early season race in the rain.

As many are aware by now, this was the first race in the brand new BC SUP CUP Race Series.  Racers who competed in this race will gain points that will go towards their final placement in the series after the Final Race in August out at Jericho Beach.

The race began with the double surf skis, then surf skis, then the short course kayaks and finally the Stand Up Paddlers.  I was lined up in the middle of the pack on the line and hoped to get a quick start. Getting stuck in a tight group with other paddlers right off the start makes it difficult to put in good strong strokes so I always try to get a quick jump.  I shortened up the grip on my new Werner Grand Prix and went for some high cadence paddling right off the start in an attempt to get away from the pack.  It worked fairly well but I still had a couple of people who stayed right behind me and I could see Norm Hann and Beau Whitehead pulling ahead from their respective positions off the start.

Rounding the corner towards Grey Rocks it looked like Beau and Norm were going to lead the way and the tighter race would be the one for 3rd place.  I was in a small pack with Yannick Michaud and Mathew Abbott and the three of us stayed pretty close for most of the race.  I stayed ahead until about halfway through the race  until Yannick started putting some good strokes in and pulled ahead of me. I knew I had to stay near him or catching up at the end would be tough.

I managed to stay close while an unnamed surf ski paddler was attempting to draft him and I think that distracted him.  I stayed a few board lengths behind until the final turn into Deep Cove where I had to try and give it my all to catch him. We ended in a sprint to the finish and I managed to pass Yannick right at the finish line...I think I won because I happened to get the last stroke in at the finish line, it was that close.  Good race Yannick!

There were some good battles I heard about out there including Greig Gjerdalen on his Naish 14' and Kristian Pearson (Starboard Rep) on his Starboard Carbon 14' Coast Runner.  Starboard came out on top on this day with Kristian making a good push to the finish.

Post race festivities included a BBQ, cold beverages and prizes!  We had a great selection of draw prizes from Sponsors like: Werner Paddles,  Starboard SUP, Kokatat, Think Kayaks, Clif Bar, Bartlett Tree Experts, Ryders Eyewear and more!

All in all, it was a great event despite the weather and I am looking forward to some more BC SUP Cup events this season!

Transport Canada Releases Statement about SUP's and PFD's

Hey All,

Check out the recent statement from Transport Canada regarding PFD usage for Stand Up Paddleboards.
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/marinesafety/debs-obs-resources-menu-4139.htm

While it is nothing groundbreaking it does show that they have been hearing the requests for specific rules and are beginning to make some changes.

David Johnston does a great job summing up the article in his website at Paddlinginstructor.com
http://www.paddlinginstructor.com/safety/4513-transport-canada-compromises-and-makes-a-ruling-on-sup-pfd-use.html

I think that he makes an excellent point that I have to agree with, when he says
 "They have a hard enough time trying to convince everybody just to bring a PFD (let alone wear it) when in a boat that it really confuses the message to say it’s ok for one type of vessel but not the other"


We'll see if any more changes are made by Transport Canada but I have a feeling that this is where the regulation changes will stop regarding Stand Up Paddleboards and Transport Canada.

Werner Grand Prix Paddle Review

After putting my order in back in January I have been waiting patiently to get the new Werner Grand Prix Paddle in my hands and finally that day came last week.  Werner has spent time developing this paddle as a pure race paddle and with the change in blade shape and drastic drop in weight it sounded quite promising. After a couple training paddles, one down-winder and two races the Grand Prix didn’t disappoint.

Out of the Box:

My first reaction when I picked up the paddle is that it was very light. The swing weight was minimal and felt considerably lighter than the other ‘high end’ paddles at our shop. I was slightly concerned that the drop in weight would result in a lack of stiffness.  I ordered the mid-size blade which comes in at 98 square inches for blade size. The size is about the same as the Werner Nitro but it is slightly shorter and a little bit wider.  Werner has a pretty unique handle on all of their paddles and the updated carbon version feels comfortable and reduces the weight even further.   I also liked the updated logos on the blade, the yellow logo looks great and stands out in a crowd of similar paddles…Appearance is everything after all.

Racing and Touring:

I glued the handle on and went for a short down-wind paddle that afternoon. The blade feels great through the water with it’s dihedral shape and didn’t flutter.  I liked the narrow blade which allowed for a quick stroke rate and kept my stroke close to the board.  I tend to prefer a faster stroke rate rather than longer more powerful strokes and I felt that the reduction in weight didn’t translate to a lack of stiffness.  Maybe a bigger stronger paddler would notice more flexibility but it felt pretty stiff to me.

It didn’t take me long to get used to the paddle but I did find that during the down-wind paddle and even when the wind picked up while I was racing; the paddle was so light that when switching hands it gets blown around in the wind quite easily.  Not sure if that is a con or something I just need to get used to.

I know that over a long day of touring or racing that any reduction in weight is a blessing and I’m excited to use the paddle for this season of racing.

Final Thoughts:

I think that once people start getting this paddle in their hands and giving it a try we will see plenty of them on the water.  With 3 different blade sizes and the option of Werner’s bent shaft there should be a paddle to fit everyone.  The paddle will easily compete with the Quickblade Kanaha Elite Racer and is actually lighter and cheaper.  If you are interested in trying the paddle we will soon have two for demo at the Deep Cove Canoe and Kayak Centre waterfront location.  A bent shaft and straight shaft will be available for demo.

 If you are ready to buy they will also soon be in our retail store Deep Cove Outdoors and retail for $389.  Werner has donated a Grand Prix paddle to be given away as a draw prize at the Tour de Indian Arm race coming up on May 20^th so come out and race and you might walk away with a brand new paddle! 

BC SUP CUP!

British Columbia, Canada - (March 21, 2012) - The athletes have spoken!  BC is getting competitive on the Standup Paddleboard stage and proud to announce the formation of the first BC CUP Championship Racing Series.
This summer, both competitive and recreational paddlers will get a chance to compete in a formal series that stops at several well-established race events across the province – Four unique events that capture the full essence of Standup Paddleboard racing in Beautiful British Columbia, complete with year-end awards and titles. 
It’s a step in the right direction allowing BC to be at the forefront in developing the competitive level of SUP racing and the series welcomes all levels of paddlers who can choose to compete in the Competitive or Recreational classes – A great chance to experience the thrill of racing on BC’s waterways in a variety of conditions including flatwater ocean, lakes and surf-race.   Introducing the 2012 BC SUP CUP:

·         #1 – May 20, Deep Cove – (Tour de Indian Arm) ‘Season Opener’

·         #2 – June 23-24, Vernon (Kalamalka Classic SUP Festival)  ‘The Classic’

o   June 23 – Short Course – 12’6, Junior, Surfboard

o   June 24 – Long Course – 14’

·         #3 – July 15, Tofino – (Surf SUP Island Series #2)  ‘Surf Race’

·         Final – August 26 – (Vancouver SUP Challenge)  ‘Grand Finale’

To make the series accessible to as many athletes as possible, your top score for any one of the three BC SUP CUP races plus the BC SUP CUP Finale’ will be combined for year-end scores and awards.  To qualify for a year-end ranking and award, athletes must attend and compete in the final race.  BC SUP CUP titles will awarded at the final race along with other awards and sponsor prizes.

Racing Classes: (Year end titles) *

·         14’ Men

·         14’ Women

·         12’6” Women

·         12’6” Men

·         Junior Men (18 & Under)

·         Junior Women (18 & Under)

·         12’2” & Under Surfboard Women

·         12’2” & Under Surfboard Men

              * (Additional formats, qualifications and rules to be announced)

An exciting season SUP Racing is less than two months away so it’s time to start getting ready!  The series welcomes sponsors and partners as we continue to build up the premier Provincial racing series in Western Canada. 

About the Organizers
The 2012 BC SUP CUP Series is a collaborative effort between Gary Parsons, Kevin O’Brien, Mike Darbyshire and Stuart Robinson – The respective race organizers from the various events.  With their diverse backgrounds in Standup Paddlesurf and other water and land based sports, the group has joined forces to bring the series to life and help further develop Canadian athletes.   The group will next launch a basic website to keep everyone informated and educated.  See you on the water! 

SUP Surf Course

Hey Paddlers,

Want to learn how to surf? 
Norm Hann and I have just set a date for another SUP Surf Course in Tofino. The 2 day course runs on Sunday March 25th and Monday March 26th. 2 nights of beachfront accommodation is included and participants can arrive in the afternoon on Saturday March 24th. For more information please contact Norm or myself! Space is limited so sign up quick!
Mike Darbyshire: school@deepcovekayak.com
Norman John Hann: norm@mountainsurfadventures.com