Competition
The Gorge Paddle Challenge was the big focus last week. Before covering the action, let’s remember one of the open class paddlers, Andre Pombo, who drowned after coming off his board on a practice downwind run. Sadly Andre wasn’t wearing a leash or a PFD, was separated from his board and taken down by the strong Hood River current. This follows the drowning of Joshua Merkley in Rockford State Park, Utah in July when a gust of wind separated him from his paddle board. Again, Joshua wasn't wearing a leash or a PFD.

On the Sunday morning, out of respect for Andre, 248 paddlers formed a circle on the river, led by Jake Jensen on Andre’s board. A poignant moment.


After some ripping downwind conditions in the days leading up to the event, conditions turned hot and still, while local bushfires added choking air to the mix. First up was the elite course race – five laps of a one mile course, staged so that it kept filing past spectators at the waterfront park.

Trains were the order of the weekend, with Fiona Wylde (US) leading the elite women for several laps. Angie Jackson (Aus) and Annabel Anderson (NZ) were hot on her tail until Anderson turned the screws at the fourth. Anderson opened up a lead that the others couldn’t close. Jackson managed to squeeze past Wylde for second.

After the customary men's start where Connor Baxter absolutely nails it, Danny Ching (US) applied the pressure to lead from the second lap, closely followed by a powerhouse pack – Kelly Margetts (Aus), Travis Grant (Aus), Georges Cronsteadt (Tahiti), Baxter (Hawaii), Titouan Puyo (New Caledonia) and Kai Lenny (Hawaii). Ching held a 15 second lead coming into the last leap, which the chasing pack almost managed to shut down – Ching didn't help himself when he almost took a wrong turn at one of the buoys. Grant came the closest, just a few steps behind in the finishing chute, while Puyo held out for third.

Sunday came, but unfortunately the downwind event turned out to be a nowinder. The double run was halved to a single run, which turned out to be an eight mile lung-busting drag race as everyone put everything on the line. Annabel Anderson managed to claim the weekend quinella, while Fiona Wylde was runner-up and Terrene Black (Aus) third.

In the men’s, Kelly Margetts showed paddlers half his age how it’s done – a classy win following a closely fought battle the whole way – the top 12 finishers were within 28 seconds of each other. Travis Grant took second for a second time, while Titouan Puyo held third once again.

Even the best have an off day – After plenty of online discussion about the rolled bottom of his boards, Travis Grant offers us a closer look.


Good luck to all competitors in the Queensland technical and distance champs this weekend – fingers crossed for awesome conditions. Last minute entries go to: www.surfingqueensland.com/events.php

In Europe, the SUP 11-city Tour gets underway.

The following weekend, the Stand Up World Series gets back on track with the Hayama Pro in Japan.

Demo days aplenty. Balmoral Paddlesurf this Sunday at Freshwater & Balmoral. Cronulla SUP the following weekend.


[b]This week’s number: 11
[/b]This is how to take a buoy (and no prisoners). The following sequence of 11 photos, courtesy of Gorge Performance, shows how George Cronsteadt managed to overtake Kelly Margetts in the elite race at the Gorge Paddle Challenge. George provides a textbook example of lowering your centre of gravity. Hats off to Kelly though; I don't know how he managed to continue the turn and remain upright.














Latest vids
Paddlewoo, a website with a bunch of cool SUP surfing media, is running a video contest. Vote on one of five videos featuring the following paddlers: Fisher Grant, Justin Holland, Kieran Grant, Mo Freitas and Noa Ginella. While you’re there, check out the podcasts (14 to date), which you can subscribe to via iTunes.

paddlewoo.com/

One for the river rats. How did he nail this jump?

www.facebook.com/rheajwagner/videos/1152435501438756/

Who’s prepared to do this to their carbon race board?

A mesmerising video by Morgan Maaseen, simply about water.

Stay safe out there
Following the tragedy at Hood River, the local SUP store Big Winds blogged safety guidelines for downwinding the river. While some of the advice they offer is specific to the location, most of what they’re saying makes sense for any downwind run.

bigwindsblog.com/2014/06/23/sup-downwind-safety-guidelines-2/

And this open letter came from Warren Currie at Easy Rider and Dave Kalama, with a call to always wear a leash.

distressedmullet.com/2015/08/25/an-open-letter-to-the-stand-up-paddle-board-industry/


Happy paddling,
SJKJ