Gorgeous Weather Blesses Whole Foods Market Paddle Race #5

What a day! 75 degrees in February – Race # 5 in the Whole Foods Market Paddle race series was so nice it was actually disconcerting.(all photos Ron Steinau)

Over 90 paddlers signed up for action in Outrigger Canoe, Stand Up Paddleboard, Prone Paddleboard, Kayak, and Surfski divisions. The fleet was blessed with literally the nicest day of the year. The highlight of the day was seeing the large contingent of young paddlers take to the water. Husbands and Wives paddling together made for a special on the water valentines. Bringing the kids along too – priceless. Part of what makes the paddle sports so much fun is that it makes for the perfect way for the whole family to enjoy paddleboarding on San Francisco Bay.

Whole Foods Market once again rolled out the red carpet with a lunch spread fit for royalty. Mamies Pies topped with Three Twins Ice Cream stoked out the aforementioned keiki in a big way. For the adults the stoking was taken care of courtesy Marin Brewing Company. Hint Water was once again overtly generous with never ending free waters for all the racers and with the hot weather on hand it was greatly appreciated by all. Kind Bar set up the fleet with bottomless boxes of their new savory flavored bars. The new flavors created quite the buzz across the entire paddle crowd.

The water was kept safe by an able crew, led by Officer Mark Heddon, on the San Rafael Police Boat. San Francisco Bay Stand Up Paddleboard Tour Operator, Drew Testwuide had his gorgeous 32' Grand Banks, the Barbary Ghost, on the water as well making for a robust water safety team. Thanks to James Mazzanti (pictured above) for the drone go pro camera work (featured below). It was a pretty impressive display of piloting skills as James flew the drone from the top deck of the Barbary Ghost while it was underway! We'll post that video as soon as it hits the wire. Ron Steinau did his thing – providing a massive photo gallery for all the paddlers to check out the day's activities. Check out Ron's complete photo gallery by clicking here.

101 Surf Sports Padle Race Valentines Day from waterhound.com on Vimeo.

We also saw the first ever official Stand Up Paddleboard Lacrosse game after racing! Barbary Ghost skipper Drew Teswuide has been developing both the equipment and the concept. If crowd reaction was any indication we'll be seeing much more on the water lacrosse action. More info on that in an upcoming post.

Thanks to all who paddled but especially to all the volunteers who helped out on the day with a little extra love for Dave Hook who was multi-tasking the whole day through. Thanks as well to Focus SUP paddleboards Hawaii for showing us the new Bluefin Paddleboards. This may be the new hot board for the rougher waters of San Francisco Bay.

Our next race is March 7th - The Marin Brewing Company San Quentin Break Out. This is not a race for beginner paddlers and wraps up the paddle racing season here at 101 Surf Sports. Sign Up Here.

Starting line video courtesy Michael Crimmins.

RESULTS AT THE BOTTOM.

TIME ADJUSTMENTS

Long Course subtract 3 minutes from your time for accurate timing (except boats and prone)

Short Course subtract 7 minutes from your time for accurate timing