In like a lion and out like a lamb…and just like that, the 101 Surf Sports Winter Race Series came to an end
Our most recent Winter Race Series has been a duel between foul weather mixed with the hopes of a small break in the weather. For the last race of the Winter Series, the racers were blessed with the nicest day of 2024 so far!
The sun warmed the skin of our racers with a climbing temperature that reached 68 degrees by the time our first finishers crossed the finish line. Our field of racers topped out at 53 people in all styles of watercraft that included outrigger canoes, prone paddleboards, stand-up paddleboards as well as single, double, and even a triple surfski!
Some notable paddlers would include the trio in the aforementioned triple surfski, Elaine Baden, Mary Ann King, and Mike Staninec who glided across the finish line with their paddles in perfect harmony with a time of 47:48 for the six-mile race course, well done!
In the category of double outrigger canoes and double surfskis, a few more blazing fast race times were had by John Dye and his co-paddler, Kenny Howell, who duked it out with Ken Katz and his co-paddler, Paul MacIntryre, over the long course around the Marin Islands and back to our shop with a winning time of 41:25 for the team of Dye and Howell.
Not to be forgotten would be our family of intrepid paddlers from South Lake Tahoe, Jay, Anik, and young Jaxsen Wild. This family is absolutely amazing in more ways than one, they paddle together, they ski together and the Wild family works together at their paddlesports business in Carnelian Bay, Watermans Landing. If you are ever in the area, drop by and say hello, go for a paddle, and then enjoy a hot cup of coffee at their year-round beach club and coffee shop. For the race today, Anik and Jaxsen put the hammer down and covered the six-mile course in 56:10 and they crossed the finish line with their signature smiles. Thanks for making the trip from Tahoe to Marin!
Our paddler friends from Petaluma arrived in force to fill out the playing field, in addition to helping to raise the bar and set the tempo for their fellow racers. The River Town Racers is their name, and paddling is their game. This group of youth-aged paddlers takes their sport very, very seriously. In addition to competing in the regional paddle racing scene, they also compete on the national level. Four of their paddlers dominated both the short as well as the long course. Noah Humbard posted a time of 20:43 for the Junior male short course with fellow teammate Zoe Rice at 20:32. On the long course, Sebastian Kauffman cruised across the finish line in 46:29 with Thade Hutchins in hot pursuit with a time of 55:19. Great job River Town Racers!!!!
Representing the Legend Category were our longtime friends Vincent Huang and Bruce Ahlbom who joined us for the two-mile short course with times of 31:56 for Vincent and 33:45 for Bruce on their 14 stand-up paddle boards. Right in between the fellas was Cathy Huang who posted the time of 32:15. These folks have been racing with us since 2011, thank you so much for being a big part of our paddle family!
In the prone zone, we had three attendees who grinded out the miles in style on two types of prone paddle boards. The short course had Teddy Augustine on a 12’ prone board, what is called a “stock” prone, Teddy finished the two miles in 39:56. On the long course we had our dear friend Mark Cappa who makes the BEST leashes in the surf industry with his company, Stay Covered. Mark made the long drive up Highway 101 from Oceanside to paddle his unlimited prone paddleboard (over 14’ in length) to post a time of 1:24:08 over six miles and he was followed by Tom Maiorana on his 12’ stock prone paddleboard with the time of 1:29:27.
The sea kayak division was represented by Mitch Powers, who glided across the finish line with a time of 46:21. Our friend Mitch has been a staple of the Bay Area paddle sports community, on the water as a seasoned guide for SeaTrek in Sausalito and on land he manages the crowds of tourists who flock to SeaTrek to paddle on the bay with beautiful views of the San Francisco skyline in addition to the iconic view of the Golden Gate Bridge. If you haven't ever visited their location, put it on your calendar, you will have an amazing day on the water!
Joining us from Santa Cruz was Debbie Lockertt who brought her first time racer at a 101 Surf Sports event, friend Amy Miyakusu, and these ladies represented the 831 with impressive times on the short course on their outrigger canoes. Debbie posted the time of 26:09 with Amy right behind her at 27:01. Our races are perfect for first-time racers since our family friendly waterway opens up to San Pablo Bay.
The team at 101 Surf Sports wants to thank each and every one of our racers who have attended our legendary race series this year! Keep smiling and paddle on…