Stellar Battle of The Bay Stand Up Paddleboarding Event Goes Off
The 2012 Battle of The Bay Stand Up Paddleboard contest went down this past Saturday October 13th with some of the country’s best paddlers taking to the waters just of San Rafael California. It was a perfect day for racing with a 6 mile race on tap to open the day. (photo credit to Chris Hollingsworth)
The race featured a beach start, which was a bit of a melee as the entire fleet converged on the first mark for a bit of carnage on the course. Although I haven't had much practice this year I do have a nice little advantage being a shop owner – access to the best gear. So as I headed out the door for the race that's just what I grabbed – the best gear. A Werner Grand Prix M1000 and Naish 12'6 Javelin; in carbon of course.
The starting line was packed tight with 14 footers so getting to the mark first on the 12'6" was not going to happen. In the mayhem of the line my paddle took multiple hard whacks from nearby paddlers. One with a large cracking sound. Since it was a race I just kept on paddling. After the race a quick check of the paddle showed only a small scratch – must have been the other guys paddle!
After strategically letting the carnage simmer a bit it was time to put the Werner/Naish combo in to overdrive. With top paddlers circling an M style course for 5 one mile laps it was quite the spectacle for the on looking spectators to take in. The Naish board rail turns beautifully which was a huge advantage on the day. As other paddlers were stepping back all I had to do was roll the board on its side and around she went. A few Tahitian strokes on the Werner M1000 Grand Prix and it was instant acceleration. The high aspect blade lets you fine tune paddle depth for total control of power cycles. With 10 turns per lap it was like a free board length at every buoy. As I settled in to the straightaways the board was easily reverse leaned to drive in a near perfect straight line. This combined with the high narrow blade on the Werner and I only had to change sides if I wanted too.
Having all the 14 footers about was great for pushing me on the 12'6". Since I couldn't tell what all the riders were on I could only assume they were in my class so the wise move was to keep the pace up. I was stoked to win the 12'6" division on the day but have to chalk up the credit to some stellar gear. Special thanks to Naish and Werner. Heck I even got to meet Oracle America's Cup Skipper James Spithill who is a pretty accomplished stand up paddleboarder himself. Cool! (Photo credit Ron Steinau)
A great race you should definitely put on your calendar for next year so mark down October 2013 as your chance to do Battle on the Bay! Its a must do event. Gotta hand it to the team at Bluerush Boardsports for throwing such a spectacular event and I know next year will only be better! Simply awesome.
Battle of the Bay 2012 Results
Official Battle of the Bay Website