Surfing America USA SUP Surfing Championships

I always love how good it feels to bank off the close out section.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to compete in The Surfing AmericaUSA SUP Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach, Ca.
It was really cool to see that the surfing Industry is starting to recognize SUP surfing and that the Surfing America Organization added it into their competition schedule for 2012.

So stoked on how well run and organized Surfing America was with their first US event. great job.

The conditions were 2′-3′ ft waves with a couple head high sets and foggy overcast skies that burned off by midday. There was a great mix of talented athletes from Hawaii, Florida and Southern California as well as a strong youth brigade of talent that really made competing in these small even more challenging.

Stand up paddle surfing in Southern California is always a mixed bag; where in the Winter, we have a good amount of fun over head surf and in the Summer we are always making the best out of our local beach breaks to get the most out of the small waves. Don’t get me wrong; we do get some awesome large Winter swells and and solid Southern hemi’s that really light up our coast; but its usually all about getting the most out of the small waves year round.

Even though I live in Southern California; I have been very fortunate to spend the last 15 years chasing large swells across the globe and have become totally addicted to riding big waves which seems to fit my style of riding better then the small stuff. That being said; competing against these  small young rippers, with bodies that stretch like a rubber band was a major challenge for a big guy like me who lives for riding the big stuff.

Traveling thousands of miles to get waves like this is what I live for.

For the last couple weeks I have been doing some R&D, riding a super short SUP surfboard By Naish “Hokua”  ( 7’8″ x 29.25 x 4.5 ). This board has become one of my favorites and has really helped me refine my small wave riding style. I have to admit; I was kind of hesitant to ride this board in this event because of how slow the shorter boards paddle and when you only have a 20 minute heat to chase down and ride 10 waves against 3 other guys, you need to be quick and on point to make sure you get the high scoring rides.

I was so stoked how well my Naish “Hokua” 7’8″ x 29.25 x 4.5 SUP surfboard worked in these fun challenging conditions.

After finishing 2nd in my first heat; I had a good idea of what i needed to do to keep advancing to the Finals. My first couple heats were really tough and sometimes I had to really stop and take a deep breath to keep myself from getting too amped because as the clock ticks down and your in need of one more high scoring wave to really close the deal, you get a little crazy and just go on any wave instead of being patient and selecting a good one to finish on.

You had to really stay busy and make as many turns as possible to get the high scores.

It’s funny how your mind plays tricks on you when your paddling back out and you see one of your competitors just rip a wave to shreds and you can’t help but wonder how the heck your going to beat them; but I have learned and keep learning that it is important to stick with your game plan and alway have a plan B just in case. Sometimes competing against the clock can be bitter sweet, especially after you just got the high scoring wave putting you in the lead and you wish the clock would just speed up and other times your in need of a good scoring ride with only minutes to go and wish time stood still.

I love the speed this board gets, making it perfect for the last snapping turn.

We were super lucky that the fun “A” frame conditions hold up for most of the day, although the wind and low tide in the semis and finals made for very challenging drained out, bumpy conditions; making it even more important to still be patient and wait for the right waves. My board was really working great all day and even better in the bumpy conditions because the short length really worked insanely well in the pocket and was super fast going rail to rail down the line, allowing me to out race sections with ease.

Amazingly enough, I only surfed one wave going Left all day because the NWest swell really made for some great right handers

Riding these shorter boards are comparable to a good surfboard for sure!

I was super pumped how everything came together for me competing in this event. Its great to ride with the best guys because it really elevates your riding. Congratulations to all the men and women athletes who competed and really pushed the level of riding to the next level. Thanks to Surfing America for an insane run event. The ASP judging format with the computer print outs really made it so you could concentrate on your surfing and not have to stress on whats happening in the judges tower.

Stoked on winning the Men’s Open & Men’s over 40 divisions and congrats to Candice Appleby for winning the Open Women’s division. “she was ripping”

Winning the 40 and over division with a couple solid legends. I was totally impressed how smooth these guys were with their turns in the choppy conditions.

Top winners in all Divisions. Congratulations to the young guns for really pushing the sport.

after a long, fun day of battling it out with some stiff competition; its always nice to leave with some hardware.

I want to Thank all my sponsors and friends for their support in making it possible to push myself in all my sports.

Thank You –

Naish,  Ocean Minded,  SUP Co,  Kialoa,  Watermans sunscreen,  OnIt,  NOW Energy bars,  Rainbow fins,  GoPro,  Dakine,

Sticky Bumps, SPI Laguna,  Yoga works,  2XU Compression clothing, Monster paint and MOM.