BLAST!

Posted Aug 25, 2010 in Blog



It is crazy how a year flies by…but what a BLAST its been! A year ago I participated in the Naish Race Series in Hood River that was organized by Big Winds in the Gorge.  It was a weekly race that ran for 8 weeks and was my first experience racing in standup paddling.  I ended up winning the Hood River series and was invited to the Naish Race Series Championships in San Diego.  So, I decided to jump on a plane down to Mission Bay. I ended up winning that race!  The prize for winning was a Naish 14′ Glide and a trip to Maui for the 4th Annual Naish Paddle Championships…but the race wasn’t until June of 2010. This last and final race of the series was a downwinder riding big open ocean swells which I had very little experience doing!  Each race had started meaning more and more to me and the Naish Paddle Championships was another GREAT reason to challenge myself again.

The Naish Race is a downwinder from Maliko Gulch to the Kahului Harbor on Maui and is about 10 miles.  My family had planned a vacation on Maui in the beginning of June. So I got to practice the Maliko run.  I learned a lot that week about downwind paddling from some of the best.  It is really different than flat water paddling and so incredibly fun!  The week I was there lead up to Battle of the Paddle Hawaii and was supposedly one of the best weeks ever for wind on the Maliko run.  Every single day the wind was averaging about 35 mph or more. I got in about 5 runs that week and felt that I knew it pretty well but had never gone all the way to the harbor because we had been coming in where we were staying at upper Kanaha.  I improved a lot in reading, catching and connecting swells…which is key.  When I got home I went a lot in the Gorge which really helped me continue to improve my down winding  SUP skills.

Photo by Bob Bangerter

“It seemed so surreal…the big race that started with a few fun races in Hood River had finally arrived”

I left on a Thursday morning so that I would have time to do a run or two before the race on Sunday.  I needed to figure out the rest of the run into the Harbor. The flight from Portland to Maui is so easy because it is a direct flight. You leave Portland around 830 and arrive Maui time at 1130 with the 3 hour time difference.  So you have most of your first day there.

Friday morning I was down at Baby Beach where I met up with Dave Kalama.  His beach workout is always fun and challenging!  I spent some time talking to him about the Maliko run and learning as much as I could…he is the master at it!  I was going to be racing a lot of girls that train on this run almost daily.  I needed to figure it out and quick! After the workout and Dave’s advice about the run I headed up to Haiku to the Naish International offices to pick up my 14′ Glide board that I would be racing.  The Naish guys were taking me on a run later that day to practice and figure out the finish into the Harbor.

Everytime I show up at Maliko it is a little intimidating.  When I lived on Maui for 7 years, before the rebirth of stand up paddling I never went to Maliko. I just drove through the Maliko gulch daily to and from my house in Haiku.  Maliko was where the big wave guys would launch from when Jaws was breaking and because of that it always seemed like a place I would never have any reason to be launching out of.   So…now here I am launching on a stand up board with some of those guys!

Photo by Bob Bangerter

Saturday I  was planning to do another practice Maliko run, but it didn’t happen which was probably better that I rest and relax and enjoy Maui with my good friend Gretchen who had come along with me on this trip.  Race day was approaching and I was starting to get nervous, as I usually do.  A lot people were on Maui for the race.  Not only were the top girls from Maui that do the run all the time and amazing water women but there was a lot of people Internationally who had come to do the race before the Molokai crossing which was the following weekend.

Photo by Bob Bangerter

Race day came and it was windy with lots of big swells to ride!

It was time for the final preparations and we were off to Maliko to get all registered and ready.  All of a sudden some squalls starting moving through and it was hard to tell what the conditions were going to be.  But, just before the race began it cleared up and the wind kicked back in.  There was largest number of people ever for this race and it’s always intimidating as the competition and yourself are scoping each other out.  Almost everyone there is in amazing shape. Because of how big the race was they staged the start. The prone paddlers leaving first and then 3 minutes later the Unlimited Divison SUP, 3 minutes later the 14′ division (my board division) and then 3 minutes later the 12’6 and under Stock class.  As we were waiting in the water for our start I made my way to where I believed I needed to be to get a good start.  I knew what I needed to do and it was to get out as far as I could in the beginning and to keep a good line to the harbor.  My start was great and I was catching the swells and getting great glides and connecting them…keeping the line I wanted! I could tell that I was doing well but because of the staggered start and the huge area of where you could be paddling it’s almost impossible to have any clue where you stand in the race and where your competition is.

I just knew I had to paddle the whole thing like someone was right on my tail.

Coming into the Harbor was tricky and the water was like you were in a washing machine. Once making it into the entrance the wind was strong and coming directly over your left shoulder which was a tough way to finish! It proved challenging for lots of people. I rode the board onto the beach and ran with the paddle to the finish.  I felt like I had done well but really wasn’t sure on how I did?  There was a guy that was on a 14′ Glide, as well and on the same line the whole race with me.  He came up to me and said I finished first.  I was excited and feeling good but also didn’t want to celebrate the win until the results were posted and I knew for sure.  Finally… the results were posted and it was time to relax and celebrate… I had gotten first!  I was stoked for my whole team because Naish dominated.  Dave Kalama placed first in Mens Unlimited, Jenny Kalmbach was 2nd in Womens unlimited and I was first in the Womens 14′ division. It was the perfect ending to a great trip to Maui.