“Hey,” I said to Barrett without taking my eyes from the ready racers clutching their boards and paddles at the shoreline, “Wait for a set before you start it.”

When no answer came, I quickly looked in his direction, not wanting to miss any moment of this exciting start.  Barrett Tester, our event coordinator was shaking his head with a look of mild annoyance like the teacher dealing with a classroom bad boy who just uttered another absurd, idiotic statement.  We were in the final minute before the start of the Elite Race of the 2nd Annual Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle, every racer was poised to go and all eyes were on them.  The course was an entirely new concept in the field of SUP racing and little did any of us know that the race benchmark was about to be altered in a big way forever.

Last year, when we had to decide on a course for our 1st BOP, I lobbied hard to run at least part of it through the surf but to no avail.  The event, nevertheless, went on to be a resounding success and was thoroughly enjoyed by all competitors.  The racecourse, in spite of an awful and unusually strong NW wind, was, from a spectator’s point of view, somewhat lackluster as the racing field spread out establishing their positions.  With a 2nd Battle in the works, I continued to push for a race through the waves.  Surprisingly, support came from the Park Rangers and Lifeguards when they moved our event into the park area and gave us the green light for the surf.  Pat Huber, marketing V.P. at Rainbow, had grown up in the Doheny line-up and worked on creating an Elite race that would include waves through sections of the course.  On paper is one thing but on race day, what came to pass, was something entirely different.

The Open race ran at 10am when the tide was high.  Although a south swell was showing, the only effect on the Open racers was for some of the lucky ones who turned around the last buoy to find a set wave to ride in to shore and the finish.  The outgoing tide and the 1:30 Elite start would make the next race an entirely unexpected spectacle for both racers and spectators alike.  Apparently the swell was rising and with the lower tide, waves suddenly began breaking where the outside course marks were set.  The lifeguards had to reset many of our race buoys as the surf kept dragging them further in.  Most racers were paddling specialty race boards, fast, flat-water shapes without much consideration to wave riding in their design.  We had incorporated a beaching, run through the sand and re-launch into each lap to bring the racecourse in amongst the spectators.  It was one of the most exciting parts of the 1st year’s race and added an element of extra conditioning beyond just paddling skills.  As the racers waited for the start, mentally going over each step to the water’s edge, mounting their boards, the quick strokes to get going and their line to the outside buoy, I wondered what they thought about the growing surf.  Were they thinking of their flat, low rocker, displacement bottom shapes climbing over the breaking waves?  Were they thinking of rounding the outer marks, catching a set wave and riding their race boards in on a head high wave to bottom turn around the inner mark.  What was going through their heads as all of us waited for Barrett to sound the starting horn?  And then he did, and the field was off.

Almost a hundred racers hit the water in varying degrees of grace and skill.  I saw Chuck Patterson bull his way ahead of the pack, pushing almost 20’ ahead of his nearest competitor.  I hadn’t noticed the set that came out of nowhere but it caught most of the racers already mounted and still showed no mercy.  Chuck ran into the first wave before anyone and it immediately took him down.  The wave ran into the mob behind him and racers were going down like ten pins.  Chuck with paddle in hand was running through waist deep water chasing after his board.  In an instant the lead had changed.  I looked over at Barrett, his eyes were big, his jaw dropped, I heard him utter, “Oh my God….!”

It was hard to tell who was in the lead, it just seemed as though a mass of paddlers mobbed together.  A few racers were still retrieving lost boards but everyone was directly in front of from where we watched making it difficult to see the placements.  The 1st leg went all the way out to the permanent Red buoy to a left turn, than in to the outside South mark.  There were several guys out front but the field was still pretty close together, the front-runners all paddling very strong.  The 1st leg followed a slight jog around the outer South mark and a sprint to the inside mark.  As I glanced there, I saw waves breaking around the mark and knew the turn around it would be interesting.  Several racers were ahead but suddenly a set loomed outside right where the pack was.  The strongest paddlers caught the first wave and from the beach, we could see them catch up to the few guys in front.  The wave was head high and everyone was closely bunched together.  More racers caught the 2nd wave and just like that, there were over a dozen vying for a lead change just as Pat and I had envisioned when we dreamed up the course.  The racing boards had not been constructed with wave riding in mind.  As one racer bumped another, they caught edges made to go fast on flat water but ill suited for surfing, spilling both riders.  Their loose boards knocked down the guys on either side.  The same mayhem happened on the waves behind as well.  No one was standing at the inside mark and a few unfortunate ones who had not held on as they fell, were chasing after boards washing away.  Rounding the mark put the inside racers directly in the path of the outside ones coming in.  It was pandemonium.

I looked again at Barrett and he had his eyes closed, head shaking from side to side, forehead lowered into his hands.  Boards lost by racers coming in were broadside in the whitewater to those who had already rounded the mark, trying to head back out.  This was racing at it’s best.  Wingnut, the event announcer was in a frenzy trying to commentate while so much was happening.  One paddler surged ahead as they aimed for the next outside mark.  Almost at once, everyone, Wingnut included, realized who it was.  After rounding this mark, the course came in to shore where the racers were required to run through a designated track in the sand.  Surrounding the marked off beach run were screaming spectators.  Fouteen year old Slater Trout was alone as he entered the run and the entire crowd cheered him on.  He was leading the entire field of the world’s best SUP racers.  He held his lead as he remounted his board and head back out to go around the outside Boneyard mark.  As he rounded the mark, a wave came in at the right moment insuring he would stay in front for the time being.  It looked like Jaimie Mitchell behind, hot on his tail but there was that critical wave interval spacing between them. A teenager was leading the field of the biggest money race in the short history of SUP boarding.  It was an exciting moment, not only in this young racer’s life but for the sport as well.

There was a long race ahead where the lead would change again and the places behind shuffle at the whim of surf.  Stand Up Paddle surfing instantly had become a part of SUP racing as the premier type of racing event in just the first lap.  Racers, event organizers, SUP board designers and even spectators were reassessing what to think, what to do and especially what would be in store when, next year, the 3rd Annual Rainbow Sandal Battle of the Paddle begins.  I wouldn’t want to miss it.