Kaenon Polarized

On Lake Tahoe in rough, windy conditions the Kaenon Polarized crew dominated the podium on both days.  Jenny Kalmbach (Porter Tortoise C12) won the womens elite race in a close battle, with fellow Kaenon athlete Karen Wrenn finishing close behind her in third. The next day, again in rough conditions, Karen finished second (Delite Fern G12) in the long distance.  Rob Rojas (Jetty Matte Black G12) won the Unlimited Board Men’s Division Long Distance division, and was followed in second by Jeff Denholm. Rob also finished second in the Elite Men’s Race, and Jay Wild (Gauge Black G12) finished fourth.

On Friday before the event Karen and Chuck Patterson held a clinic that was packed with enthusiastic paddlers.

Eric Abbott also continues to dominate his competition, winning the Stock Division Long Distance Men’s. This win is most impressive, considering the long distance, paddling the smallest board and still managing the best time!
1st Time – 1:51:50

Full Kaenon Results:

Main Race
Elite Women’s Race:
1st Jenny Kalmbach
3rd Karen Wrenn

Elite Men’s Race:
2nd Rob Rojas
4th Jay Wild

Long Distance Race
Stock Division Long Distance Men’s (this one is the most impressive on the long distance, smallest board best time)
1st Eric Abbott Time – 1:51:50

Elite Women’s Long Distance
2nd Karen Wrenn Time – 2:22:29

Stock Division Women’s Long Distance
1st Anik Demers-Wild Time – 2:34:57

Unlimited Board Men’s Division Long Distance
1st Rob Rojas Time – 1:54:21

Unlimited Board Men’s Division Long Distance
2nd Jeff Denholm Time – 2:12:33

OC1 (Outrigger Canoe) Division Men’s Long Distance
2nd Jay Wild Time – 1:33:21

Eric Abbott has been dominating the stock board division in most every prone paddle board race. This year’s 32-mile Molokai To Oahu Crossing was no exception, where he won his division with a time of 5 hours and 39 minutes. Eric paddled the fastest stock time in the history of the crossing, an impressive feat! Eric wears the new Soft Kore in Pearl White G12.

Once again, Jamie Mitchell wearing Hard Kore, Matte Black, G12 lens dominated the unofficial World Championship of Paddleboarding leading the fleet of paddleboarders and Stand Up Paddlers on the 32 mile open-ocean crossing of the Molokai Channel to ultimately win the race for the ninth time.

Completing the course from Kaluakoi, Molokai, to Maunalua Bay, Oahu, in 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 45 seconds, he was about 4 minutes shy of the record he set in 2007, but still posted an impressive time considering the channel’s sloppy and windy conditions.

“The Channel this year was tough as always. It was a very technical course and you had to be on your game to catch and milk every little bump out there. I felt like I took advantage of the conditions, working with and not against them. I felt quite strong all the way to the finish line. All in all I was stoked with how it played out.

“As for winning number nine, it hasnt really sunk in I guess. I’m just stoked–I won it once in ‘02, but to now have nine wins–I couldn’t have believed in my wildest dreams that I would do that.”

The runner-up’s time was 5:07:54, or approximately 1.5 miles behind Mitchell. “I don’t look back,” Mitchell said. “I just think that they’re right there, and that keeps me going.”

Dave Kalama won the Stand Up division finishing two minutes behind Jamie. Other Kaenon competitors were Scott Gamble finishing in fourth place, Jackson English in fifth and Conner Baxter in seventh. Also, Jeff Denholm from Santa Cruz who lost his arm in a commercial fishing accident in Alaska, won his division just two hours behind Jamie. All of the Kaenon competitors wore Hard Kore Black or Tobacco in G12 and C12.

For a full contest recap, click here to read the story in the Honolulu Star Advertiser.

How does a 16-year-old Hawaiian win a white water rapid SUP contest without training? Because he is just that good (and a little paddling strategy didn’t hurt either). Noa Ginella, flew in to Vail, CO from Hawaii and upset a competitive field of whitewater pioneers in the inaugural SUP Sprint, besting not only the field but serious Class 3 and 4 rapids at an altitude of 8000 feet, and water at very frigid temp of 37 degrees. Noa wears Gauge Black G12.

As reported by c4waterman.com:

Today’s historic event was won by 16-year-old rising SUP star Noa Ginella from the North Shore of Oahu, who until this week, had never before paddled in whitewater, let alone ever been to Colorado. Noa arrived here earlier this week with an all-star cast of big wave ocean surfers to the event dubbed the “Olympics of mountain sports.”

Whitewater insiders predicted today’s race would be a repeat of the on-water rivalry between the two leading whitewater paddlers–Dan Gavere of Hood River, OR and Charlie MacArthur of Aspen, CO, who earlier in the week finished first and second at a whitewater competition, the second annual Stand Up Paddle Whitewater Championships in Glenwood Springs,CO.

Slipping through unnoticed, Ginella himself was surprised when he found out he had bested the favorite, Gavere, by 16.7 seconds, finishing the three-mile course in 18:15:53. With snow still capping the mountains, Gore Creek was running so hard (about 1200 cubic feet per second when the race kicked off at 10 a.m.) that authorities issued a high flow warning, making Ginella’s defeat of river SUP pioneers Gavere and MacArthur even more stunning.

Ginella attributed his victory to deep, easy strokes recommended to him by his mentor and teammate, legendary waterman Brian Keauluna. Keaulana is co-founder of C4 Waterman an innovator and manufacturer of SUP boards and paddles. The company is presenting sponsor of today’s sprint and tomorrow’s inaugural SUP surfcross events here at Teva Mountain Games.

In a training run, where he found himself neck and neck with another mentor, teammate and surfing icon Archie Kalepa, Ginella said he noticed the deep easy strokes helped him keep on pace yet conserve energy against Kalepa who is renowned for his super powerful, fast strokes.

Someone who wasn’t surprised by Ginella’s win was Todd Bradley, co-founder of C4 Waterman, the presenting sponsor of the SUP events at Teva Mountain Games. “Noa’s an amazing athlete. Anytime we’ve put him in a competitive situation, he excels,” Bradley said.”

TAHOE NALU SUP RACE

On beautiful Lake Tahoe, competing in the Tahoe Nalu SUP race was anything but easy. There were well over 200 SUP competitors paddling the 7.5 mile course. It was a beautiful sunny day with slightly bumpy challenging conditions from an East wind and waves from several boats on the lake making for a great race. Jay Wild finished 2nd overall and 1st in 12′6. Anik Wild was 1st in the 12′6 women and 3rd overall. Jay wears Hard Kore Black G12 and Anik wears Soft Kore Black G12.

From TahoeSUP.com:

“Event #2 of the Quicksilver Tahoe SUP series, the 8 mile Thunderbird Run, was held along the eastern shores of Lake Tahoe starting and finishing at Sand Harbor State Park. Finally arriving back to the area was the brilliant blue Tahoe sky and the warm Sierra sunshine to create an eye popping backdrop for this inaugural race. A four mile trek down the rugged state park coast, turning at the historic Thunderbird Lodge, 4 miles back to the finish.

A series of buoys were strategically placed inside each cove and the racers were blind to the location of the next buoy until rounding each point. Tahoe SUP’s Ronnie Ayres, who finished 1st in the 14′ and 3rd overall had this to say. “I really liked the discovery aspect of finding each buoy. From the starting line looking down the course you couldnt see any. But as you came around each point there was the next buoy to round and pull you all the way into the crystal clear shallows. I had never paddled this side of the Lake before so for me it was exploring uncharted waters”

The men’s race unfolded with a pack of unlimited boards moving to the front and setting the pace. By the mid point and turn around Ronnie had reeled most of them in followed closely by fellow Tahoe SUP rider Jay Wild on his 12′6″. With 2 miles to go Jay pulled even with Ronnie and they passed all but one of the unlimited boards. “The final mile we really pushed each other,” said Jay. “Ronnie and I train together so it was like a whole new race there at the end”. Jay was able to find another gear in that last quarter mile and pulled ahead. Jay and his 12′6″ Z Elite finished 1st in stock, 2nd place overall and are raising quite a few eyebrows thus far in the Tahoe series.

The Tahoe SUP ladies have continued their dominance winning the 14 and 12′6 divisions.

Anik Wild took 1st place womens stock division, 2nd woman and placed herself 3rd overall in stock including the men.”

Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last year, you’ve probably noticed that Stand Up Paddling has been rapidly growing in popularity. There are many new up-and-coming SUP retailers and Kaenon Polarized has been a must-have brand for their eyewear offerings. This year’s Hawaiian Battle of the Paddle took place in Waikiki on Oahu was a massive success with over 600 participants.

Kaenon Polarized athletes had a multitude of great results in a variety of categories:

Scott Gamble finished second in the Long Distance Pro Men, second in the Relay Pro Men and sixth in the Pro Men’s Elite race. Scott wears Hard Kore Black G12.

Shakira Westdorp finished second in the pro women’s elite race. She had to fly back to Australia before the long distance and relay races on Sunday. Shakira wears Soft Kore Black G12.

Guy Pere finished second in the Long Distance Pro Men in his age group. Guy wears Hard Kore Black G12.

Jamie Mitchell had a frustrating event, which is very unexpected for him. Jamie had a 4th in the Pro Men Elite race, a 6th in the Long Distance Pro Men and was 1st in the Relay. He flew in from G-Land in Indonesia with the Quiksilver team the day before the race. It is hard to train for an endurance race when the surf is absolutely going off back at home… Jamie wore Arlo Black G12

Some of the mayhem during the men’s elite race. These boards do not surf well at all, they are built purely for speed.

Karen Wrenn continues her domination of her category, she finished first in the Pro Women 30-40 age group. Karen wears Soft Kore White C12. The photo shows Karen’s greeting and assist from her two kids as she takes her final steps and runs for the finish after the long distance.

Noa Ginella finished first in the 18 and Under Pro Mens division. Noa wears Gauge Black G12.

Matt Becker Santa Barbara finished ninth in Elite Men Pro which was against the big boys. He is only 16, so he has plenty of time to catch them. Matt also finished second in the Long Distance, 18 and under and second in the relay with Scott Gamble. Matt wears Klay Matte Black G12.

Rob Rojas was third in Long Distance, wearing Kabin Matte Black G12.

Kula Barbieto was traveling during the event but made in time to make an appearance for the Relay finishing fifth. Here she is wearing Soft Kore white G12.

On right Kainoa Beaupre finished 3rd in the long distance Pro Men 30-39. Kainoa wears Jetty Matte Black G12 with his girlfriend in Kabin Tortoise G12.

Our elite female SUP’er Karen Wrenn (Soft Kore) continues to dominate her competition, winning yet another race a few weeks back at Coastal Urge’s 2nd Annual Intracoastal SUP Cup held near Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. According to a writeup on Waterhound, in most divisions throughout the day the competition was heated, but in the Elite Womens Karen absolutely decimated the field. “Karen has truly committed herself to the SUP racing scene and has been on a roll this year. With victories in the 2010 Waterman’s Applied Science Paddle for Humanity and the 2010 Catalina Challenge, Karen is quickly becoming the benchmark performer in women’s SUP racing.” Read more about Karen’s win and her latest travels at her blog.

Jenny Kalmbach and Morgan Hoesterey, two of the world’s elite female standup paddlers, completed the fourth channel in their eight channel quest, Destination 3°, to link together the Hawaiian island chain via the legendary open ocean channels that separate them.

From Destination 3°’s blog

“Welcome to our world. Here at Destination 3° challenges do not go uncontested and dreams are never not mostly reality. At least in our heads. When we sent our channel crossing idea out into the world, we thought it was a little different from the start, but we believed in it.

Crossing each of the Hawaiian channels on stand-up paddleboards is no small feat: Morgan Hoesterey and Jenny Kalmbach, will log more than 200 nautical miles across three degrees of latitude and some of the world’s most notorious and challenging open ocean waters. Laird and Dave have done it. But they’re Laird and Dave, and that’s the beauty of challenges: they’re personal.

Part of our challenge is to see Hawaii in a way that not many people get to see the islands – from the water. Each channel has a name, a personality, and a story to tell. We’ve crossed four of the eight major channels already, and after each, our adventures and perspective change a little more. From both above and below the waterline, each of the stories of the islands and the people we meet along the way are unique.

We launched from the Big Island on April 7; the Alenuihaha channel flowed between us and Maui. Dangerous, treacherous, deadly (a personal “favorite”…gulp), and impossible are usually the words that gather to describe this crossing. Roughly translated, Alenuihaha means “of very large, trough-like waves.”

We made it. After nine hours and more than 40 miles of paddling, Maui was the reward. We used Maui as a base for about a week and were able to paddle to Molokini, Lanai’i, and finally Molokai.

By linking the islands by the waters that separate them, we also see the whales, turtles, fish, and sharks that live here. We see them in their world. We see the reefs. But more importantly, we see how we influence their world.

We are paddling for plastic, or better, to keep plastic out of oceans, away from marine life, and out of the human food chain. The Algalita Marine Research Foundation is a fantastic, grassroots organization based in Long Beach, California, working to change the way we understand our impact on the ocean environment. We’ve been working closely with them to connect their messages with people who can make a difference.

In many ways, making an impact is the easy part, because everyone can make a difference at the most basic level by rethinking how they will use disposable plastic products. Strong currents carry plastics from around the world to Hawaii’s beaches and inhabited or not, no beach we’ve seen yet has been left untouched by plastic.

We’ll be on Molokai until about the 21st when we paddle the Kaiwi channel from Molokai to Oahu. The Kauai channel lies ahead as well, all 80-some miles of it. We’ll paddle that one under the full moon on April 28 and probably all through the next day.

Jenny Kalmbach wears the yet to be released, Soft Kore G12 and Morgan Hoesterey wears Georgia Ivy G12.

Kaenon’s Lauren Bartlett continued her domination of the women’s OC-1s division, paddling the 32-mile course from Kaluako’i, Moloka’i, to Koko Marina, O’ahu in a record time of 4:13:43. She shattered the previous women’s mark, which she had set two years ago by more than seven minutes.

It was Lauren’s record seventh women’s title, including the last four. Fellow Maui paddler Andrea Moller placed second in 4:23:20 — almost 10 minutes behind Lauren.

“I saw Andrea next to me in the beginning, and I know what a beast she can be, especially in the surf,” Lauren said. “So I knew I had to put my head down and go.”

Lauren and her husband Kai Bartlett both competed in the grueling challenge. Kai finished fourth in the men’s division with a time of 3:44:38. He won the race last year, but was not expected to enter yesterday due to an injured shoulder. He said he entered at the last minute when he saw that the conditions would be favorable. In essence, he placed fourth without properly training for the race.

“We have two kids who are getting older and doing a lot of stuff — gymnastics, swimming,” Lauren said. “It’s life. It’s hard to train all the time. I think I did just enough (training) to get me across.”

The Steinlager Kaiwi Channel Solo OC1 World Championship race across the Kaiwi Channel is considered the world championship of long distance paddling for one person canoes (also known as OC-1s).

Lauren Bartlett wears Leila Black G12 in and out of the boat.

Kaenon Polarized congratulates exceptional athlete Karen Wrenn wearing the yet to be released women’s sport sunglass, Soft Kore while paddling 39.8 miles from California’s Catalina Island to the mainland. This is not only a grueling feat in and of itself, but Karen rose above other hurdles to complete this challenge with grace and style.

Kaenon’s Chris Wyman recaps the events that unfolded and gives his personal take on the recent Catalina Challenge.

I received a call from an old friend of mine from Maui, whom I hadn’t spoken to for years. Karen Wrenn, who now lives in Portland, Oregon asked if I might be able to connect her with an escort boat for a grueling Stand Up Paddle race from Catalina Island’s Avalon Harbor to Dana Point harbor on the mainland, 39.8 miles away. I am always excited for an opportunity to take the boat out, and if I can help a friend in need, it’s even better.

A week prior to the race, Karen called with upsetting news. The race director had told her she could not compete in the solo division and that the only way she could compete was in the team division. She was basically told that she would need to race the event as part of a team so she would be aware of how long the race was, as she had never solo paddled the race before. After several discussions, she found out that another female competitor had announced that she was going to be the first woman to attempt to do the paddle solo, probably not realizing that there were other women competitors that may like to compete solo as well. The other competitor was racing to support breast cancer, and had a film and media crew set to follow her in the race and for did not want any other female competitors paddling the race in the solo division.

In my opinion, all of this seemed fine. To race for a cause, is very honorable, but to allow only one person to race and another to not is questionable. Karen was racing for herself, for a personal accomplishment. Karen also very much understood and respected racing for breast cancer. Her mom is a breast cancer survivor, and she knew first hand the impact of this cause. But is there really a problem having someone else on the course, racing at the same time, whether or not the competitor is racing for a cause?

In the end, Karen submitted and did not raise issue with this.  She signed up with her husband John as her partner, knowing already she would be competing on her own, of her own accord. Karen and John kissed their two kids, left them with her parents and headed south to meet me in Southern California.

John, Karen, Matt (a rep for Naish Stand Up boards) and myself left for Long Beach. We had great wind sailing over to the island and were able to make good time under full sail in about 15 knots of wind arriving on Catalina just before sunset.

The next day we paddled around, offered boards to demo to the public, shot photos and got ready for the race the next morning. The start for the solo race was at 6:00am and there was only one competitor in the SUP division. Karen started with the team section was at 8:00am, though “teammate” John was on her escort boat, cheering her on the whole way. She took off from the line at a steady pace, after all it wasn’t a sprint. After about 2:45 hours she was still on her pace, averaging 4 to 4.5 knots.  Not long afterward, we had a visitor. He or she was approximately 25 feet long and gracefully swimming alongside Karen, under the boat and back again endlessly. It appeared to be a rare Minke whale that escorted us for roughly and hour and a half. The whale surfaced every few minutes, behind the boat, in front of the boat, between Karen and the boat, and several times very close to Karen, which kept her on her toes! It was one of the most amazing experiences with marine wildlife we’ve ever had. I came to find out after the race that the other solo crew received the same great experience. Definitely one to appreciate.  

At about the 30 mile marker we could tell Karen was feeling it and she started slowing down. We gave her an extra pep talk, another peanut butter and honey sandwich, and pushed her toward the finish. She dug in and ignored the pain, pushing her speed back up to 4 knots and above. As the red buoy came into sight, the wind and boat chop picked up.  Several times we thought her rubbery legs were not going to be able to handle how rough it was getting, but she persevered.  When she made the final turn around the red buoy into the harbor, unfortunately the wind increased right on her nose. Stand Up Paddling is great when you are going downwind but trying to paddle into the wind, especially after 39 miles is sheer torture.

As she rounded the last turn inside the harbor to the finish, her friends on shore and all of us in the boat yelled and cheered her on to the very end.  It is truly a great accomplishment for anyone to summon the strength to be able to endure such a long ocean race. Karen’s final time was 9 hours, 1 minute and 10 seconds, 11 seconds faster than the other solo competitor. Perhaps next year there will be a proper match, more emphasis on paddling, not politics. A great job to all the Kaenon paddlers!

“I had to start at 8am with all the relay teams, so I entered it as a team but paddled solo. In the race results it lists me as a team with my husband because that is how I had to enter the race, but the 9:01:10 is really my solo time. Thanks to everyone who has supported me through my journey, it was a huge accomplishment. I think the event was awesome, it was a great day and I had an amazing adventure.” – Karen Wrenn

Kaenon Polarized was present throughout the event and all the Kaenon athletes placed first in their events at the Catalina Challenge

Fastest Woman Solo Paddler 9:01:10
Karen Wrenn (Soft Kore C12)

OC 1 Outrigger Canoe Women’s team – 1st place Time: 5:54:12
Jeane Barrett (Soft Kore G12) Jill Schooler (Soft Kore C12)

SUP Unlimited 3 Man Team – 1st place Time: 6:04:00
Rob Rojas (Hard Kore G12) Thoms Shihinan, Tom Galagher

Paddle Board 3 Man Team – 1st place Time: 6:50:00
Eric Abbott (Hard Kore G12), Pete Stirling, George Plesek

SUP 14’ Stock 3 Man Team – 1st place Time: 6:50:38
Matt Becker (Klay G12), John Becker (Hard Kore G12), Jim Terrel (Jetty G12)

Kula Barbietto, yes we know how cute and sweet she is, but she also rips. Whether it is surfing, stand up paddling or fishing, Kula is pure Hawaiian waterwoman. Here’s a recent shot of her this winter with a fresh catch.

Kula is now wearing Joss , Delite and the all new Soft Kore, coming to retail this spring.

We just caught wind of these ridiculous images of our friend Jared Lane from Fast Lane Sailing Center down in San Diego. Wearing Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses style, Burny Black G12, Jared caught a 100 lb thresher shark from a stand up paddleboard, actually pulling the shark up in his lap. Yep, you read that right.

Just another day in sunny Southern California…?

“There was some talk about fishing on a stand up paddle board going around our shop, and the idea to tow surf behind a shark came up. Is it possible? I thought it would be more than possible and was so confident I set the whole attack mission up. I had the whole thing planned out except for one minor detail… What do I do when it’s right beneath my feet?” – Jared Lane

Read the full story and see more pics and video on the Fast Lane blog.

SUP – MAUI, HI

Kaenon Polarized proudly participated in the STAND UP for Women’s Health & Fitness held at the Four Seasons Resort in Maui, January 9, 2010. This was an incredible event put on by Suzie Cooney & Tommy Callan on the spectacular island of Maui. The goal of this FREE event was to raise awareness for concerns covering womens health and the need to continually be vigilant with breast cancer. Please visit www.standuppaddlingfitness.com if you would like to donate money to the American Breast Cancer Foundation.

STAND UP PADDLE

Shakira Westdorp wearing Jetty Black, G12 lens on the water and Calais Tortoise, C12 lens on land and her team partner Mick DiBetta Hard Kore and Lewi, finished 2nd in the long course relay at the Australian SUP Championships in Coffs Harbour, Australia.  The long course was a 25km paddle from Woolgoolga to Coffs with a change over boat halfway.

Shakira also finished 1st in the women’s short course solo 12km and 2nd in the men’s 12′6 division 12km. Way to go Shakira!

EVENTS

Just days before the 2009 Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle, Kaenon Polarized teamed up with the Patagonia store in Cardiff, California to host legendary waterman and Kaenon athlete, Jamie Mitchell. As the sun set upon the Pacific Ocean gracing the store with rays of yellow, pink and orange, attendees began to filter though and settle in for an up close and personal experience with none other than Jamie Mitchell.

Jamie Mitchell Interview
Interview by Emily of West Coast Divas of Jamie Mitchell during the Jamie Mitchell Experience.
Humbly retelling his memories, as the audience listened in amazement as the vast diversity of Jamie’s adventures and athletic skills unfolded, slide by slide. Guests were privileged to see video clips of this ultimate waterman plunge down 40+ foot waves across the world from his secret spot in Australia to legendary breaks like Mavericks, Todos Santos, Waimea and other more pristine locations such as Alaska and Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Sharing his memories, (the good, the bad and the ugly), Jamie and guests shared laughs and winced in unison while watching footage of some epic wipe outs and impressive footage of super clean sessions.


And while Jamie can certainly handle his own in the world of big wave surfing, his forte and passion lies within the world of paddleboarding. Coming off his incredible eighth consecutive win in the most prestigious paddleboarding race in the world, Jamie discussed his training regimen as well as the physical and mental strength that is needed to endure and dominate in a race of this magnitude.


When Jamie is not traveling the world in search of big waves or crossing miles of giant seas with nothing more than the tools of the trade, strength and his own endurance, he embraces the ocean and its inhabitants in all forms. From free diving with sting rays to paddleboarding with humpback whales, The Jamie Mitchell Experience goes well beyond one evening of storytelling, it is one of a true waterman to the core.

VIDEO: JAMIE MITCHELL EXPERIENCE

VIDEO: JAMIE MITCHELL INTERVIEW by West Coast Divas

SUP
Discover the islands of the South Pacific with Moehau Goold and Uranui while they SUP the beautiful lagoon of Bora Bora. Moehau wears Gauge G12 sunglasses when he’s out on the water.

WATER
Kaenon Polarized Waterman Jamie Mitchell – takes on and conquers Mavericks, Todos, The Battle of the Paddle among many other big waves and big races this year. Nice work Jamie.

STAND UP PADDLE

The Kaenon team was out in full force sporting luxury performance sunglasses at The Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez’s Battle of the Paddle. Jamie Mitchell won the Men’s SUP Elite race with a final time of 01:07:45. Shakira Westdorp took first in the Women’s SUP Elite race with a final time of 01:16:00, a total of 4 minutes ahead of her next closest competitor. In the video above, you’ll even notice Shakira passing up many of the men who had a two minute lead ahead of the women. In addition, Team La Hui Kai which consisted of Jamie Mitchell, Shakira Westdorp, Danny Sheard and Billy took first place in the SUP Relay.

Thousands came out to participate and spectate at one of the greatest events in SUP.

Other Kaenon athletes at the event included Jenny Kalmbach who won last years Elite Women’s event, Mick Di Betta,
Thibert Lussiaa one of Kaenon’s top Paddlers from Hawaii, was taken out at the start and blew out his knee. Eric Abbott, and Talia Gangini competed and representing in style.

This video recap by Surf Soul Media beautifully captures the event, the culture and the sport of stand up paddle.

VIDEO INVITE

PADDLE
Jamie Mitchell and fellow Aussies, Shakira Westdorp, Mick Di Betta, Danny Sheard, Sue Sheard, Joss Kempe and Billy Watson all competed in the Hennessy’s Paddleboard Race in San Francisco September 26th. Jamie Mitchell took first in the Unlimited Paddleboard 30 – 39 division with a time of 1:31:52.

In his words, Jamie shares highlights from the race…“The race started at 8:30am and we all started in waves. Sort of like a Triathlon. The Stock boards went 1st then us Unlimited paddleboards,then the Unlimited SUP and finally the SUP Stock which raced a shorted course. We all started 2 min apart. After nearly missing the start, Mick, Sean and I headed off for the 10 mile paddle(16km) and Joss, Shaq and Billy were close behind in the Stock SUP race. Danny and Sue Sheard from The Sunshine Coast, Australia also raced in the Stock SUP. The race was awesome and beautiful with a scenic paddle around Angel Island and then back around Alcatraz, back to Fisherman’s Wharf. Pretty cool to be paddling around these famous landmarks (not to mention the Golden Gate Bridge that we could see the whole time). As always us Aussies put in a 100% and all did very well. I was lucky to come away with a win and Sean finished 3rd and Mick 4th. Shakira and Joss finished 2nd and 6th and Billy Finished 3rd. Everyone pretty happy with how we went and how good the weather was. After the race it was pretty interesting to see all the different SUP Boards and different designs. I think we are just at the beginning of what we can and will be paddling in the future. I think there is a long way to go when it comes to design.”

PADDLE
Jamie Mitchell has the world buzzing again, but this time it’s due to his amazing run in with a pod of humpback whales. Eight time world paddleboarding champion Jamie Mitchell told news.com.au he was out filming a pilot for his coming documentary, Living in Liquid, when a pod of up to five humpbacks surfaced, and started following him off Tweed Heads at about 7.30am (AEST).

Get the story straight from Jamie….”How do I start… Well I pretty much had one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in the ocean yesterday… I was out doing some filming off the Gold Coast/Tweed Border paddling on my Stand Up when a pod of whales decided to come play with me… I won’t say too much but lets just say it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’ll remember it till the day I die.”

“But then I realized that they were just playing. They swam right underneath my board and I thought I’d be in strife if they came up but they had a good sense of where I was.” Read the full story and see more pictures here.

Check out this interview on ABC news, where Jamie retells the experience.

PADDLING / OUTRIGGER – Dana Point, CA

The paddling Club, Team IMUA won the 9 man outrigger race in Dana Point, California and finished 7th out of 45 teams the following weekend on Oahu for the 2009 Hawaii Paddleboard Championships aka Duke’s Race where none of the Hawaiian teams expected them to be anywhere near the top 10. The team paddles in an assortment of Hard Kore and Kore with G12 and some C12 lenses.

“We battled hard with the local teams, at times within the top 5 spots. Local knowledge on the Makapu’u Point and through Hawaii Kai, allowed the local teams to out surf us in the swells. We pulled in more teams going into Waikiki finishing 7th overall.” – Ruben Ruiz

In outrigger canoe racing there are three seasons; first the IRONMAN season, long distance race of about 12 miles. The IRONMAN races have the same six paddlers for the duration of the race. The sprint season where teams race less than 2-miles or about 2000 meters. This race is the first race of the 9MAN races. Where at all times there will be six paddlers in the racing canoe, and three paddlers on a fallowing power boat. Racers will change in and out of the canoe from the water while the canoe is moving. Fresh paddlers will do a pull-up, from the water into the racing canoe while at the same time, the paddlers preparing to rest will jump out of the canoe. Changes take place on intervals of no less than 5 min and no more than 30. Racing canoes will lose valuable time making frequent changes, but could stand the risk of running tired in a race that is 2-6 hrs long.

In this race Team IMUA, the winner battled with team California for more than half the race before opening to a lead of three minutes. Lanakila, Dana Point, and Hui Waa battled for third place for three fourths of the course. This was the first time IMUA has won a nine man race in 20 years! The team from Hui waa traveled 500 miles to compete with So Cal’s finest and came in Third overall second in their division! Check out this video to get a glimpse of this amazing experience of endurance.

WATER – Maui, Hawaii

Whether it is surfing, Stand up Paddling, Outrigger Canoe, or Paddle Boarding, Talia Gangini has it covered. At only the age of 16, Talia completely charges in every aspect including competing in the Molokai Chanel Crossing (32 miles) and finishing 1st in the women’s team division with the original Kaenon water woman Lauren Bartlett in 2008. Talia wears Leila Black G12, Zaza Tortoise C12 and Georgia women’s sunglasses – on and off the water.

VIDEO REVIEW

Outside’s Justin Nyberg reviews the Kaenon Hard Kore Polarized Sunglasses, best for sailors and paddlers.