2009 October | Surfing Sports

We’d like to give a big shout out to all of our new, and repeat, clients that helped us grow our business this year, taking it to an even higher level…despite the stagnant economic environment…mahalo…

Our byline is “Stoked For Life”…thanks for being a part of our ohana…and, choosing us to provide you with the gear that makes you stoked for life…

We know that you have lots of choices, so again, mahalo for your patronage…

Many of you have found us online…we do have a strong online presence…and, have for a dozen years…our web traffic is phenomenal…however, one of the things that separates us from the dotcom ecommerce sites with stoopid domain names, popping up all over the place, trying to lure you in with bait and switch tactics, is the fact that we have heaps of inventory actually in stock…with a real brick and mortar retail storefront presence, not just a collection of small images with click & buy links…going to products that don’t exist…or, are getting drop shipped from another store for them when they finally get a board or two from the manufacturer…

These are big ticket items…we want you to feel as comfortable making your purchase from a distance, as the clients we have walking in and out of our doors daily…we want to have a conversation with you…and, customize your purchase to perfection…not just try to sell you a “one size fits all package” based solely on low price…might as well go to your local Wally World for that…

Those online only entities will never be able to post up images of stoked clients and friends leaving their stores…because the posers don’t have a store…;-)

I suppose they can always “borrow” our images…unfortunately, sad but true…whatevers…they will always be frustrated trying to play catch up…as we have years and years of *REAL* customer testimonials…and, years and years of pics of *REAL* stoked clients…their smiles are each worth 1000 words…

tafbutton blue16 Customer Appreciation :: Mahalo

WHY STANDUP AND PADDLE?

Undeniably fun!!!

IT’S WHAT WE ARE ALL ABOUT…

There’s no better way to describe the new “old sport” of standup paddlesurfing (or standup paddling if sans waves) to “never-evers”, or SUP newbies…

George Greenough used to tell me, when we windsurfed together years ago, “whatever gets you in the water”…and, in Santa Barbara and prolly wherevers you are, there’s no better way to get out on the water and commune with nature, at least 300 days per year…basically, any time you have free time you can get a soul satisfying session or workout right in your backyard…doesn’t that sound appealing especially after this flat as heck Winter, that’s had even the most patient of surfers experiencing wave withdrawals? A saltwater lobotomy is just what the doctor ordered!
Definitely less expensive than psychological counseling…

I’D RATHER HAVE A PADDLE IN FRONT OF ME THAN A FRONTAL LOBOTOMY…;-)

It also makes economic sense to do “stay-cations” at home, rather than burning jet fuel in search of the “Endless Summer”…one of the pleasant surprises with standup is that you can trunk it, sans wetsuit rubber, most days here in Santa Barbara…even, all Winter long…

AN INVESTMENT IN YOUR HEALTH WITH A SUP WILL SHOW YOU BETTER RESULTS THAN A STOCK MARKET INVESTMENT…SUP INSTANTLY PAYS DIVIDENDS…

It’s a no-impact sport…improves balance and coordination…strength and endurance…stress reducing…relaxing and invigorating for people of all ages ,ability, & size…perhaps the biggest plus with SUP, is that it’s the funnest core fitness exercise on the planet…leave the world behind at the water’s edge and let the dance take over…

World class waterman, Dave Kalama, on standup paddle surfing:
“I really like the fact that I’m learning and there’s still a lot to learn about it. It makes mediocre surf really fun again and it gives you that excitement and that enthusiasm to keep you driven to go out and play in the surf every day which keeps you healthy and keeps your attitude right and keeps life good.”

Standup paddling, even without the wave component, is very satisfying in a zen sort of way…it washes the daily frazzle away…recharges your battery…puts the stoke back in your stroke…

NO WIND…NO WAVES…NO WORRIES…
LAKE SUP

I’ve described standup paddling as “Yoga on Water” ™…giving you a surf-satisfied feeling that soothes the soul…it has a mind-clearing property that washes away the stress of the day because it forces you to focus on board balance and paddle insertion…the return of soul surfing…it harkens back to a simpler time…board and paddle…there’s something prehistoric and primitive about it…glide…swoosh…glide…swoosh…resonating with our DNA connected to the early drumbeats of humanity…

A primo day along the Gaviota Coast…standup paddle cruising through the kelp beds…click image above for gallery…

It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination in Santa Barbara (insert your hometown) to discover the nooks and crannies on a SUP that get overlooked daily by the masses on their way to the same old same old parking lot…to do their same old same old workout routine…you can’t step twice on the same piece of water…

The waterman way ethos, that is rooted in Hawaiian culture, is available here right to us in the Santa Barbara area, or wherever you live, just ready to tap into for the more adventurous souls…we explore our local watering holes in all of their moods…amazing, unconditional fun is there to be had, like low lying fruit, as we savor the views and experience sharing the ocean with marine life that is visually more apparent from a standup perspective…

The bottomline is that as surfers, we need to paddle…the legendary Tom Blake helped to bridge the surf lifestyle with paddleboarding back in the 1930′s…standup paddling hits that note, and unlike sitdown kayaking, it also engages your balance as well…yoga on water…then, throw in the surf component and glide factor, and no wonder it’s the fastest growing watersport on the planet…you can’t help but notice the explosion of standup paddleboarding in Santa Barbara…it’s become the mecca of the sport in North America…

As far as standup paddlesurfing with our laydown brethren is concerned, follow surf etiquette and don’t come into the surfzone until you have the skill sets to control your new toy…if we all practice respect…give it and you will get it in return, then we should all be able to play nicely in the sandbox…remember, it’s not what you ride…it’s how you ride it!

The next time you have an opportunity to try a standup paddleboard, just do it!

You just may be surprised by how challenging, and fun, doing it standing up really is…

Here’s another round of images from the 2009 Battle of the Paddle…130 or so images…
Still lots more editing to do…

EJ heading home to victory after making the buoy turn at the halfway mark…

Distance race shot from the end of San Clemente pier…L(©¿©)King towards Dana Point…

Friday afternoon practice before the contest…from our hotel room…

L(©¿©)Ks like a woodstock SUP festival…;-)

OUCH!!!

Chuck Patterson, last year’s BOP winner…running for the finish line…
He took 4th in the distance…and 5th in the Elite event…

Testosterone man!…;-)

Battle of the speedo winner…;-)

Naish team rider, Jerry Bess, gets a soul ride on the new 17′ Naish Glide…

Jim Drake (co-inventor of windsurfing) with Ashleigh Parducci…her grandfather Allen Parducci, was also a co-inventor of windsurfing…also pictured is David Drake…Jim’s youngest son…

More pics in this GALLERY…

tafbutton blue16 More 2009 Battle of the Paddle Pics

Congrats to new Starboard SUP team riders Ernie (EJ) Johnson and Brandi Baksic for winning the First Annual “World Championship” Paddleboard competition in Lake Havasu City, Arizona on Saturday.

We should be receiving a few pics soon taken from the London Bridge of the race…we’ll post them up here…

Due to the volume of requests that we have received, our standalone JUKEBOX full of toons is back for those with Flash V.10 installed…leave it on in the background while you surf our site or others…

We are stoked to be working with Tim Hatler at Palapas Ventana to sponsor a SUP race in La Ventana Baja Mexico…a place that we’ve spent a bunch of time windsurfing and have vacation property at…sounds like a good excuse to paddle, surf, and see our friends and neighbors down there!

La Ventana sunrise…

Rainbow over Cerralvo Island…

Tim is owner of Palapas Ventana, a Baja water sports hotel -
He runs a KiteBoard and SUP charity race every January here in La Ventana to
benefit the local schools – last year was the 4th annual and we raised
$18,000 USD and accomplished great projects at the schools.

This year we hope to raise $25,000 USD for the local schools…

La Ventana is a small Baja town 35 minutes from La Paz that has a
poplulation of 800 and is growing with tourism every year – this event helps
direct tourist dollars where they are needed and brings foreigners and
locals together in a very fun 4 day event.

The SUP race last year was a 2 miler and then a one mile final…

This year by popular demand the SUP race will be expanded…
Contestants will be transported to Cerralvo Island via pangas early in the
morning and then contestants will cross the channel 11 miles downwind back
to La Ventana…

This is the same course that the kiteboarders will follow the following
afternoon during peak wind hours…

There will also have a shorter 2 mile SUP race closer to shore that will be
very visible to all spectators…

In addition during the four day event major kite and sup manufacturers will
be displaying their latest gear for free demos (last year there were 15 brands
on site)

The KiteBoarder magazine will be
covering the event…

tafbutton blue16 La Ventana, Mexico SUP Race

Our new Standup Paddle Sports shwag was a huge hit at the recent Battle of the Paddle in Dana Point last weekend…people were blown away by the quality and vibrant colors of our killer new line…

High quality embroiderd FlexFit Cool&Dry hats…

Heavy duty 1/4 zip fleece sweat shirts…

High quality cotton embroidered henleys…

Colorful eye-popping graphics on quality tshirts of all sizes…

With the latest production run you would think that we’re becoming a soft goods company…;-)

Click image below to see more pics of our extensive SUP tshirt line…

These tshirts are going so fast that we have to handle orders over the phone and email to ensure that we have what you want still in inventory…you can use this generic secure and encrypted ordering link to get your billing and shipping info into our system…

Stay tuned…we have lots more kewl SUP shwag coming down the pipe…

Fresh piccies of a few boards in the 2010 Starboard SUP line from the Battle of the Paddle…

This is the new 7’11″ in the Terje Haakonsen (TAC) construction…

Here’s the raffle winner, Terri Wargo, with the 10’5″ Drive in TAC…note the StarTouch traction deck finish…the TAC version will not come with mast foot option…

The TAC will be replacing the popular Sportech (wood) version…and, will be priced at $1749 10′ & below…$1799 above 10′…we already have a long waiting list…should have the first container before Christmas…

Here is the new 9′ x 33″ “Hero” in blue touch…the guys at Starboard executed our suggestion on the blue touch perfectly…awesome L@@K…priced at $1249 10′ & below…$1299 above 10′…

There will also be a HOT L@@King orange touch version as well…

A few new 12’6″ prototypes to wet your appetite…

New Starboard wahine team rider, Brandi Baksic…she won the BOP SUP distance race for the women…and took 3rd in the women’s division for the Elite SUP event…completely shattering dozens and dozens of competing men’s egos…;-)

tafbutton blue16 Starboard 2010 SUP Board Pics

The youth brigade was in full force…

Here’s 10 year old Riggs Napoleon fully soul surfing…I saw guys who were supposed to be “surfers”…5 times older than this kid, running from waves like this…;-)

Slater Trout…what a kewl kid…
I paddlesurfed with him and his dad on Maui 3 years ago…he was still sponsored by our friend, and world class shaper, Bill Foote…I gave him a coiled leash because his was getting in the way of his cross-stepping…and he still remembered it…this 14 year old has really stepped it up…finishing 2nd overall in the Elite race after waterman extraordinaire, Jamie Mitchell…coincidentally, the kid has a business card with his title as “Waterman”…this is actually very doable as a 14 year old on Maui…

Thomas Gallagher cleared by flight control…

Rob Rojas…super nice guy…humble…hard working Fish & Game warden…makes time to train every morning at the crack of dawn…here he is finishing 2nd in the distance race…

Danny Ching…SUP distance Men’s winner…cross-stepping back…his board was oscillating something fierce…

The wahines catching up with the men at the southern buoy turn…

SUPsports team rider, Rich Schroeder (54), trying to thread the needle…one of the only guys in this group to execute a proper kick turn…a move that Rich has worked on the last couple of months…

MY WAVE!!! I GOT IT!!! COMING DOWN!!!
What a cluster f*ck…just as Sparky planned…;-)

Aloha surf riding seven decades ago…wave etiquette is wave etiquette…some wave riders get it…others do not…

These guys totally get the “aloha” thang…the song remains the same…

One of the sweetest buoy turns of the contest…a SUP wave contest surfed on race boards…;-)

We saw lots of guys make this turn on their knees…some took as many as 15 strokes on their knees…so much for the “5 stroke rule”…;-)

Obligatory group shot…

to be continued…

tafbutton blue16 More 2nd Annual Battle of the Paddle Pics

After initially being called a fad (like rollerblading…etc) the sport of standup paddling, and paddle surfing, is now undeniably chiseled into legitimacy…

It will take several days to go through all the images we have…so until we get the galleries up, I’ll start by putting up a few that capture interesting moments for us…

Beach scene at the start of the open race on Saturday…around 300 people finished…

Brian Syzmanski…he has really stepped up the R&D on his unique L@@King SUP race hulls…he has produced over a dozen new racing hulls for Starboard and their new SUP racing team…

I think the results that Brian achieved throughout this 2 day event has definitely elevated his profile…

14 year old Zane Shweitzer wins the stock division with Brian right on his tail for 2nd…Brian’s partner, Matt Friedman, finishes 3rd overall stock…that’s a sweep…also, Nikki Gregg wins the women’s division on a Starboard/NCP prototype…

Matt Friedman…

Nikki Gregg with Nui…1st place Women’s Open stock class…

Nikki’s SO…Dan Gavere…snags a nice wave on a Starboard/NCP proto…

New Starboard team rider, Brandi Baksic, firmly established herself as one of the top elite women standup paddlers in the world by taking 3rd in the Elite race in the waves…and, 1st in the distance race…she only has a few months of SUP under her belt, yet she smoked (and humbled) many so-called “top notch” racer dudes…quite amazing…even more amazing, is the fact that she beat 2nd place finisher, Candice Appleby, who was riding an unlimited SUP with rudder, in the distance race on the stock Starboard/NCP…

Ernie (EJ) Johnson guts out a win in the distance race stock division despite a shoulder injury…that nice new contract with Starboard will buy him a few beers to ease the pain…;-)