Wednesday, February 20, 2013

the cold stroke... and stuff

It's been a crazy few months with a lot of work and play.  I've been spreading the love of SUP making appearances at a bunch of boat shows from Chicago to St. Louis to Milwaukee.  In between these gigs I worked in a fun trip down to Wrightsville Beach for some surfing and a race, The Cold Stroke Classic.  It was a super fun event and the scene in Wrightsville Beach was everything I'd heard.  WB is definitely the East Coast capital of SUP and I hope we can boast as thriving a scene in Chicago in the future.  Here's a big stack of pics from the trip...

We arrived to some nice waist to chest high surf.  In the end we logged 5 straight days of surf.  We even surfed the day of the race... not recommended procedure but we couldn't pass it up :)


Here are a few of my great friend Matt Sommer.  Matt's parents live in WB and they hosted us for the weekend.





This is our new friend Ryan Hipp,  a WB local who after we met him in the lineup on the first day became our unofficial guide to WB surf.   We ended up surfing with Ryan every day and he showed us all the hot spots.
Here's Starboard team rider Dan Gavere (on the left) taking an early lead in the race... he would go on to win the 14' elite division.



So if you get a chance to hit an event in Wrightsville Beach, don't pass it up!

In more local news, the MidwestSUP race schedule is out.  You can learn all about the upcoming race season at www.midwestsup.com.  Here's a peek:



And finally, at the risk of appearing a little braggadocios, I have to share a nice little article done on yours truly by SUP the Mag.  It was a great honor to be interviewed by them and hopefully it will turn a few new paddlers on to what a SUP paradise we have here in the Great Lakes.
 


You can check out the full article here.  OK that's it for tonight.  Hope there's some water time in your future.  See you soon!