Riviera Paddlesurf

Hal Rosoff Classic 2012

The Hal Rosoff Classic was this past Saturday, and was another great event for 2012.  Here's some photo's from the event, and the race results. Congrats to Riviera Team Riders Danny Ching, Karl Ring, Suzy Strazulla, and Kristin Thomas for their 1st Place finishes.

2012 Hal Rosoff Classic SUP Race RESULTS

Men’s Unlimited
1st: Danny Ching (55:07)  -  Team Riviera
2nd: Jim Terrell (55:11)
3rd: Thomas Maximus (56:27)  -  Team Riviera
4th: Dialy Ndiaye (56:52)
5th: Jared Vargas (59:03)
6th: Tyler Morgan (01:00:30)
7th: Brendan Light (01:00:38)
8th: Jim Vitale (01:01:29)

Men’s 14′
1st: Karl Ring (??)  -  Team Riviera
2nd: Byron Kurt (01:03:29)
3rd: Chance Fielder (01:03:56)
4th: Brad Rambo (01:04:20)  -  Team Riviera
5th: Chad Bashor (01:04:33)
6th: Dane Morrissey (01:04:34)
7th: Brian Haag (01:04:37)  -  Team Riviera
8th: E.J. Johnson (01:05:17)
9th: Brent Pascoe (01:07:03)
10th: Jack Wygal (01:07:51)

Women’s 14′
1st: Suzy Strazzulla (01:11:11)  -  Team Riviera
2nd: Robin Benincasa (01:12:42)

Women’s 12’6″
1st: Kristin Thomas (01:13:09)  -  Riviera Paddle Sponsor
2nd: Terry Plunkett (01:15:07)
3rd: Antoinette Cocco (01:15:22)
4th: Alison Riddle (01:16:01)

SUP Women: Helga Goebel

Check out this story on Riviera Team rider Helga Goebel.  Helga is one of the fastest female paddlers from the east coast and shows no signs of slowing down... 

http://www.supthemag.com/features/sup-women-helga-goebel/

 

Drew Brophy in Puerto...

Drew Brophy just sent us a bunch of photos from his trip to Puerto Escondido...  He's been going there for about 20 years now and recently started SUP surfing it.  He went down there with a Ron House 9'0, and a 10'6" gun, and they both were casualties of the 12-15 ft. surf...  Check out the photo's below and Click HERE to read the full story of his trip to Puerto, and some of the artwork he did for the locals...http://drewbrophy.com/

Battle of the Paddle - Sept. 24-25 2011

It’s hard to believe that after last years Battle of the Paddle anything could possibly top it but this years BOP took paddling to yet another level.  Participation was up with between 900 to a 1000 paddlers entered in all 7 events. It was truly an international event with paddlers coming from almost every corner of the globe. All three SUP mags were on hand to document the event, interviewing athletes and visiting with their advertisers. The number of vendors in the Expo was also up over last year with many new companies vying for a place in the rapidly expanding SUP market.

The elite race format changed this year due to the large number of paddlers wanting to participate. This year there were 2 qualifier heats where the first 50 % of the field would advance to the main event. The qualifier heats really changed things as some of the really skilled athletes did not make the cut do to collisions, missing sets and slower paddlers in the line. The elite race was as exciting as ever and once the first lap was over it was clear who the 3 strongest paddlers were. Danny, Conner and Jamie were in a real dogfight all the way to the finish line with Conner pulling ahead to take first place, Jamie 2^nd and Danny in 3^rd.

Sunday they tried to get the distance race started promptly at 9am but due to the large number on contestants they had to widen the start line to accommodate everyone. The conditions were calm as the horn blew and 223 paddlers headed for San Clemente pier. It wasn’t long before they were out of site. After about an hour you could finally see little specks on the horizon returning to Doheny. The announcer confirmed what we had been thinking that yes it was Danny Ching in the lead followed by Rob Rojas. As they rounded the final buoy and headed for the beach the crowd went crazy cheering Danny and Rob on. Danny Ching finished 1^st with a winning time of 1:17 followed by Rob Rojas with a time of 1:17:42 3rd place went to Travis Grant and 4^th place to Jamie Mitchell.

I think the high light of the day for the spectators was the Kids race. The groms are always a treat because their enthusiasm is infectious and the crowd really gets behind them.

All the kids have a great time and It’s fun watching the parents cheering the little ones on.

The last event of the day was the team relay race.  All teams consist of 4 people 3 men and 1 woman except Danny Ching's team. Danny decided to race with all kids. And they did quite well by finishing 35th out of a field of 43 adult teams.

The day wrapped up with the awards ceremony followed by an after party at the Rogue house in San Juan…

Big thanks to Sparky, Rainbow Sandals, Gerry Lopez, Barrett Tester, Pat Huber, Kelly French and their entire staff of volunteers for putting on another great event.

The Super Bowl of SUP

Below are some photos from the event...  Stay tuned for the Video.

 

posted by - Mike Muir

 

Tahoe Nalu 2011

Tahoe Na-Lu

8/13-8/14/2011

The SUP Gods were really shining on the Na-Lu event this year because everything seemed to fall into place seamlessly. The weather was stellar, the lake level was higher and the event ran like a well-oiled machine. I think this year’s highlight may have been the kids race. 25 Kids participated ranging in age from 5 to 12 years. 8-year-old Kai McPhillips of San Clemente took the boys division and 12-year-old Alleanna Clark from San Clemente won the girls division. Danny Ching flew in the morning of the Elite race and easily defended his title by winning the race in a record time of 35 minutes and 21 seconds. Chase Kosterlitz from St. Pete Beach, Fl. put up a good fight and finished second followed by Jay Wild from Truckee.

The 2-day event had a great festival atmosphere that was family friendly. Vendor tents spanned the beach with board manufacturers giving demos, new products on display and snow cones for the kids.

A big thanks to Ernie Brassard and Jake Lamberth and their team of volunteers for putting on such a great event.  Thanks to the WPA for sanctioning the event and providing the guidelines and all the paddlers that participated.

It’s all about the community…

 

Looking forward to next year,

Riviera Paddlesurf

Thomas Maximus' - New 14' Raceboard

Riviera team rider Thomas Maximus just finished building his new 14' Raceboard...  We have been hearing about the design, and art for the board for a while now.  He always put a lot of effort into the art and design of his boards, and this one is definitely the best looking one we've seen with WWII fighter plane inspired graphics, pin up girls, and shark teeth.  He is going to debut this board in New York this weekend at the SEAPaddleNYC on August 12...

 

 

 

 

 

 

River Surfing - Alberton Gorge

Adam from Lavenworth Mountain Sports sent us a few pictures of him surfing the Rivi 10'6" on the Alberton Gorge.  We've heard stories of overhead surf in rivers, so I'm sure we'll be seing some more pictures like these coming through the wires in the future.

Down River Race - Utah

Last weekend's H20 Overdrive race ended with a down river race...  Boardworks provided all the racers with inflatable SUP's for some down river action.  The race started off with 7 heats of 4 racers, and there was no shortage of carnage, with a few injuries and lost boards.  Paddlers with some river experience definitely had an advantage, but in the end Slater Trout took the win in the finals.   There are pictures below, but stay tuned for the video of our trip to Utah coming up next week.

 

Brian Kennelly

Our Hawaii Sales Rep. Brian Kennelley sent us this photo of him surfing, and we thought we'd share it...  Brian is a long time friend of Ron House and in this picture is riding a Ron House Gun.  

H2O Overdrive Race - Lake Jordanelle, Utah

The H20 overdrive race this Saturday was an awesome event.  We got down to Lake Jordanelle early in the morning to set up our booth, and layout some boards and paddles we had for people to test out. Racers from all over the US came to compete, and a lot of locals were there to race and watch the action.  It was a great course for both the Open and Elite races with a lot of turns 20-30 feet from shore.  There was also a surprising amount of bump on the water from the boats out on the lake wakeboarding, and waterskiing, which made for some awesome passes.

Team Riviera had a great showing in the Elite race with Danny Ching taking 1^st in the elite race on his 14’ 404 Arrow flatwater raceboard, and Thomas Maximus took 7^th, followed by Eric Starnes in 8^th. 

Team rider Suzy Strazulla took 2^nd in the women’s race on her 12’6” Ron House raceboard.  Below are some photos of the event…Stay tuned for photos from the down river race that took place today.