Stand Up Paddle Surfing in Hawaii - StandUpPaddleSurf.net

Ohana paddlers came home with exceptional results in the first annual Gerry Lopez Rainbow Sandals Battle of the Paddle at Doheny State Beach. The elite division contained an incredible pool of talented paddlers from around the world racing on a closed-course with 126 biards in extremely challenging conditions with winds gusting up to 25mph. Jenny Kalmbach of Kona, HI took first place in the women’s elite race beating Candice Appleby by over five minutes. In the men’s elite, Jenny’s coach and training partner Thibert Lussia put on a great performance finishing close behind Hobie’s Chuck Patterson. Other Ohana elite paddlers had solid finishes including San Clemente’s Rob Rojas, Kalaoa Paddle’s Odie Sumi of Kona, Kauai lifeguard and World Tandem Surfing Champion Kalani Vierra, and Tahiti big-wave legend Raimana Van Bastolaer. In the open class race, Tom Gallagher of Long Beach finished first overall in a field of over 250 paddlers on his Ohana 14′ beating many of California’s top paddlers on unlimited boards.

Bob Reed and Russell Coble have been building Ohana racing paddleboards since 1996 for some of the world’s best paddlers. Their boards have won the Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race, the Catalina Classic, and numerous other US and international paddleboard events. In 2008 they started production on a line of stand-up racing boards based on the principals they have used in their successful traditional paddleboards. For additional information please visit us at www.ohanapaddleboards.com.