At the end of the 9 races of the Southern California Winter Race Series EPIC KAYAKS http://www.epickayaks.com  and VALHALLA SURFSKIS http://www.valhallasurfskis.com  are proud to announce the Junior Surf Ski Points Winners.  The top 19 and under Boy and top 19 and under Girl were the recipients of a brand new Epic V10 and a brand new Valhalla Victory Special. 15 year old Kevin Stock finished the series with 275 points based on his 5 best races and 16 year old Katarina La Juenesse finished with 273 points. Overall series winner was Sean Barlow with 279 points. However, Sean is ineligible to win an Epic V10 Surf Ski as he is the Son of Epic Kayaks representative Chris Barlow.

A nominee/recipient doesnt have to be limited to someone currently paddling, nor does it have to be an outrigger paddler. It would be nice that they are related to paddling and to the wniter series in some fashion. Please submit your nominee via email to maximus@FirstTeamXtreme.com and include with the name a short paragraph why you feel they are deservant the award.

 The current nominees are:

Cody Silvester, Oxnard Canoe and Kayak- Ventura, CA 16 yrs old.

Cody has been racing the series for a few years now and has taught me the age old lesson of "never judge a book by its cover", nor a body by it size. He is one extraordinary kid. Quiet, generous, and always on the water- whether it be oc1, oc6 or surfing. And the follow-up photo journals of his escapades are fantastic. He recently was hit hard and hospitalized with the H1N1 virus, but that did not stop him from racing both the long and short course at Dana this year- Very deserving.

Al Ching, Lanakila Outrigger, Redondo Beach, CA 60-ish yrs old.

Al Ching- what can you say about Al? he coaches, he lives, he IS paddling. Manufacturer of Mudbrook Paddles, Danny Ching, Josh Crayton, "Uncle" to many. this submitted by another nominator: "...my nomination is Al Ching. I think if people would stop and recognize that this is a person over 70 years old that he is able to come out, paddle, be cordial to all, it truly is an inspiration to look up to."  Al also writes his own recaps of almost all the races and posts them to his website- yep, he can even surf the web! I recall a story about a training session with Al and some of his teammates, where he was concerned about the heart rate monitor and the hi-rate beeping. He thought it odd that is was recording such a fast rate- he kept slowing down, yet no change on the monitor- He called to one of his buddies to check it out for him. Turns out it was his watch alarm! Love the stories, and I'm sure Al has many!

Art Buelter, Arizona Dry Heat,  Phoenix AZ 50-ish yrs old

An email nominator exclaimed: " this dude drives all the way from AZ almost every race for the past several years, to come in nearly last place each time! How can you wake up and not say: If Art is going to make the effort then so, by God, am I!" Art has dual club membership in Oceanside and Arizona, and makes a long long drive to CA to be here amongst "family" and friends to do what he loves the most- paddle. It doesnt matter how long he is out there, or how far he has to go to get here- He is here, and doing it- Go Art!

Huki Jude, Sacremento CA

It may seem unconventional to nominate a vendor as an inspirational paddler, but if ever there was a deserving man in the business, Jude is the one- He drives the I5 from Sacramento over the Grapevine to almost all of So Cal races to loan canoes to folks who may or may not be actually in the market to buy. He has given freely of his time and knowledge and often sacrifices his own racing in order to loan a boat to someone else. He has given product and money to the series and to individual race hosts for the last 6 plus years, as well as photos and encouragment to many surfskiers and oc paddlers.  Respected in the world of paddling- I think Jude inspires many by his generous and giving nature.

 cheance adair, San Diego Outrigger, San Diego CA 50-ish yrs old

"...I nominate Cheance Adair...not only for her commitment as a paddler venturing far beyond the borders of California and the USA competing, sharing & spreading the Aloha spirit we all embrace...she has also been the keystone of the SoCal winter series & has shouldered the thankless job of organizing, calculating & posting our races & results for years!
I've got more..."

The entire week leading up to the 14^th annual Hanohano OCC, Huki Outrigger/Surfski Ocean Challenge I woke up to rain, not just rain but rain like they get in the Midwest…not California.  Everyday I received calls and e-mails asking about the race; “Is it still on???”, “What’s the forecast?”, “How’s the surf?”  I optimistically answered “It’s on…no matter what.”  I’m no weather man, but this morning…IT WAS RAINING.

I made a quick call and scheduled some sunshine beginning at around 8:30 and lasting the day.  It worked.

Today, thanks to the generous efforts of the members of Hanohano Outrigger Canoe Club (HOCC) and the Sun Gods, over 300 paddlers took to the water in Mission Bay, San Diego to enjoy a beautiful day of racing and camaraderie.    Paddleboards, Stand-up Paddleboards(SUP), Surfski’s, OC-1’s and kayaks  took to the water as if they had been trapped inside for a week.  While these racers recovered on the beach, with a great meal provided by Wahoo’s,  Surfskiers and OC-1 & 2 paddlers raced approx 7 miles in the Bay due to hazardous conditions in the Mission Bay Channel, so hazardous in fact that one well known (winner of the long course) Surfski Paddler lost his shorts when overturned by one of the set waves after our racing was over…a little uncomfortable paddling back in I would imagine.

Once again we enjoyed some great racing.  There were a number of photo finishes including Kyle Daniels and Tom Duryea on Stock Paddleboard.  Once again Vicki Mills dominated, racing SUP short Course and winning OC-1 Long Course.  Ross Flemming won the overall OC-1 race…without a rudder…now why would you do that?  All in all there was great competition throughout the day, but in the end it’s all about sharing a day on the water with your “Ohana”. Results will be posted tonight

Huki Outrigger /Surfski  donated a brand new Huki OC-2 which was won by a very ecstatic Debbie Dierkes, OEX Dive and Kayak, Quickblade, Maui Jim’s Sunglasses, K-5 SUP and Rogue SUP all gave generously to ensure that our participants had the opportunity to race today.   Division Winners Awards were provided by Loyal Sponsors, Maui Jim Sunglasses and Nixon.  Peet’s Coffee, Wahoos, Gu and Kashi made sure that we had enough fuel to make it through the day while Huki, Kialoa, Caseman, Dakine, Mudbrook, Better Surf than Sorry, Coolest Shoes, Hovie SUP, Nixon and Maui Jim contributed to the best raffle I’ve seen in years.  There is no way to have an event like this without the support of these Sponsors.  Remember to thank them next time you see them on the beach.

Hanohano Outrigger Canoe Club would like to thank everyone for their “Aloha”.  The vibe on the beach is always positive and welcoming.  This year we had a huge number of first time racers and I hope that their experience was as positive as mine.

Thank You to all the volunteers from HOCC and to the following for their support:

Huki Outrigger , OEX Dive and Kayak, Wahoo’s, Maui Jim Sunglasses, Nixon, Quickblade, Nika Water, Peet’s Coffee LaJolla, Rogue SUP, K-5 SUP, Paddleme.com, Caseman, Patagonia, Kialoa, Dakine, Coolest Shoes and Better Surf than Sorry

First race of the SoCalOcean racing season- November 14th at Kellog Park La Jolla Shores.

Short course starts at about 9am; Long course about 10 or 1030.

Race fees $25.00 for one race, $30 one person racing both long and short courses. If you are registering more than one person on different craft for different courses, please register separately! (it confuses the system) 

Don't want a t-shirt? Don't want our fabulous lunch? then by preregistration ONLY you can save $+/-10. Via pre-registration ONLY... $15 entry- no lunch- no t-shirt.

ALL DAY OF registration costs are $25.00 regardless of t-shirt availability or lunch desires. This is our one and only fund raiser- and we do offer a fabulous lunch- breakfast items, safety boats, awards and a GREAT day of racing!

Register on line via Active.com (administration fees apply)!

T-shirts for the 1st 200 registered.