Tuesday Night SUP Races: Race 1 Report
If this Tuesday’s Race is any indication of what a weekly SUP race and gathering will do for our little community – I would say we will all be 100% better paddlers, be totally dialed in on our gear, and be a tight knit, fun community.
Our first Tuesday night had SUP’ers paddling in from three different parking lots at Lake Padden. The exact details of where and when and what exactly we were doing were vague… but, people got the message and arrived one-by-one. In the end, at 6PM, we had a demo fleet of SUP’s from BellinghamSUP, quiver of paddles from Kialoa, 6 racers on the starting line, and another dozen or so people there to demo gear, socialize and check it out.
3 of us raced the 4-mile long course, while a second 3 did the 2-mile short course. Alan Lipp took the long course on a board designed by local paddler and Necky designer Tom Swetish. BellinghamSUP’s Dave Comp took the short course paddling the Starboard Pin.
When we all finished, no one left. We all continued to try each other’s boards and paddles, critique our strokes, talk about what board is good for this or that. One highlight was when Alan Lipp, after winning the 4-mile course, continued on to his car and returned to the beach with his laptop to show us his new SUP designs he has been working on.
We will meet again next Tuesday at the Lake Padden swim area for more racing and good times. The race begins at 6PM.
See you on the water!
Heather, Brandon and Hayden