Brandon and I started off the summer with a vision of growing a Stand-Up Paddle Board Community in Bellingham. There were a scattering of SUPer’s and a ton of people who wanted to check out the new-to-Bellingham sport. But, not many of us actually knew each other… or knew how to find each other.

A few demo’s, Tuesday Night races and a chat group gave folks a reason to meet. But, it was last night – our first race in a 3-race Pre-Paddle Grand Prix Point Series – that we saw and felt the community. 17 racers showed up, including 5 ladies, all ready to throw down! The race began with SUP racer and on-duty and unable-to- race firefighter Beau Whitehead signaling the start by blasting his engines lights and sirens.

While racers were off on the 2.5 mile out and back course, racer husbands, wives and kids played on the beach, took pictures and cheered.  Winds were blowing about 10 – 12 miles per hour as we paddled out of Cornwall Beach, strait into the head wind for a mighty effort to get to the south end of Taylor Dock. Once we turned down wind, it was smooth sailing and surfing home! The race took anywhere from 35 minutes for the winner to 1 hour and 5 minutes for the final finisher.  And when the last racer came in, everyone just hung out. I would bet it was the first SUP race for more than ½ the racers…. and the air was buzzing with stoke!

For the point series, lowest score wins. So, 1^st place gets 1 point, 2^nd gets 2 points, 3^rd gets 3 points and so on. If you miss a race, you get the number of male or female racers attending THAT race (depending on if you are a guy or gal) added to your score!

So, after Race #1… here are the standings….

MEN:

Allan Lipp (35:14)  1 point

Brian Boatman (35:42)  2 points

Joost Zeegers  (36:59) 3 points

Brandon Nelson (38:31) 4 points

 Tom Swetish (40:17) 5 points

Eric Grossman (40:47) 6 points

Dale Plant (41:22) 7 points

Mike Hammer (42:21) 8 points

Rob Cambell (47:02) 9 points

Larry Goolsby (47:16) 10 points

Kimo Jandoc (49:51) 11 points

Brian Smart (50:32) 12 points

WOMEN:

Heather Nelson (38:45) 1 point

Jessica Yoos (55:47) 2 points

Debbie Brown (60:22) 3 points

Michelle Anderson (1:06:47) 4 points

Carolyn Watson (40:27 – short course) 5 points

 Thank You to everyone who came to race and to help out! The next race in the series is August 10^th!
You can keep up on Pre-Paddle Grand Prix Point Series and the September 5th Paddle Grand Prix at
www.paddlegrandprix.com!

See you on the water!

Heather, Brandon and Hayden