Jodie Nelson Completes the Catalina Challenge

Congratualtions to Jodie Nelson for her amazing accomplishment. She crossed from Catalina to Dana Point, solo, which is almost 40 miles on an SUP. She even beat her time from last year when she did it as a pair.

Jodie's goal in this crossing was to raise awareness for Breast Cancer. Her board provided a constant reminder of why she was out there with a list of friends and family that have battled the disease. She was able to raise $8,000 before the event and continues to inspire donations after completing the historic paddle this past Sunday.

Here is a link to a great video. She made a new friend along the way named Larry.

KIALOA was proud to play a small part in her efforts as she used the new Pipes stand up paddle for most of her crossing. She said she switched between it and the Methane but found the Pipes ultimately more comfortable in length and size and use it for the majority.

RACE RESULTS

If you are inspired by Jodie's historic paddle crossing and have the means, it is never to late to donate.

Paddle with Purpose

Keep-A-Breast Foundation

The Paddle Stroke By Karen Wrenn

One of the biggest questions I get is, “what is the correct paddle stroke?” The biggest mistake I see, other than people holding the paddle backwards, is people paddling just with their arms. This is very inefficient. When paddling correctly, the blade pulling the board through the water, is coming from a shoulder rotation.

Imagine you are paddling on your right side;

1.Set up your feet, soften your knees, find your balance and engage your core.
2.Hold the paddle with both arms straight.
3.Rotate your left shoulder to the right and towards the center of the board, still keeping your arms straight.
4.Lean forward with the upper body and reach the paddle as far forward as you can on the right side of the board with out compromising your balance.
5.Push down with the top hand to enter the blade into the water while submerging the whole blade. (Another common mistake is only having half of the blade in the water.)
6.Continue the shoulder rotation and let your left hip follow, so that your whole torso is rotating.
7.Finish the stroke at your feet.
8.To exit the blade out of the water rotate your shoulder back to the left and the blade will feather out of the water.
9.You are making a backwards D. The straight line of the D is the blade in the water, keeping the blade as close to the board as you can. The arc of the D, the blade is feathering back out of the water to begin the stroke again.
Practice on land pretending you are on the board and holding the paddle. Practice on both sides. Use your core, it’s the “powerhouse”. Go out and have fun!