The weather kept many surfers off the water on this incredibly windy and cold March day in Santa Cruz. However, more than 40 SUP paddlers braved the weather. The race was supposed to have been a 6 mile paddle, run on the beach, back to paddling from Cowell Beach to Lighthouse Point to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf and back. For Safety reason, the organizers changed the course to a two-lap race next to the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf. Paddlers were looking a little wide eyed and sometimes losing their paddle, forcing them to get prone like a traditional paddleboarder. Although not strictly legal for an SUP race, the die-hard SUP'ers were doing whatever they could to stay in the race. The festival was finally cut short at around 3:00 as the weather conditions worstened. Zane Schweitzer of Hawaii won the expert SUP wave-riding division, Matt Becker won the men's race, and Candice Appleby won the women's race.
KIALOA Paddles
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