No shortage of waves in 2012

In 2012, the ocean remained the star of the show, as we saw powerful swell testing the skills of 28 elite male and female SUP surfers from up and down the West Coast and beyond. The multi-day battle saw fierce competition all the way to the final on Sunday, where surfers were greeted that morning with double overhead+ sets. Matt Becker put on a clinic as he rose to the top of the podium, claiming his first SHOOTOUT victory, neatly complementing his 2011 Surf & Sand DUEL SUP race win. This year Matt returns, challenged by other notable surfers Anthony Vela, Slater Trout, Dave Boehne, “founder of Mavericks” Jeff Clark, Chuck Glynn and more. Also, watch for the entire BARK clan on road trip from SoCal, and ready to have a good time!

We are introducing a few exciting new aspects to the 2013 SHOOTOUT. Due to the overwhelming talent and demand from the top female SUP surfers in the sport, we have added a Women’s heat to the SHOOTOUT! From Team Surftech, watch for Candice Appleby, Alison Riddle, Morgan Hoesterey, and Brit Oliphant, showing off their skills against a strong field which includes Talia Gangini, Brandi Baksic, Terri Plunkett, and Diane Wenzel. Candice Appleby has taken dominant back-2-back wins in the Surf & Sand DUEL SUP race (2011/2012) and placed high in the SHOOTOUT several times, landing in the semis in 2012.

Also new to the Surftech SHOOTOUT is a high quality live web feed provided by Andre and the folks at SUPconnect. More and more SUP events are now featuring live webcasts, but SUPconnect continues to push the envelope and raise the standard both of of what is possible and expected for high quality SUP event. Tune in this weekend and find out what all the buzz is about…

We added another event! For those wanting to test their skills and catch some waves, but aren’t quite ready for the high-performance action at the Lane, 2013 ushers in the Cowells SUP Classic. With the easier take off and long rides with just a few friends in jerseys out for the day, the Cowells SUP Classic is sure to provide some fun.

Surfline forecasts a 3-5ft NW swell coming in strong by Saturday, but what if the waves don’t show up? Have no fear, entertainment and competition will still abound! The Surf & Sand DUEL SUP race (previously known as the SURF&SAND Duel-athlon) is truly a showdown of epic proportions. Racers will complete a course by land and sea, no matter what conditions prevail. In previous years Mother Nature has done everything from releasing her full fury by storm force wind, rain and hail, and at others times played nice with bluebird skies, perfect for measuring your grit versus the opposition. With returning champions and bold new challengers on the roster, this year should be nothing short of memorable as SUP racers kick off the race season in Santa Cruz.

Check out the action from last year!

Many premiere SUP brands will be available to experience:

BARK, JM Paddleboards, Gerry Lopez, Al Merrick, Roxy, Laird, and Surftech.

 Surftech’s ISPO booth: Hall A3, #126 Feb 3-6, 2013.

Head to the ISPO Munich website for more info.

January 3, 2013 (Santa Cruz, CA) -

Sammy comes to Surftech with an extensive surfing background. As a top performer in the NSSA during his high school years, Sammy was a member of the 1990 NSSA National Team alongside many of the biggest names in surf in the last 20 years. Throughout college, Nigh competed in the NSSA and the WQS (then known as the Bud Pro Tour) while studying Private and Commercial Recreation at San Jose State University.

“Sammy is a highly respected member of the surf community,” stated long time friend and former WCT surfer, Adam Replogle. “He’s been in the game for more than two decades and has seen board building go from the small cottage industry that it was back in the 80′s to the multimillion dollar business that is is today.”

“Sammy Nigh has roots so deep in the surf world its incredible,” said Peter Mel, Marketing Director for Quiksilver Waterman Collection. ”From surf shop grom and highly competitive surfer, to National Sales manager. The path to success for Sammy was written years ago.”

Photo: Steve Price

“I feel that this is a great time to be returning to my surfing roots,” explained Nigh. “I am impressed with the sheer breadth of work being undertaken by Surftech and its vision of developing the highest performance surf and SUP product in the market. The company has been doing some truly groundbreaking work in composite board building recently, and I look forward to building on that success.”

SURFTECH CONGRATULATES LAIRD AND ANNOUNCES ITS LAIRD SUP LINE FOR 2013

Since that pivotal beginning, Laird has collaborated on dozens of highly successful molded board models with Surftech – the current series designed by legendary craftsmen Joe Bark and Bob Pearson. Laird, like Surftech, is continually evolving his craft. At Surftech, we will continue to progress with exciting new innovations and designs, including the new Bark Phantom Race Series built with Quantum Carbon Technology and our industry leading B1 Bomber Series, which utilizes our patented Bounce Composite construction.

Also new for 2013, we are pleased to offer a fresh new look to the Laird line-up, which we will be providing to the market in spring 2013.

We celebrate the expansion of Laird’s iconic brand through his new line of Laird StandUP hand finished boards and look forward to continuing to provide the market with the highest quality molded boards in Laird’s favorite shapes. We could not be more excited about our existing line up of versatile and proven SUP models and look forward to fresh new designs and technologies on the way in 2013. Combining the top designers in the world with Surftech innovation and our unprecedented line-up of iconic team riders, the Surftech family will stay focused on continuing to lead the evolution of our sport in the shaping room, at the factory and on the water.

ABOUT SURFTECH

In 1989, Randy French, a leading surf and windsurf board shaper, founded Surftech to bring Tuflite, a dynamic, durable and lightweight board construction material, from the windsurf industry to surf. Today, in partnership with many of the world’s leading board designers, Surftech offers a wide variety of high performance surf and stand-up paddleboards to customers worldwide.

Media Contact:

Duke Brouwer

duke@surftech.com

(831) 479-4944

www.surftech.com

Original story from Canoe & Kayak

The author portaging to a pub on The Thames River.

C&K Correspondent Mark Anders and his two cohorts paddled 150 miles down The Thames River with a pair of kayaks and a standup paddleboard, stopping at every bar they could find. This is the first of five dispatches from the (mis)adventure. Click HERE to read the second.

By Mark Anders

“You got a map of the river, Mark?”
“Nah. You?”
“Nope,” replied Martin.

My buddy Brad laughs. He looks a bit worried…but not surprised.

And so began our soon-to-be epic Thames River pub crawl. The goal was a source-to-sea paddle of the famous river, starting near the spot where the Thames begins as a mere trickle in the British countryside. Our destination: London, some 150 miles downstream. Our mantra: “If we see a pub, we stop.”

Armed with camping gear, a pair of kayaks, and a standup paddleboard, the three of us put in at The Trout Inn in the tiny hamlet of Lechlade. We’re keen to kick off our journey with a pint, but sadly the Trout isn’t open just yet—it’s early on a Sunday morning, after all.

“As a rule of thumb, there’s a pub every two hours,” says Greg, a jolly fellow who runs the dock and boat operations for The Trout.

We mine him for more details of the river and our course. Greg warns us that we may not be able to paddle all the way into London because security has been stepped up for the Olympics. The river is restricted to all boat traffic past the Teddington Lock just before the city. But we’re committed to paddling all the way into London regardless.

Near the source, the Thames is very narrow as it meanders through the green countryside. We pass ancient farms, families of swans, herds of curious cows, abandoned military pillboxes leftover from WWII. Our pace is slow, relaxing. We pass through the first of many locks to come and reach our first pub, The Swan Hotel, just four miles into the trip. We park our boats at the pub’s dock and proceed to down two pints of beer each and a massive platter of roast turkey, roast beef, and lamb.

With our full bellies and a little buzz going, we head back to the water and head for our next pub.

London is seeming pretty dang far away.

Stay tuned to CanoeKayak.com this week for the next four dispatches from Anders’ Thames Pub Crawl, and clickHERE to read the second.

The 16th annual Molokai-2-Oahu Paddleboard World Championships (M2O), presented by Kona Longboard Island Lager are set to host nearly 300 men and women, representing the world’s top traditional (prone) and stand up paddleboarders (SUP) who will cross the infamous Ka’iwi Channel in a test of endurance and wave riding skills. On Sunday, July 29, 2012, athletes will cover 32 miles of open ocean between the Hawaiian Islands of Molokai and Oahu. They will battle strong currents and surf for hundreds of yards atop waves that can reach more than 12 feet. Ten-time champ Jamie Mitchell steps aside opening men’s traditional paddleboard division. World-class surfers Rob Machado and Joel Parkinson test their wave riding skills in Ka’iwi Channel for first time. Growing women’s field to see strong competition. Follow live race updates on Facebook and Twitter (#M2O). Molokai2Oahu.com is the official race website. (from official M2O website, click for full story)

Surftech is proud to deploy an all-star crew to the rough waters of the Channel of Bones this weekend for the 2012 Molokai-2-Oahu World Championships. You’ll see many elite athletes paddling Bark, and JM Paddleboards shapes, both on traditional paddleboards and SUPs, but keep a special eye out for these top contenders:

Are they confident? Nervous? Excited?! Get inside their heads and see the world through their eyes! Follow the athletes as they prepare to take on this incredible challenge.

Athlete @twitter : instagram / Facebook

Joe and Jack Bark @BarkBoards : jackbark / Bark Paddleboards
Matt Becker @MattBeckr : mbecker40
Morgan Hoesterey @MorganHoesterey : morganhoesterey
Alison Riddle : alisonmriddle
Roch Frey @rochfrey : roachfree
Kona Red @KonaRed / KonaRed
Leane Darling : ledarling