Original story from My Local Lineup

Oceanside, CA — One would think that in a race with about 400 registered competitors, including professional athletes, contestants would time their performance to the milliseconds, using time to pace themselves and gauge their showdown. That was surprisingly not the case at the 2nd Annual Surf Monkey Challenge, an endurance sports competition, featuring a run and swim but also a paddle and stand-up paddle division. After paddlers strode along the final stretch, some with and others without paddle in tote, few (or, more accurately, virtually none) could state their time. Putting aside how pesky that can be for a reporter, this odd commonality underscored the reversal of priorities among the athletes, with fun, not placement, taking the first seat.

Corporate executives, alongside fierce professional athletes, lined up at the water’s edge South of the Oceanside Pier, under cloudy skies and light south winds on Saturday morning. Divisions were broken up into basically a 4-mile and a 8-mile stretch, where orange buoys delimited the path and often times became the site of paddle jousting, as racers inched off for the top position while maneuvering around the orange floats. But once setting foot ashore and crossing the finish line, even the most competitive at heart joined in on the bonhomie of the rendezvous.

In the stacked 8-mile stock division, Russ Olyer came at an incredible 58:45 min, slightly ahead of Ben Vaughn (1:02:03). That is not to say that there weren’t some impressive performances. Both in the 4 and 8-mile races, there were jaw-dropping paddle speeds. In the 4-mile unlimited class, riding a 19 ft. Ohana board, Rob Rojas came at 37:52 min, trailed by Todd Drake (46:18 min) and Dave Kalama (47:25 min). In the 4-mile stock (i.e., 12.6” and under) division, Dennis Cameron came at 48:42 min, minutes ahead of a tight pack of Denis Poroy (55:06), Dave Anderson (55:22), and Mike Kubeska (55:26). In the stacked 8-mile stock division, Russ Olyer came at an incredible 58:45 min, slightly ahead of Ben Vaughn (1:02:03), but with a substantial lead over EJ Johnson (1:27:29) and Byron Kurt (1:27:40). And only a few minutes behind them, the women in the open 8-mile race had Brandy Baksic (1.31.31) and Elsa Harrison (1:45:09) arriving first and second, respectively.

Legends Team Results:

Kevin Coffman – 1st place – Mens 14′ 8 Mile (1:34.41)

Jeff Warner – 1st place – Whatever Guy Open 8 Mile (Time Unknown)

The Rock to Rock Paddleboard Race is an annual paddleboard race that starts at the Isthmus of Catalina Island and ends 22 miles away at Palos Verdes. For the Legends team it was our first channel crossing and a stepping stone to the legendary Catalina Classic.

Overall it was a bumpy crossing, but the wind backed down a couple hours into the race. It was a great experience crossing the channel and sharing it with the Legends Surf team was great. Kevin Coffman and Paul Parizeau.

Board of choice was a 14’ Hobie all carbon, generously loaned by Jeff Alter. The board was excellent, stable, light and extremely fast. Water transportation was on the luxurious Cabazon captained by the very capable Tony “Hodgie”. First and second mates Jack and Hannah Warner were very helpful. The food (Cardiff Market tri tip and carne asada) generously supplied from our main sponsor Coffman Specialities. Thanks to everyone it was great!

The King & Queen of Dogpatch went off in 2-3 foot surf Saturday May 16, 2009 at San Onofre State Beach. Legends and beginner stand-up paddleboard surfers alike from California and Hawaii joined the local standouts at Dogpatch to surf it out for silver dog bowl trophies. The raucous and hilarious stand-up paddleboard (SUP) surf contest directly benefited the newly formed San Onofre Foundation.

“We achieved our aims of having a great time and helping out the San Onofre Foundation. In this contest surfers displayed more than pure surfing and paddling ability many showed panache and aloha in their spirit and style. We had costumes of all types and several surfed surprisingly well with their dogs.”

- Rainbow Sandals owner Jay “Sparky” Longley

John and Manya Clark of San Clemente were crowned King & Queen of Dogpatch for showing true aloha spirit and family fun. John surfed as the King himself, Elvis, and their ten year old daughter Alleanna made the final in the Wahine Intermediate division.

“On behalf of Rainbow Sandals we want to thank everyone who participated in the King & Queen of Dogpatch. It was a chance to raise awareness and necessary funds for the San Onofre Foundation’s vital mission of providing education and interpretive services for the California State Parks at San Onofre. It is great that the Dogpatch SUP community was able to do this and have some fun.”

- Rainbow Sandals event coordinator Barrett Tester

Dogpatch is becoming a mecca for SUP surfers. It is located at the far south end of the San Onofre State Beach surfing area. The towers of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station are near by.

Results:
King of Dogpatch John Clark, San Clemente
Queen of DogPatch Manya Clark, San Clemente

Men Advanced
Noah Shimabokuro, Carlsbad
Chuck Patterson, Dana Point
Kyle Mochizuki, San Juan Capistrano
Tom Lloy, Dana Point
Leleo Kinimaka, Hawaii
Byron Kurt, Dana Point

Wahine Advanced
Candace Appleby, San Clemente/Hawaii
Elsa Harrison, San Clemente
Jericho Poplar, Long Beach
Jodie Nelson, San Clemente
Nikki Gregg, Hawaii
Rachael Calkins, Dana Point

Men Intermediate
Chris Sardelis HB
Greg Branson San Clemente
Todd Drake Carlsbad
Paul Binquist Costa Mesa
EJ Johnson, Dana Point
Steve Adler Surfside

Wahine Intermediate
Diane Wenzel, San Clemente
Tracey Engleking, San Clemente
Abbey Larson San Clemente
Gail Ross La Jolla
Jennifer Kurt, Dana Point
Alleanna Clark, San Clemente