Jay Wild And Krisztina Zur Victorious At Spectacular Battle of The Bay
The 2011 Battle of The Bay went off in spectacular fashion this past Saturday October 29th with 158 paddlers taking to the water to do Battle for the inaugural Battle of the Bay Title.
Under the blessing of a gorgeous Indian summer weather pattern that bestowed brilliant blue skies and a balmy 75 degree air temp the race organizers pulled together what is easily one of the most successful major SUP races ever held in the San Francisco Bay Area. Besides all the incredible racing action on the day, we'll get to that in a minute, the day was jam packed with demo's and instruction from most of the Major SUP companies including Platinum sponsors Starboard, Boga Boards, and Focus SUP. Over 150 non racers showed up to simply soak up the day and ride all the latest gear.
The race organizers pulled off the day like a well oiled machine never missing a beat. This volunteer team came together to pull off the performance of a veteran crew despite the fact that it was really their first SUP event of this magnitude. A lot of that credit has to go to the leadership of Title Sponsor Bluerush Boardsports and proprietors Stephen Pugh & Geoff James. Pugh & James, however, will be the first to tell you it was the cracker jack team of Volunteers who spent the last 9 months relentlessly planning out every detail that made it all possible.
The day kicked off with the Open 4 mile race and the massive fleet of paddlers ready to tackle a challenging 4 mile course. The course was not your standard up and back affair but rather the organizers had intentionally planned to up the ante and make this a challenging event that would test both stamina and skill alike. The paddlers took off from a beach start to a buoy about a ¼ mile offshore to then proceed to a second buoy for left hand turn in what would be a unique starting lap before getting in to a normal routine of doing an M-style course. And the complicated course took its toll. Despite the fact that Chris Brackett and Tucker Ingalls were leading the way correctly about 25 paddlers missed the inside mark causing them to be DSQ'd.
These DSQ's are not reflected yet in the results below as it will take the honor system for these paddlers to come forward; it was simply too hard to pick out the names from the throng off paddlers on the course. There was no doubt however about the lead two paddlers who were locked in tight race for the front with Bracke5t doing his best to reel in Ingalls who had taken the lead early. It was to no avail as the younger Ingalls (15, and pictured at right) was simply too strong and took the win.
Sofia Dewolfe put up a blazing 43 minute and 1 second time to take top honors for the Junior women while Eldore Wood's 42 minute 36 second time was the standard in the Women's Masters Fleet. Mike Day was the man to beat in the Men's masters only no one could.
Next up was the main event and if you thought the 4 mile course was challenging the 5 mile elite race was definitely a level above. With a modified M bolted on to a shoreside Zig Zag course that saw the paddlers sprinting down the line directly in front of the spectators; it was a sight to behold.
Speaking of a level above that's the only way to describe Jay Wild's paddle on the day. Despite the presence of world class paddlers like Chuck Patterson and Dan Gavere it was Wild who simply dominated. Paddling his 12ft 6 Hobie Wild (pictured below right with Chuck Patterson at his right side) quickly distanced himself from the pack and seemed to be growing his lead with every stroke. If Wild was impressive Krisztina Zur was amazing. At times early in the race it looked like Zur had an honest shot at the podium ....in the men's division!
With a stacked field that included Jenny Kalmbach, Morgan Hoestry, Gillian Gibree, and Karen Wrenn Zur left little to doubt as she navigated the technical course with power and strength that saw her taking the women's division win and the 8th overall placing. A special note has to be made for the performance of local paddler Ben Sarrazin. Sarrazin's third place overall finish, that saw him getting the better of journeyed waterman Dan Gavere, shows just how far the local paddling fleet has come in the last few years.
Over in the Kids race it was The Brackett Boys who showed the crowd the face of some future paddling stars. One look at how these kids handle their boards and paddles on the water and you can tell these are not your average "kids" racers but rather trained paddlers who have honed their skills. Again however a local paddler was up for the challenge with San Francisco's Shane Rathle digging deep to match the Brackett's early on. Rathle got boxed out on a mark rounding that saw the two Brackett's, the 11 year old Josiah and the 8 year old Joshua, put a gap on him. Rathle hung tough for a solid third place finish with the Brackett's just out of reach. It was Josh Brackett however that took home the Everpaddle SUP board so generously donated by Everpaddle's Kevin Seid for the first place finisher. Now that's a stoked kid! (pictured below Ben Sarazin, Chuck Patterson and Jay Wild)
Then it was on to the business of relay racing that saw teams of four doing two laps each on an up and back course. With Rasta men, Monkey's , and Crab's making up many of the teams paddlers (Halloween is just around the corner) it was an exciting contest that saw some carnage at the handoffs as paddlers whipped their boards around. With all the big names on the course including Zur, Patterson, Gavere, and Kalmbach the racing was action packed.(pictured below women's Elite Podium Krisztina Zur, Jenny Kalmbach, Gillian Gibree)
What do you do to top off such a successful day of racing? Party!!!! And of course hand out some cash and that's just what happened as the fleet head down to enjoy the hospitality of The Marin Yacht Club. With all the trappings of a major sailing regatta the Marin Yacht Club rolled out the red carpet as the Band of Boga Board's Dave Meyler rolled out the tunes the paddlers partied on in to the night.
A special thanks has to go out to all the volunteers who chipped in to make this event possible. From registering racers, to board caddying the finish line, and everything in between it was a first rate crew that put their heart and soul in to making the event flow so smoothly. Also thanks to the Marin County Parks department and the phenomenal support of the Park's rangers who chaperoned the wily crew of paddlers like true professionals.
Most importantly thanks to all the Sponsors without whom the event simply could not be possible. First and foremost Title Sponsor Bluerush Boardsports followed closely by the Platinum sponsors Starboard, Focus SUP, KKMI Marine, and Boga Boards.
Last but not least was the considerable support that Battle of the Bay gave to Baykeeper. With most of the proceeds after expenses being dedicated to this more than worthy organization that works to protect San Francisco Bay. Their work however is never done and we can still use your support so head on over to Baykeeper today to lend your support. CLICK HERE TO HELP PROTECT SF BAY.
The Battle of the Bay will most certainly be back next year so stay tuned the facebook page and website as a bigger and better Battle will be waged next year...if that's possible.
See you next year.
