How ****ing good is kelly margets!
Just won the down wind race in hood river ( though is sounded like a no wind flat track race).
He's not 20 years old he still has to hold down a job and raise two kids yet on any give Sunday he can dig deep and take on the worlds best and beat them time and time again..
Well done champion enjoy a beer after that performance..
Trav shows he's easily the best in the world atm 2nd yesterday by a split second and 2nd again today.. He's having a good year and if his heart is as big as Kelly's he's going to be at the top of this sport for another decade no doubt..
Beau had a top performance.
Angie had a solid weekend!!
Amazing effort for a soon to be 43 year old.well done hes proving age is just a number.
Pretty good results for all the aussies over here to add the ones already mentioned.
Ang 2nd and a 4th
Terrene 5th and a 3rd
Me 2 x 14th
James Casey 20th and maybe 17th today( not 100%)
Tough racing and not having any wind was a real bummer as most only had DW boards but still super tight racing from both guys and girls!!
Select to expand quoteteatrea said...
Amazing effort for a soon to be 43 year old.well done hes proving age is just a number.
I wish that was true. But it is an incredible performance from him. Really atonishing.
Select to expand quoteArea10 said...teatrea said...
Amazing effort for a soon to be 43 year old.well done hes proving age is just a number.
I wish that was true. But it is an incredible performance from him. Really atonishing.
I want to get what he is on , please dont tell me it involves hard work commitment and dedication
As far as I know it involves drinking xxxx oh and all that other stuff you said teatrea
What role, if any, do you think that equipment played in the results at this race? Most paddlers presumably will have been expecting a downwind race (eg. Kai Lenny raced the Naish Jav Maliko, I think?) but it turned out to be a flat water slog instead. We all know that DW boards are generally pretty slow in flat water.
Which board was Connor on? He had a fairly unimpressive weekend by his standards.
Annabel was streets ahead. Of course this is probably because she is Annabel. But is her board particularly good in flat water?
Angie J's board looks a very interesting design btw.
Annabel would probably win on a surfboard.I would say very little.I think Connor is behind travis and danny and kai has not been in great racing form.makes kellys win even more impressive.Take nothing away from his win it was a show of pure grit and smarts.
Select to expand quoteArea10 said..
What role, if any, do you think that equipment played in the results at this race? Most paddlers presumably will have been expecting a downwind race (eg. Kai Lenny raced the Naish Jav Maliko, I think?) but it turned out to be a flat water slog instead. We all know that DW boards are generally pretty slow in flat water.
Which board was Connor on? He had a fairly unimpressive weekend by his standards.
Annabel was streets ahead. Of course this is probably because she is Annabel. But is her board particularly good in flat water?
Angie J's board looks a very interesting design btw.
it is. kind looks like a inflatable club but I can tell you it very fast despite its broad nose. that shaper is a magician I think to get that happening.
jacko has it on a string dw ing as well as a very quick board in the flats.
as I stated hats of to the shaper/designer
I think Kai could have raced any board he wants, here a pic he posted from Hood river
Beau did the dw which was flat water on the ace proving that board is a rocket with a gun paddler in any conditions.
Looked like Trav had his flat water dug out but that board also eats up the bumps anywhere in the world with Trav on it.
Looked like Connor was on the new all star and Kai on the new maliko - these two kids have dropped off the pace from last year and the older Guys like Danny Trav kelly have got one up on them lately.
Select to expand quoteArea10 said...
What role, if any, do you think that equipment played in the results at this race? Most paddlers presumably will have been expecting a downwind race (eg. Kai Lenny raced the Naish Jav Maliko, I think?) but it turned out to be a flat water slog instead. We all know that DW boards are generally pretty slow in flat water.
Which board was Connor on? He had a fairly unimpressive weekend by his standards.
Annabel was streets ahead. Of course this is probably because she is Annabel. But is her board particularly good in flat water?
Angie J's board looks a very interesting design btw.
Boards might have played a small part but this is part of racing and if you want to win you have to have the right board at the event, kelly had a good board for the day as well as out paddling anyone around him. There were still plenty of guys with flatwater boards in that race like Danny and trav and many others.
In the womens its now closer than you might think. You dont see Anabel taking off and winning by huge margins anymore and really both these races came down to the end. She is still a great paddler but the girls racing IMO will be as tight as the mens very soon with lots of strong girls now racing and getting faster.
Angies board worked unreal in this race and in the long distance she just got stuck at the front of the train for most of the race which did not help in the last km when you start to run out of gas in a race like this. Lessons learned for her and she will be alot smarter for the next I'm sure!!
Thanks for you insights paul.j. Good to know that it is still the best man winning and not just who has the best board.
Who was after your opinion the biggest underachiever of the event ?
Select to expand quoteSurfNiels said...
Thanks for you insights paul.j. Good to know that it is still the best man winning and not just who has the best board.
Who was after your opinion the biggest underachiever of the event ?
That's something that is impossible to say, it was a long dead flat up river slog and really everyone i seen gave it 100%. Boards will aways playa big part in a race its just not something that is going to make you win just because you have the fastest board.
With the mens racing going 14ft in the US by the looks of it then getting boards right for big races will become super important if you want to be in the front, any one who has spent time on a ocean 14 and a flatwater 14 will know how much difference there can be, this said if you can get in the right position from the start then usally a good ocean board can sit in a wash train with a lot of work!!
Good reply Jacko and the wash train does play a big part , Angie can testify to that one. What's the consensus with the competitors when no-one will take their turn up front , do you call each other up or is just dog eat dog ?
Did Kai *really* race the Naish Maliko DW board in preference to the Naish Javelin flat water one, in a flat water race?
Select to expand quotePiros said...
Good reply Jacko and the wash train does play a big part , Angie can testify to that one. What's the consensus with the competitors when no-one will take their turn up front , do you call each other up or is just dog eat dog ?
Everyone is a bit different and some will 100% want to share the lead. Sometimes it depends where you sit in the train, if you are in the top 3 you should share it around if you are back further than that the its very hard work to push up to the front and usally if you do then you are pretty stuffed and cant pull for that long anyway. If you are at the front then you can always just stop paddling untill someone has to take over down side to this is it will give anyone who is futher behind a chance to catch up.
If i was in Angies race i would have done the same thing and just worn her out. She should have been more aggressive in getting someone to help out earlier so a really good lesson for her
No rule saying you have to have a turn at the front and if you can sit behind for the whole race and pass someone in the last 100m then good luck to you. Remember its not a race to half way!!
Select to expand quoteArea10 said...
Did Kai *really* race the Naish Maliko DW board in preference to the Naish Javelin flat water one, in a flat water race?
Yes, pretty sure nearly all the naish riders rode the new board.
Select to expand quotepaul.j said...Area10 said...
Did Kai *really* race the Naish Maliko DW board in preference to the Naish Javelin flat water one, in a flat water race?
Yes, pretty sure nearly all the naish riders rode the new board.
That's pretty interesting I wonder why if they had jav's there but didn't use them considering it was dead flat..
Yup, Kelly was damned impressive. And the race really sucked. Hot, smoky, and flat. In fact it was blowing in our faces for the first fifteen minutes. I was running on caffeine and stupidity--had to go grab my grandkids from the fire zone up in northeastern Washington. Fifteen hours of driving, two hours of sleep, then did the course race on a surfboard (I really hate 14s). Got a decent nights sleep then did the "nowinder" on an unlimited DW board, a 17.5' Bullet, which has to be the suckiest flatwater board on the planet. I really expected at least a little wind, maybe 10 mph, and if we got it, the Bullet would have been great in the microbumps. As it was I pushed water uphill all the way. Next day we had 25+ mph, so naturally I had to do a run.
Boards played a big part, and a lot of people had the wrong stuff. Who expects east wind in the gorge in August?? And then flat. No, really, really flat. I think a lot of the competitors expected to get some wind during the race. I know I did. If you had been on a straight flatwater board getting single glides when the wind jumped up to 15 and the DW boards were linking bumps you'd have a substantial disadvantage. Didn't happen.
Travis was more than just impressive. His finish in the course race with Danny (after Danny headed for the wrong buoy and lost most of his HUGE lead) was simply astonishing. The power these guys have in reserve and the speed they can lay down was pretty unbelievable. Most exciting SUP race I've ever seen, and I've seen every BOP and every Gorge Paddle Challenge.
I didn't get to see Kelly finish, I was in the river slowly slogging back to Hood River (they started the Open class after the men's elite) but he was the talk of the beach. I guess it was great to see. I wouldn't know, because, you now... slogging.
Thanks Bill.. and welcome to the breeze.. 
I was talking to friends about the missing paddler.. Very sad.. and we were wondering.. Are there wild bears along the shore/banks?
Select to expand quoteDavidJohn said..
Thanks Bill.. and welcome to the breeze..
I was talking to friends about the missing paddler.. Very sad.. and we were wondering.. Are there wild bears along the shore/banks?
I saw some pics the other day on Angie's FB or Instagram or somewhere else and there was a sign that said bears inhabit this area.
What? No. Occasionally some pissed off windsurfers but that's about it.
That reminds me of my Mom. When she heard I was moving to Astoria, Oregon she looked on a map and saw Fort Stevens -- a state park. She asked "Will you be close to a fort if there's an indian attack?" Bostonians think civilization ends a little west of New York City. And some would say east of it.
I've been a Seabreeze member a long time. I just don't remember my old password and the "forgot" email goes to an email address I no longer have. I don't check in very often, just to see what's up with the hot chicks thread and see what nonsense you loonies are up to.
Yeah congrats Kelly! 43 today and still smashing it! 
Shout out to all the Aussies and NZ's who did so well!
Smokin it on the new 14' x 24!
Select to expand quotepaul.j said...Area10 said...
Did Kai *really* race the Naish Maliko DW board in preference to the Naish Javelin flat water one, in a flat water race?
Yes, pretty sure nearly all the naish riders rode the new board.
Well in that case Kai did very well indeed, given that that board is presumably a more DW-oriented board than many others used. He was right up there at the end.
Oh, and of course it goes without saying that this race was yet another demonstration of the increasing dominance of Aus/NZ on the world stage. Congrats to you all.
