Surf Race to Victory SUPCross in San Diego

Following cancellation of the Huntington Pro event, the Surf Race to Victory organisers decided to put on an extra race in San Diego for everyone still in town after last weeks Battle of the Paddle. A bunch of the Roar crew (Jacko, Angie, Steve, Beau, Sue, Pete, Ke'ale & Jake) headed down to San Diego for the race.

The format was awesome, basically a single 'M' shaped course, paddle out to the first outside can, back in and run around a buoy on the waters edge, out to the second can and in to the finish with a short 10m run up the beach. With 2ft surf (& the occasional 3ft set) it made for exciting racing and if you got worked once, then it was pretty hard to catch up any ground lost on the short course.

For the girls, we completed 2 separate races with points from our placings in each race adding up to a combined total. Ke'ale (typical clubbie) got off to an awsome start in the first heat, leading the charge out through the surf, then Angie & I caught up and shared an awesome wave all the way into the beach. Angie the showed her paddle strength on the 2nd leg, pulling in front and staying there for the rest of the heat. Halie scored a set wave from behind me to slip into 2nd place on the run into the finish.

In the second race, it was Halie who snuck cleanly out between the sets and getting around the buoy first, she caught a wave in front of Angie and I to take a lead that wasn't challenged for the rest of the race. Angie & I battled it out for 2nd and 3rd with Ke'ale in a close 4th for the rest of the heat and I was lucky to get the better of the waves coming in to take 2nd over Angie who just edged out Ke'ale for 3rd.

Final results for the womens (all on 12'6"s):
1st Halie Harrison (2nd & 1st)
2nd Angie (1st & 3rd)
3rd Ali (3rd & 2nd)
4th Ke'ale (4th & 4th)
5th Caroline Angibaud (5th & 5th)
6th Sue (6th & 6th) (very unlucky with waves at the start of both heats)

In the mens, they ran two 8-man heats, with the top 4 progressing to the semi's and the bottom 4 into a repecharge from which the top 4 went back into the semi's as well. From the two 6-man semi finals, the top 4 progressed to an 8-man final. Information prior the the event had suggested it was a 14ft class race, so Beau, Jacko and Jake were on their 14's but many of the others had thought the race was a 12'6 class so that caused a little bit of controversy.

In Heat 1, Beau, Jake and Pete lined up against the rest of the competitors and easily progressed to the semi's along with Zane Schweitzer.
In Heat 2, it was Jacko and Steve's turn, with Jacko taking a clear win in the heat and Stevo just edged out Anthony Vela for 4th to progress directly into the semi's, making it a clean run for all the Aussie boys.

Semi-final 1 saw Beau (14ft) and Stevo pitted against Zane and another top local paddler (I don't know his name). Beau just beat the local kid to qualify 1st for the final, with Zane taking 3rd and Stevo getting in 4th place.

In semi-final 2, the rest of the Aussie boys, Pete, Jake and Jacko lined up against Anthony Vela & Dan Gavere. After some controversy over board sizes, Jacko opted to drop back to a 12'6 for the semi, but Jake and Dan stayed on 14's. Again Jake easily took the win to qualify ahead of Pete and Dan, but Jacko got unlucky catching his fin in some heavy kelp (there was heaps of it around) and just getting beaten by Anthony for a spot in the final.

The final saw Beau also opt for a 12'6, with Jake & Dan Gavere the only 2 remaining on 14's. Jake took a lead early in the heat and was unchallenged for 1st from start to finish (that 14'x23" is sooo fast). Beau opened up a clear gap to the rest of the field in the 2nd leg to take 2nd overall and 1st 12'6 across the line. I think the local guy came in 3rd then it was a sprint and dive to the finish line for 4th with Zane just edging out Anthony.

Results of the mens final:
1st Jake (14ft)
2nd Beau (1st 12'6)
3rd the local guy (I don't know his name, 12'6)
4th Zane (12'6)
5th Anthony (12'6)
6th Dan (14ft)
7th Stevo (12'6)
8th Pete (12'6)

Here a few pics from the mens races: