Bob Meistrell: 25 years at the helm of the Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race
Bob Meistrell aboard the Disappearance. Photo by Greg Browning On an early Saturday morning in August every year for the last quarter century, a motley crew of paddlers, reporters, photographers and Catalina Classic race officials have congregated aboard Disappearance. The boat’s skipper, Body Glove founder and legendary waterman Bob Meistrell, kicks off the journey with a few simple instructions: make sure your own a sleeping bag and pillow, mind how you operate the ship’s head and if you’re smoking you better be on fire. As he sets course from Redondo’s Portofino Marina to Catalina Island, Meistell offers a welcoming of sorts. “The bad news is you are on a boat weaving back and forth for six hours,” Meistrell says. “If you tend to get sea sick, you will get sea sick. The good news is you aren’t on one of those stupid paddleboards.” The view from the wheelhouse. Photo by Greg Browning Disappearance has played an essential role in reviving the Catalina Classic from dormancy three decades ago to its flourishing current state. The iconic Body Glove boat (“72-ft. if you are bragging, 64 ft. if you are paying the slip fees,” Meistrell says) is a 39-year-old beauty, a custom-made…
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