Nikau Kai, SB Boardriders plan Stand-Up Surf Classic in Manhattan Beach
Race director Jason Shanks working the paddle. Photo by Jeff Berting (JeffBerting.com)
Chuck Patterson, the first stand-up paddler to surf Cortes Bank’s giant waves, and winner of the first Dana Point Battle of the Paddle in 2009, is among the SUP paddlers scheduled to compete in the Nikau Kai Classic SUP Surf Contest at the Manhattan Pier on Sunday, August 26.
The contest is being held in conjunction with the Catalina Classic Paddleboard race, which ends at the Manhattan Beach pier. Top Catalina paddlers are expected to reach the pier at about 11 a.m., when the surf contest is scheduled to end. The Catalina Classic does not include stand-up paddlers.
Other top ranked stand-up paddlers expected to compete in the surf contest include three-time world champion longboarder Colin McPhillips and Huntington Beach brothers Daniel and Mathew Hughes, according to contest director Jason Shanks of Nikau Kai Paddleboards.
Top local paddlers who are expected include the 26th Street crew’s Dan Everheart and the 30th Street Kings Hockey crew.
Though the Hennessey Paddleboard series has included stand-up paddlers for the past three years, the Nikau Kai Classic will be the first stand-up paddlerboard surf contest to be held in the South Bay.
Judging will be similar to that of traditional surf contests, but will also include how the surfers utilize their paddles for power turns, airs and other maneuvers, Shanks said. Unlike in traditional contests, points will be deducted for failing to stay standing on the board while kicking out of the wave and returning to the line-up.
The South Bay Boardriders Club is helping organize the contest. Registration begins at 6 a.m. and the first heats are at 7 a.m. Applications are available on line at SouthBayBoardriders.com and at Nikau Kai, 1300 Highland, Manhattan Beach. ER