Ritter was old school, all in paddleboarder
Tim Ritter passes the finishing buoy at the Manhattan Beach pier during the 2002 Catalina Classic. Photo by Ray Vidal Tim Ritter and Paul Hennessey at the 2012 Hennessey’s Series Paddleboard World Championships in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Easy Reader file photo by Kevin Cody During the Catalina Classic Paddleboard Race pre race meeting last month, at Buffalo Park on Catalina Island, race director Buddy Bohn asked for a moment of silence in memory of Tim Ritter. Ritter competed in the 32-mile race from Catalina to Manhattan Beach nine times. But as Bohn and others have noted since his death last month, Ritter’s most important paddleboarding role wasn’t paddling. It was what he did for other paddlers. “Tim was the guy who put traditional prone paddleboard racing on the world stage,” Australian lifeguard and champion paddler Mick Di Betta said. “In running races with travel budgets and prize money, he gave me and many others the opportunity to see the world and meet some of the most important people in our lives. I’m sure without Tim’s hard work and passion for the sport we would not have races now, like Molokai2Oahu.” Derek Levy, who helped Ritter organize the Hennessey Paddleboard…
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