Stand-up paddler Vargas first overall for second year in Rock 2 Rock
Contest director George Loren (green board) leads the charge off the beach.
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Photos by Ken Pagliaro (KPSurf.com)
A straight line was not the quickest route to the finish line during 16th Annual Rock 2 Rock Paddleboard Race on Sunday. While most of the 113 paddlers followed the rhumb line from the Catalina Isthmus to Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, brothers and Los Angeles County lifeguards Brian and Mike Murphy and Donkey’s paddler Matt Walls went high of the line by nearly a mile. The Murphys said they wanted to put the northwest wind at their backs. Walls said he just wanted to get away from the pack.
The strategy led to Mike Murphy winning the stand-up paddleboard, 14-foot division and Brian Murphy winning the traditional paddleboard division, despite the fact that he was paddling a stock (12-foot) paddleboard.
Walls, the unofficial coach of the Donkey paddlers, who keep their boards at the paddleboard hotel in Walls’ backyard on 16th Street in Hermosa, won the unlimited traditional paddleboard division.
Jared Vargas, of Palos Verdes, won the SUP unlimited division for the fifth consecutive year, and finished first overall for the second consecutive year. Vargas raced a 19-foot-4 Ohana. Brian Light, of Long Beach, was second overall, on an unlimited SUP.
Vargas finished in 3:52, 18 minutes slower than his winning time last year. The Long Beach lifeguard followed the rhumb line and said fighting the northerly wind accounted for his slower time this year.
Vargas also won the Hennessey U.S. Championships two weeks ago in Dana Point. He said he was counting on his experience to outlast Light, a 17-year-old Wilson High student.
“Brenden is always quick off the start. So I just tried to keep up with him and three miles into the race began to pull away,” Vargas said.
The Murphys credited fellow lifeguard Jeannie Barrett, who escorted them on her Boston Whaler Cup Cake, for helping them keep the wind behind them. The brothers also benefiting from drafting off of one another for the first third of the 22.7 mile race.
“I stuck to Mike like glue,” Brian Murphy said. Both brothers are training for the 32-mile Molokai race in July. Mike has competed in the Molokai race three times on a surf ski, once on an OC 1 (one-man outrigger canoe) and once on a traditional paddleboard. Racing a SUP will make Murphy the first person to have competed at Molokai in all four craft divisions.
Walls’ first place finish in the unlimited division was his first victory in a major race. He finished sixth last year in the Rock 2 Rock with a time that was 23 minutes faster than his 4:20 time this year.
Mid-way through the race he said, he started to fade, telling himself he’d be happy with a top five finish.
“People were blowing past me. I had no idea of my position because it was so bumpy all you could see were the escort boats and there was no way to tell if the boats were with SUP’s, relay teams or paddlers in my division. I told my escort boat to give me 30 minute alone, that I was going to go high to get away from the boat wakes and find my own water.”
That decision, Walls said, helped him regain his motivation and put the hammer down.
“At the finish, I asked, ‘How’d I do?’ I was surprised when I was told I’d won my division,” he said.
“I was stoked to see the large number of competitors,” added Walls, a member of the Catalina Classic committee. Rock 2 Rock is a qualifier for the 32-mile Classic, held the last weekend in August.
This year’s 113 paddlers were the most of any Catalina Channel paddleboard race, ever. About one-third of the paddlers competed in relay divisions, for a combined total of 76 team and individual paddlers.
Paddleboard maker Joe Bark founded Rock 2 Rock in 1997 with the hopes of encouraging families to participate.
This year, he competed on a relay team with his son Sam, daughter Emily and nephew Slader. Bark’s oldest son Jack, 18, placed second in the stock division and finished sixth overall. Jack won the stock division at the Hennessey U.S. Championship at Dana Point two weeks ago, besting Brian Murphy, who finished second.
Another notable family participant was Daley Meistrell, 23. The Meistrell family, founders of Dive N’ Surf and Body Glove, has a storied ocean history, which includes memberships in the surfing and diving halls of fame, and competitive surfing. The family’s boat Disappearance, has been the lead boat in the Catalina Classic for nearly two decades. But until Sunday, no member of the family had paddled across the Catalina Channel.
Race director George Loren, who resurrected the race following a two year lapse in 2005 and 2006, competed on a relay with his 12-year-old neighbor Cole Warner. The two finished second in the relay division behind Scott Rusher and Tom Heinz, who arrived at the race 15 minutes before the 6:30 a.m. start time. Rusher and Heinz departed King Harbor aboard their escort boat at 4 a.m. the morning of the race.
Top ten finishers: 1. Jared Vargas (SUP unlimited), 2. Branden Light (SUP unlimited), 3. Mike Murphy (SUP 14), 4. Brian Murphy (traditional stock), 5. Scott Rusher/Tom Heinz (relay unlimited), 6. Jack Bark (traditional stock), 7. Dane Morrissey (SUP 14), 8. Matt Walls (traditional unlimited), 9. Steve Schlens (traditional stock), 10. Mike Bond/Seth Springer (relay stock).
A straight line was not the quickest route to the finish line during 16th Annual Rock 2 Rock Paddleboard Race on Sunday. While most of the 113 paddlers followed the rhumb line from the Catalina Isthmus to Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, brothers and Los Angeles County lifeguards Brian and Mike Murphy and Donkey’s paddler Matt Walls went high of the line by nearly a mile. The Murphys said they wanted to put the northwest wind at their backs. Walls said he just wanted to get away from the pack.
The strategy led to Mike Murphy winning the stand-up paddleboard, 14-foot division and Brian Murphy winning the traditional paddleboard division, despite the fact that he was paddling a stock (12-foot) paddleboard.
Walls, the unofficial coach of the Donkey paddlers, who keep their boards at the paddleboard hotel in Walls’ backyard on 16th Street in Hermosa, won the unlimited traditional paddleboard division.
Jared Vargas, of Palos Verdes, won the SUP unlimited division for the fifth consecutive year, and finished first overall for the second consecutive year. Vargas raced a 19-foot-4 Ohana. Brian Light, of Long Beach, was second overall, on an unlimited SUP.
Vargas finished in 3:52, 18 minutes slower than his winning time last year. The Long Beach lifeguard followed the rhumb line and said fighting the northerly wind accounted for his slower time this year.
Vargas also won the Hennessey U.S. Championships two weeks ago in Dana Point. He said he was counting on his experience to outlast Light, a 17-year-old Wilson High student.
“Brenden is always quick off the start. So I just tried to keep up with him and three miles into the race began to pull away,” Vargas said.
The Murphys credited fellow lifeguard Jeannie Barrett, who escorted them on her Boston Whaler Cup Cake, for helping them keep the wind behind them. The brothers also benefiting from drafting off of one another for the first third of the 22.7 mile race.
“I stuck to Mike like glue,” Brian Murphy said. Both brothers are training for the 32-mile Molokai race in July. Mike has competed in the Molokai race three times on a surf ski, once on an OC 1 (one-man outrigger canoe) and once on a traditional paddleboard. Racing a SUP will make Murphy the first person to have competed at Molokai in all four craft divisions.
Walls’ first place finish in the unlimited division was his first victory in a major race. He finished sixth last year in the Rock 2 Rock with a time that was 23 minutes faster than his 4:20 time this year.
Mid-way through the race he said, he started to fade, telling himself he’d be happy with a top five finish.
“People were blowing past me. I had no idea of my position because it was so bumpy all you could see were the escort boats and there was no way to tell if the boats were with SUP’s, relay teams or paddlers in my division. I told my escort boat to give me 30 minute alone, that I was going to go high to get away from the boat wakes and find my own water.”
That decision, Walls said, helped him regain his motivation and put the hammer down.
“At the finish, I asked, ‘How’d I do?’ I was surprised when I was told I’d won my division,” he said.
“I was stoked to see the large number of competitors,” added Walls, a member of the Catalina Classic committee. Rock 2 Rock is a qualifier for the 32-mile Classic, held the last weekend in August.
This year’s 113 paddlers were the most of any Catalina Channel paddleboard race, ever. About one-third of the paddlers competed in relay divisions, for a combined total of 76 team and individual paddlers.
Paddleboard maker Joe Bark founded Rock 2 Rock in 1997 with the hopes of encouraging families to participate.
This year, he competed on a relay team with his son Sam, daughter Emily and nephew Slader. Bark’s oldest son Jack, 18, placed second in the stock division and finished sixth overall. Jack won the stock division at the Hennessey U.S. Championship at Dana Point two weeks ago, besting Brian Murphy, who finished second.
Another notable family participant was Daley Meistrell, 23. The Meistrell family, founders of Dive N’ Surf and Body Glove, has a storied ocean history, which includes memberships in the surfing and diving halls of fame, and competitive surfing. The family’s boat Disappearance, has been the lead boat in the Catalina Classic for nearly two decades. But until Sunday, no member of the family had paddled across the Catalina Channel.
Race director George Loren, who resurrected the race following a two year lapse in 2005 and 2006, competed on a relay with his 12-year-old neighbor Cole Warner. The two finished second in the relay division behind Scott Rusher and Tom Heinz, who arrived at the race 15 minutes before the 6:30 a.m. start time. Rusher and Heinz departed King Harbor aboard their escort boat at 4 a.m. the morning of the race.
Top ten finishers: 1. Jared Vargas (SUP unlimited), 2. Branden Light (SUP unlimited), 3. Mike Murphy (SUP 14), 4. Brian Murphy (traditional stock), 5. Scott Rusher/Tom Heinz (relay unlimited), 6. Jack Bark (traditional stock), 7. Dane Morrissey (SUP 14), 8. Matt Walls (traditional unlimited), 9. Steve Schlens (traditional stock), 10. Mike Bond/Seth Springer (relay stock).
South Bay Dozen
The Murphy brothers, fellow Los Angeles County lifeguards and Hennessey’s will host the annual South Bay Dozen ocean competition on Sunday, July 7 at Torrance Beach. Competitors will have the opportunity to compete in from one to 12 paddling, swimming and running events. Registration is $40 ($30 for under 17) and begins at 7 a.m. on the beach. The awards party begins at 4 p.m. at Mickey Finnz in the Redondo Riviera Village. For more information visit Hennesseyspaddleboarding.com or email mjmsurf999@hotmail.com. South Bay Dozen benefits the Jimmy Miller Foundation. ER