If you have never experienced the Kal Classic SUP Festival then you need to put it on your calendars right now for next Labour Day weekend. Kevin, Mel, Allan and the rest of the crew at Kalavida Surf Shop put on one heck of an event. There’s something for everyone from your World Champion (like Lina Augaitis), to your weekend warrior, to your 4 year old child and everyone in between. It was great to catch up with paddlers that I’ve met over the past two seasons and hang out.
This year did not disappoint with mother nature even coming to the party on Saturday with a mess of wind for the Wiki Holo Finals! But she failed to give us that kind of wind for the 16km down Kal Lake on Sunday.

I finished third over the weekend behind World Champ Lina Augaitis and amazing paddler Shannon Bell (who also has had great showing at the 2013 ISA Worlds). It’s a privilege to be able to line up with these two along with the other fantastic women that were there this weekend.
I had a rough start to the Wiki Holo technical course heat. Thank goodness it was two laps! I was 6th off the start and managed to make it up to fourth by the end of the first lap and third by the second buoy of the second lap and held on. I was stoked with my pivot turns!

The finals was just one lap but worth double the points! The competitive women got to watch the rec classes and competitive men battle the waves on the course before we got our turn. Instead of pivot turns that went beautifully in my heat, I tried to play it safe with cross bows. Well, after 3 or 4 swims I was thankful that I’m strong in a headwind as that’s where i was able to make up a lot of ground to battle for third again.

The relay races to end the day lead to a Naish One Inflatable SUP being awarded. Absolute blast with my team!

Sunday morning saw 100+ paddlers going down the length of Kal Lake. With a little headwind and Debbie on my tail for the first half, I knew I had to stay strong. I never looked back to see when I dropped Debbie off my wash but I knew I couldn’t hear her anymore. I also knew that if I let up that she would be working her way right back up there! Thank goodness for my hydration pack filled with Vitargo. I wasn’t thirsty per se but I knew I needed the fuel to keep going that hard. It did not disappoint, I didn’t cramp, I didn’t bonk, I was able to keep pulling even after I could feel the blisters on my fingers break open. My official time was 2:02:01 on my 12’6 Bark Competitor. Not to shabby considering last year I was 1:57:18 on my 14′ Think XoR with no headwind.

One more race and then my season is complete. What a year it’s been for my “year off, just paddling for fun and not training.”

Thanks to Mark Klein, Neil Gibson and Dorine Berube for taking such great photos!

And this year was about redemption at this race.  I didn’t fare so well last year, I swam a lot so I’m proud to say that not only did I stay dry this time but I also felt a lot better during my races than I have in recent memory.  I started a new supplement after last weekend’s Outrigger Nationals called Vitargo and with the guidance of Dr. Susan and team we are going to see what happens to my training, my performance and especially with my Type 1 Diabetes by increasing my carbohydrate intake. I love Science! 🙂

Anyways, after roadtripping to Van in a van with Gypsy and Matt, I got to catch up with amazing people that I met at this race last year and also met some new folk that I’m super stoked will be in Vernon in a couple weeks.

Racing wise, I was 2nd all round. In the 5km 14′ race. In the 3km (which thanks to the superbuoy was actually 3.6km) 12’6′ race. In the sprint race. And 2nd in the relay race as well with my wicked team of Peter and David. I played it safe with my buoy turns this weekend since they burned me here last year and it paid off. I was able to set up wide and cut inside on the end of turns and stay away from a lot of the carnage that was going on.

Another super fun day on the water! Thanks to Lech Dolecki for the amazing photos of the event that are posted here.

Man can Sundog Surf Shop put on an event!

I attended this race last year and had an absolute blast! I met so many amazing people, got to sleep in a park on the waterfront and then race with many of the best paddlers in the Pacific Northwest.  Scott and Kim totally outdid themselves this year with a bigger and better event for the 3rd Annual Semihamoo SUP Classic.

I picked up a new race fin for my board on Saturday afternoon before making my way down to the waterfront to check out the festival. There were vendors, live music and lots of yummy looking food.  I had time to kill before dinner at Uli’s and ended up having a nap on a park bench in the shade only to wake up to the train blowing its horn right in time for dinner 🙂

The 10km race was up first on Saturday.  I raced my 14′ THINK XoR with my Quickblade Magic. After getting caught in the start line chaos last year, I decided to start wide. I had clear water for a lot of the race which made reeling in the guys ahead a little less exhausting. The course had three arms, one of which took us out around a marker that indicates the 49th parallel. In the final couple hundred meters was a zigzag that we had to go around before heading into the finish. After the last buoy I managed to pass one last racer in front of me. I finished as the second woman.

Afterwards I was debating about doing the 5km race. After having a recovery drink and feeling a little less beat up I figured “Why Not!” Any day on the water is a good day, so why waste the beautiful day.  The 5km course was designed to be “spectator friendly” and to have “a lot of carnage”. In other words, there were a lot of buoy turns very close together. I’m proud to say that I managed to stay on my board for the whole race, avoiding most of the drama at the turns worked in my favour as I managed to pass a few boys in this race too and finished as the first woman.

People are starting to post up their pictures so keep checking Facebook for pics.

Oh, and to top it all off, aside from the sweet tiki mug and hand carved paddles, I got to come home with an amazing door prize ….