(Photos courtesy Dominick Lemarie & Stormick Photography 2010.
Smugmug.com.
Tasty waves and tasty wipe-outs, brah. That seems to be the theme of this years 24th annual Santa Cruz Surf kayak Festival, which has kicked stand-up surfers off the beach at Steamer Lane for nearly a quarter of a year to let kayakers enjoy a day in the limelight. PL checks in…
Both the weather and waves cooperated this year, and hundreds of competitors shunned the rivers for the surf. Spectators on the boardwalk, meanwhile, were treated to some of the best kayak surfing the coast has seen in years.
“The men’s high-performance and International classes were chock full of the best of the best,” says festival organizer Dennis Judson. “Both the competitors and conditions were grand this weekend. I don’t remember when the Lane was more perfect for a final. The waves being 10 to 15-foot, glassy, and with a slight offshore wind, produced classic Steamer Lane conditions. I think this contest proved without a doubt that the concept of using a paddle gives surfers the power to handle big water energy. And next year we’re planning a grand party for the 25th.”
Local favorite Galen Licht of Santa Cruz won the men’s high-performance category, with England’s Darren Bason taking the International crown. For the women, San Jose’s Rachel Krugman took the women’s high-performance category, with freestyle paddler Devon Barker of Idaho winning the International division.
In the wave ski class, Hawaii’s Fletcher Burton carved his way to the top spot, with Chuck Patterson winning the Elite Stand-up Paddle Surfing competition. Ken King, competing against such stalwarts as Dick Wold, Rick Starr and Dan Crandall, took the master’s class.
“It was a great event,” says Canoe & Kayak magazine’s Joe Carberry, who finished 17th in the high-performance men’s division, one spot ahead of venerable kayak surfer Rusty Sage. “There are a lot of awesome paddlers out there.”
High Performance Men’s
Galen Licht M 1
Christopher Hobson M 2
Stephen Farthing M 3
Dave Johnston M 4
Jim Grossman M 5
Andrew Nolan M 5
Darren Bason M 7
Vince Shay M 7
Jeff Burlingham M 9
Sean Morley M 9
Matt Radis M 9
David Speller M 9
Stefano Bellotti M 13
Eric Connor M 13
Buck Johnson M 13
Jeff Hille M 17
Joe Carberry M 18
Rusty Sage M 19
Dessie McGlinchey M 20
Randy Phillips M 21
Marc Woolward M 22
Geoff Jennings M 23
Desmond Harrington M 24
Tob O’Brien M 25
Daniel Lichterman M 26
Kurt Stuhr M 27
Ashley Hunter M 28
Ian Hendricks M 29
Dick Wold M 30
Chris Bensch M 31
Greg Whitley M 32
High Performance Women’s
Rachel Krugman F 1
Devon Barker F 2
Roberta Borsari F 3
Jameson Riser F 4
Masters Open
Ken King M 1
Dave Johnston M 2
Dan Crandall M 3
Steve Hiegel M 4
Edward King M 5
Matt Radis M 5
William St. Clair M 7
Dick Wold M 7
Wayne Waddington M 9
Rick Starr M 10
Doug Hudson M 11
Bill Toohey M 12
Bill Campbell M 13
Mickey Stowell M 14
Carlisle Landel M 15
Toca Gonzalez M 16
Ken Armstrong M 17
Dan Ward M 18
Candi Wozniak F 19
Chris Ketner M 20
INTERNATIONAL, Men’s
Darren Bason M 1
Dessie McGlinchey M 2
Sean Morley M 3
Christopher Hobson M 4
Jim Grossman M 5
Buck Johnson M 5
Dan Crandall M 7
Geoff Jennings M 7
Eric Connor M 9
Rick Starr M 10
Steve Hiegel M 11
Ashley Hunter M 12
Wayne Waddington M 13
Jeff Hille M 14
Vince Shay M 15
Toca Gonzalez M 16
INTERNATIONAL, Women’s
Devon Barker F 1
Morlee Griswold F 2
Jameson Riser F 3
Kristie Koski F 4
Wave Ski Open
Fletcher Burton M 1
Mathieu Babarit M 2
David Speller M 3
Tyler Lausten M 4
Stephen Farthing M 5
Jeff Munson M 5
Caroline Angibaud F 7
Ken King M 7
Edward King M 9
Graham Meese M 10
Jason Kozun M 11
William St. Clair M 12
James Lohr M 13
Bryan Reed M 14
David Brigg M 15
Rusty Sage M 16
Brian Deegan M 17
Bix Whitcomb M 18
Michael Wright M 19
Mickey Stowell M 20
Plastic Pro Challenge
Jason Craig M 1
Luke Borserio M 2
Ruth Gordon M 3
Nicholas Hinds M 4
Devon Barker F 5
Mark Linkhorst M 6
Chris Bensch M 7
Elite Stand up Paddle Surfing
Chuck Patterson M 1
Zane Schweitzer M 2
Michael Roberts M 3
Peter Trow M 4
John Griffith M 5
Ed Guzman M 5
Seth Dow M 7
Mike Vaughn M 7
Buzz Hegerie M 9
Sean Poynter M 10
John Alexiou M 11
Evan Lloyd M 12
Peter Calori M 13
Joe Clarke M 14
Dan Gavere M 15
Steve Drottar M 16
Fletcher Burton M 17
Andrew McKinley M 18
Colin Brown M 19
Wade Lawson M 20
Joe Carberry M 21
Jeff Broffman M 22
Mike Ng M 23
Steve Smith M 24
Nikki Gregg F 25
High Performance Intermediate Open
Kye Borserio M 1
Doug Hudson M 2
Mike Bancroft M 3
Ryan Johnson M 4
Kevin Condon M 5
Gabriele Dellacasa M 6
David Eydam M 7
Chris Ketner M 99
Sit-on-Top Intermediate Open
Tim Smith M 1
Chris Bensch M 2
Rob Casey M 3
Greg Goodman M 4
Stand up Paddle Surfing
Robin Donaldson M 1
Lars Hansen M 2
Tim Larkin M 3
Larry White M 4
Brett Ettinger M 5
