Santa Cruz Paddlefest 2018 - EXPLORING ELEMENTS

Another amazing year at the Santa Cruz Paddlefest! For this 32nd installment of this iconic event I was once again a main event photographer, journalist and competed in both the HP Open Kayak and IC Open Kayak events. Busy is an understatement!!!

Me in my IC Finals heat, in my new Mega Ghost IC kayak. (Photo: Mega Kayaks)

I did some live coverage of the event on Canoe & Kayak’s IG, as well as wrote a story for Canoe & Kayak and put together a photo gallery for SUP The Mag. You’re also sure to see a lot of my photography on the event’s website and social channels.

The waves weren’t huge this year, but there were waves and generally good weather, besides some afternoon winds and a bit of rain on Sunday. This was the first year that Dennis Judson, the event founder and legendary waterman, wasn’t with us. Dennis passed away last year, but everyone at the event felt his presence throughout the weekend. You can read more about Dennis HERE.

In the competition I got a 1st in my IC heat and 4th in my HP heat on Friday. My HP heat was a bit of a dry spell in the surf, and I only managed to catch 1 wave. Top 2 waves per heat are combined for your score, so I got last place in the heat with my 1 wave. On Saturday I redeemed myself with 2 first place results. The issue was that I managed to throw my back out by rushing from race photography to my competition heat and not warming up first. I’m still suffering from that mistake! The results as they were meant I was near the bubble in HP, 10th of 22 competitors, and didn’t move on to semi-finals, as top 8 moved on. I made it through to finals of IC though, and placed a personal record of 2nd overall. I surfed well, but not as well as I could have due to my back injury.

In the end I came away from the event owning a new IC surf kayak, a 2nd place IC Open medal, lots of great images, more amazing memories with the surf kayak tribe and sadly a sore back. Have a look below at a few images that haven’t been published elsewhere, and should give you a good overview of the event. Hopefully I’ll see some of you in the lineup next year!

The three main event photographers; Rodger Aquirre Smith, Mark Boyd & myself.

Teresa Rodgerson getting after it in Women’s HP.

Zach Boyd was crushing it all weekend, and took home the IC win.

Zach Boyd rocked HP as well, with a 2nd place finish.

Always lots of activity in the waters around Santa Cruz.

Poe is always an amazing SUP surfer to watch. Power and grace. He got 2nd this year.

Jeffery Spencer is an amazingly talented kid, who we’ll for sure see on the podium soon. 5th place this year.

14yr old Puerto Rican SUP Surfer Dave De Armas was crushing all weekend, and managed a 3rd overall.

There were some rare coverups to be found!

The SUP race was intense! I was stoked to get to photograph it this year.

Jade Howson CRUSHED the 10K Women’s race for a commanding win, 44 seconds over the next woman.

The whales came in close and put on a show just outside the surf zone.

Where else can you surf with baby whales?!?!

SOOO many beautiful birds and sea life in Santa Cruz.

I carried this in my life jacket during the entire comp. Dennis was with us all out there.

Paddle out for Dennis Judson after the final heat Sunday.

I’ve written about this amazing event MANY times over the years. Have a look at a bunch of Santa Cruz Paddlefest content HERE.