The second stop of the Liquid Surf & Sail, Hobie Standup Paddleboard series went off in Miami around the area of the Venetian Isles on May 17, 2009.
Here is what Jim DiSilva had to say about the race:
"Hobie Stand Up Series Race #2 at Miami Yacht Club Writeup
After our very successful first event in Fort Lauderdale, Liquid Surf and Sail brought the second event in the Hobie Stand UP Series to the Miami Yacht Club on May 17th. With an even bigger turnout and a course that was twice as long as our first one it was going to be challenge for sure.
The Miami Yacht Club has a very nice sandy beach, which provided the start….Lemans off the beach. Everybody got lined up and the 3 minute countdown began.
There was a buoy placed due east of the beach about a hundred yards out, which was the turning mark to head right out to Hibiscus Island, on to Star, and then make the turn downwind towards RivoAlto. Surprisingly, Jim DeSilva of Liquid Miami got the hole shot, along with Gannon Mennis (also of Liquid Miami) who were 1-2 going around the first turn. Jim held the lead for a while until Chip Bock came rolling up on his 19 foot custom Joe Bark (board was ridiculous….he probably could have beaten everyone paddling it backwards). Shortly thereafter, Rory came cruising up (winner of the Fort Lauderdale event) and took the second spot, never to look back. This guy is a strong paddler, very consistent, and he was working the pilings on Hibiscus to stay out of the wind. At the first bridge the question came up….HOW DO YOU GO THROUGH THIS THING? The bridges were very low at the edges, do you go out in the middle and stand up or do you go to the edge and duck…do you paddle when you duck or use your arms? Consensus seemed to be going prone and using your hands but all variations were used at some point, and since there were 4 bridges to duck on this course it made for an interesting strategic situation on how to handle it.
A front group of 4-5 riders had emerged, with Rory in the lead, Tyler Bixby of Liquid, Sean from Arc and a few others battling it out. DeSilva was fading, but Shark Bait had moved up and was now within striking distance when the real excitement began….the lead boat’s motor died! So the riders kind of started inventing the course, with 2 premature left-hand turns that scrambled the front group a bit….basically, you had to head straight through the Venetian Causeway and everyone was heading back to the Club. Chip was probably the biggest loser in all of this as he had to turn and head the most upwind back to the group, but since his board was 50% bigger than everyone else’s it was not too hard for him to get back in front. Then everyone ducked the bridge at Rivo Alto and made the downwind turn into flatter water. Lots of people were cheering along the way, boats were stopping, there was a lot of excitement for sure…a group of paddlers this big had not been seen in Miami before. The lead paddlers were weaving in and out of pilings but it might have been a little faster farther out due to the current….it seemed like Shark Bait may have made out on this on the way down from Star. Meanwhile, the ladies were battling in a group just a little ways back, with Helga Goebel holding onto a slim lead over Amanda, who was the winner from Fort Lauderdale.
Not a lot of lead changes on the way down, but then there was the last bridge….it had been kind of a nice paddle down, with the wind at your back, flat water, but when everyone ducked the bridge, WHAMMO, a lot of wind and a lot of messy chop! Sean and Tyler had a very tight battle, with Sean edging him out in the last couple of feet. Chip won in 1 hour and 2 minutes, 8th place was one hour and 4 minutes, and it went on back from there to a little over an hour and forty five minutes.
Special thanks to the Miami Yacht Club for providing a great venue and we look forward to seeing everyone at Shake A Leg for Race #3 of the Hobie Stand Up Series, The Cocoplum 500, June 21st! Results are as follows in the attachment.
Thanks to everyone, and look for photos on the FKSA site, courtesy of photographer extraordinaire Rick Iossi.
Jim DeSilva
Liquid Surf and Sail Miami/Fort Lauderdale
305 860 0888/954 523 7778"
and the times:
Chip Bock 1:02:29
Roary Cam 1:03:12
Mathew Kraskiewitz 1:03:22
Patrick Little 1:03:41
Sean Collins 1:03:54
Tyler Bixby 1:03:57
Jake Portwood 1:04:16
Jim Desilva 1:04:03
Thad Foote 1:05:50
Rick Arango 1:06:30
Mike Gebhardt 1:06:48
Trevor Usher 1:06:53
James Levine 1:07:52
JP Perez 1:08:06
Ken Sullivan 1:08:25
Steve Pereira 1:10:06
Gannon Mennis 1:14:34
Helga Goebel 1:14:39
Jesse Cors 1:14:45
Amanda Wilson 1:15:01
Bill Bentz 1:16:00
Steve Chastain 1:15:53
Stephane Lafosse 1:16:44
Sandy 1:17:00 26
Jared Schmelzer 1:17:47
Nicole Macias 1:17:49
Michael Samway 1:17:54
Dan Barrett 1:18:13
David Miranda 1:24:02
Jorge Ezpinosa 1:25:03
Laura Iossi 1:32:50
Yael Neuwirth 1:38:53
Jeannie Vidaurreta 1:40:21
Mark Zhuk 1:41:56
Florencia Castillo 1:48:38