Stand Up Paddle Surfing Paddles, Boards and Accessories

Good news for Maui SUP racers and and visitors, Ralf Sifford of Second Wind has Vortice XPs in stock.  The 14-foot racers are tricky to ship, so pick one up from his shop in Kahului.

Also, for those in the NorthWest, you can get a Vortice XP from WaterWalker at http://www.nwoutrigger.com/

And, as always, you can order through store.c4waterman.com 

• Where: Maunalua Bay, O'ahu
• When: May 25th, 2008
• What: 1st Annual Race For The Reef Paddling Fundraiser

The trade winds were light and the bumps hard to find, but after a long week of kona winds and vog, Sunday May 25th saw O`ahu paddlesports enthusiasts greeting the first returning puffs of the northeast tradewinds with open arms.

Arriving at Hawaii Kai, the organizers of the Race For The Reef Paddling Fundraiser found a mob of paddlers milling around the registration table, eager to get out there and fly 'downhill' on the 'Hawaii Kai run.' A staple for O'ahu paddlers, the 8-mile course draws a line directly downwind from Koko Head to Diamond Head; when the trades are howling it's one long chain of 'railroading' bumps and chops.

Greg Pavao and Nolan Martin paddled Vortice XPs in the race.

Though the race was open to OC1s, OC2s, surf skis, and paddleboards, it was the stand-up paddleboard division that fielded the most entrants. SUPs of all descriptions lined up at water's edge at the mouth of the Hawaii Kai Marina.

"This is a landmark day for the sport," observed C4 Waterman's Todd Bradley. "I mean, look at the stand-up boards here. Five years ago there was just a handful of us doing this, getting all sorts of funny looks from all the guys on regular paddleboards."

C4 Waterman and Glaceau, the maker of Vitamin Water drinks, are teaming up. Find your way down to C4 Demo Day Events , and we'll be handing out Glaceau's drinks for free-- including Vitamin Energy, Smart Water, and classic Vitamin Water.

For her day job, C4 Team Rider Julia Mancuso is an Olympic Champion downhill skiier. On her time off, Julia loves stand-up paddling.  SUP is ideal cross-training for downhill skiing, requiring a similar array of body muscles and balance, and Julia is a devotee to the watersport.

Click here to hear about her cross-training on C4 boards in ESPN's Sweat Spot, in an article by Max Klinger.  

Mid April marks the beginning of the paddle sports racing season in Hawaii. As the winter surf season ebbs to a close, it's time for the C4 crew to join all the canoe, surf ski and paddleboard enthusiasts in gearing up for a summer full of training, races, and plain ole holoholo larks.

After spending the past four paddle seasons shaping and designing open ocean stand-up race boards with Brian Keaulana, Todd Bradley, Archie Kalepa, and Karel Tresnak, I was keen to get the new C4 Vortice XP out in some ripping trade wind bumps and point that baby downhill.

So I was stoked when my Molokai Channel partner, Archie Kalepa, rang up to invite me to paddle with him in a race across the Pailolo Channel to Kaunakakai on Molokai. Arch is more or less the godfather of stand-up paddleboard racing, being the first guy, back in 2004, to take on the 32-nautical-mile Kaiwi Channel standing up.