SUP Race Report: CGT Superlap Series Race #2

Race: Race #2 in the CGT Winter Time Trial series, aka the "Superlap Series" because of a new race format.

Date it happened: 18 December 2016.

Host: CGT Kayaks and Paddleboards, which you can become a groupie of by joining the CGT Tribe facebook page.

Location: Riverside Park on the Imperial River in downtown Bonita Springs, Florida.

Distance: Approximately 5.3 km / 3.3 miles. The course goes downriver, around a buoy, back upriver to the start, then downriver and back a second time. There's a twist, though: There are two possible turn-around buoys downriver; one further and one closer. You have to do the long route for one lap and the short route for the other lap. It's your choice if you want to do the long or the short lap first, so interesting strategies come into play in competition.

Conditions: It was a warm, humid day with a SE wind. The river level was moderately high and the tide was ebbing, with the current at about 0.75 kph, based on analysis with my paddling in current calculator.

Participants: Though many of the local crew were tired from the previous day's race around Lovers' Key, most of us still showed up, and there were a few more besides. Robert Norman came down from Inverness to race again, and to test the speed of a 14' inflatable raceboard from RedPaddle Co. Justin DiGiorgio was fresh off the airplane from a snowboarding vacation in California and Nevada, but he still made it. Justin's pilot buddy Juan Pena raced for the first time, and there was at least one other first-timer, too. Some people came not to race but for a concurrent board-demo event from Jobe Watersports. It didn't look like my toughest competitor Mark Athanacio was going to race, but the rascal made a late appearance when the rest of us were already 2/3 done.

Gear: I used a 14x23 Riviera RP raceboard with a Riviera Bump 8.0 paddle, and a Fins Unlimited 6" Keel fin.

Results: Mark Athanacio got first with 34:12 on his deadly black 14x21.5 Hovie Comet GT. I was second with 34:15. Phil Trudgeon was third in 38:23, followed closely by Bryan Herrick with a personal best 38:27. (2nd through 4th were all on Riviera RP raceboards.) Robert Norman got 38:47 on the RedPaddle inflatable board; only about 8% slower than he was on his conventional board two weeks ago. Fastest woman was Cindy Gibson in 39:33, followed by Damien Lin in 42:53 and Jen Hayes in 44:39. Of the people who just did one lap, Murray Hunkin was the fastest in 19:08, followed by Justin DiGiorgio in 20:50, and Jared Hamilton in 23:17. Full results will be posted on the CGT Time Trials page.

Here's my GPS track and data from the race. You have to log in to Strava to see the details.


Play by play: I started in the first group, with Murray Hunkin, Bryan Herrick, and Cindy Gibson. I sprinted into the lead and Murray, on his 14x27 Starboard Allstar, got in my draft. We had to weave through some unaware kayakers shortly after the start, but managed to do so without slowing down. I could definitely feel some cumulative fatigue from the previous day, so I paced myself carefully after the initial sprint. Murray stuck in my draft all the way to the further turn-around buoy, which is where he usually falls and I lose him. But this time we both had clean turns and Murray got back in my draft for the first upriver leg. He doggedly hung in there all the way back to the start/finish line, where I planned to try to sling him off with a quick turn + sprint combination. It turned out that wasn't necessary, though, because Murray bowed out after completing just that first lap.

On the second downriver leg is when I saw Mark Athanacio paddling upriver to start the race late, shattering my hopes for getting an easy first place by default. Would I have paddled harder on the first lap if I'd known Athanacio would be racing? Maybe. But to be honest, I think I was already pushing myself about as hard as my mind and body could stand. So it's tough to say if earlier awareness of my competitor would have pushed me faster or just psyched me out. Anyway, my strategy for the last part of the race stayed the same as before: paddle as hard as possible without blowing up. It's tough to judge how much energy I have left, and it's tough to recover if I burn out my muscles with too much sprinting, but when I got to the final few hundred meters of the race I upped the suffer factor to make sure I was fully spent by the finish. Regardless of whether I placed first or second, I'm happy with my time, which is slightly faster than my time in the first superlap race.

What else is new: This may have been my last SUP session of 2016, since I'm heading to North Carolina for Christmas on the 21st, and then heading to visit inlaws in New Hampshire after that. I'll try to still do some exercise stuff up there so I don't get totally out of shape.

SUP Race Report: Lovers Key No-Name-Race

Race: Lovers' Key No-Name Race.

Date it happened: 17 Dec 2016

Host: Naples area fitness trainer and CGT Race Team coach Mark Athanacio organizes these free "no name races" a few times a year.

Location: Lovers Key State Park, North Parking lot next to the Big Carlos Pass bridge.

Distance: It's about 9 km / 5.6 miles around the island, but the exact distance can vary depending on how much you cut corners or follow the channel.

Conditions: It was a beautiful, warm December day, with an ESE wind around 10 knots. The tide was very low and still ebbing, so optimizing the route to avoid shallows and strong current was important. We rounded the island clockwise, so the wind and small chop were in our faces for the first leg, on the bay side of the island. In the second leg, on the ocean side of the island, the wind was at our backs and there were some opportunities to ride bumps.

Participants: There was a good turnout of about 20 racers. Racers included the usual CGT paddle tribe, plus some of Athanacio's friends from other sports who don't usually SUP race, plus a SUP racer or two from the East Coast of Florida, such as Mary Ann Boyer Willis.



Gear: I used a 14x23 Riviera RP raceboard with a Riviera Bump 8.0 paddle, and a Fins Unlimited 6" Keel fin. Devin Turetzkin and Mark Hourigan used 14x23 RPs, as well. Mark Athanacio used his 14x21.5 Hovie Comet GT. Matt Kearney used a 12'6x24 Hovie Comet ZXC. Tadem Stewart used a new 14' Naish Javelin and Steve Fleming used a 14' Naish Maliko. All the women were on 12'6 SUPs- Mary Ann Boyer on an Indigo, Cindy Gibson, Damien Lin, and Donna Catron on Hovies, Meg Bosi on a Bark, and some of the other ladies on MHL custom boards.

Results: Mark Athanacio won first place, finishing in just over 59 minutes, while I was about a minute behind in 1 hour even. Matt Kearney was impressively 3rd overall and 1st 12'6, just edging out Tadem Stewart in 1:04:18. Mary Ann Boyer was the first woman, but looked to have been seriously challenged by rookie racer Cindy Gibson, who was only about two board lengths behind at the finish.

Here's my GPS track and data from the race. You have to log in to Strava to see the details.


Play by play: We started and finished from the beach. It was a little awkward because we had to launch out, but then immediately turn to the right to begin rounding the island. So the right side of the starting line was favored. Mark Athanacio had a great start that immediately put him a few board lengths in front of the rest of us. Matt Kearney, Tadem Stewart, and I also started aggressively, and for a while the three of us were about even with each other, behind Mark. Devin Turetzkin was in the mix, too. Tadem fell where some strong current was creating weird ripples, and I gradually outpaced Matt with my board length advantage, so it was soon just me behind Mark. I considered making an all-out effort to sprint up into his draft, but decided to set my own pace instead, and hopefully maybe catch him later if he tired out or ran into choppy water trouble with his ultra narrow board. As it turned out I had no luck catching Mark. Though I paddled hard, he set a blazing pace that I simply couldn't match, and he gradually extended his lead.

At the half-way point of the rounding we went through a tidal inlet called New Pass. There were some tricky shallow areas entering and exiting the inlet that frustrated me. Shallow water slows the board down and also prevents me from sticking the paddle all the way in the water, because it hits the sand below. One in the Gulf of Mexico we were going downwind, which was nice. Downwind with the assistance of following seas sometimes allows for speeds higher than can be achieved in flat water. Although I was getting occasional surges of speed, I was slowing down running into the backs of the waves at other times, so my average speed was breaking even with about what it would be in flat water. Heading into Big Carlos Pass was upcurrent and upwind again, so that final leg of the race was a draining grind.

Though my finishing time of 1 hour even was pretty good given the conditions, I'd like to find some more tricks or another level of fitness to catch up with Mark again. Including this time he has beaten me by a significant distance 3 of the last 4 times we paddled around Lovers Key. The one time I got him was a week ago when it was really windy and choppy and both of our times were slower than usual. I think my board may have better stability and handle ugly side-chop better, but when the chop is relatively small, Mark just makes his ultra light and narrow Hovie fly in a way that I can't keep up with. I'll keep at in the gym, work on my stroke technique, and experiment with a smaller paddle blade. I might also try to eat healthier, since that's one area where I have considerable room for improvement. I burn enough calories to not get fat, but I probably eat too much sugary fatty processed food, like cookies, hot dogs, pizza, and mac & cheese.

What else is new: There's another SUP race tomorrow morning, hosted by CGT. It's only about half the distance of the Lovers' Key rounding, but it's challenging in a different way because it's more of a sprint.

SUP Race Report: CGT Superlap Series #1

Race: Race #1 in the CGT Winter Time Trial series, aka the "Superlap Series" because of a new race format.

Date it happened: 4 December 2016.

Host: CGT Kayaks and Paddleboards, which you can become a groupie of by joining the CGT Tribe facebook page.

Location: Riverside Park on the Imperial River in downtown Bonita Springs, Florida.

Distance: Approximately 5.34 km / 3.3 miles. The course goes downriver, around a buoy, back upriver to the start, then downriver and back a second time. There's a twist, though: There are two possible turn-around buoys downriver; one further and one closer. You have to do the long route for one lap and the short route for the other lap. It's your choice if you want to do the long or the short lap first, so interesting strategies come into play in competition.

Conditions: It was a beautiful, blue sky day with typical warm Florida fall weather. The river level was low and the tide ebbing, with the current at about 0.75 kph, based on analysis with my paddling in current calculator. There was a moderate wind from the East that added to the challenge of paddling upriver.

Participants: We had 16 wonderful people, including most of the race team regulars. Coach Mark Athanacio couldn't make it because he's in Miami renewing his cross-fit trainer certification, but his girlfriend Jen paddled one of his cool custom Hovie SUPs- 12'6x22 -and tested out her new Apple Smart-Watch. "Superman" Robert Norman drove down from Inverness and raced his 14x21 custom MHL board. Most of us were racing as fast as we could, but there were several people this time who took a more relaxed approach and paddled the course with their dogs onboard. After the race it seemed like there were more dogs than people at the buffet in the shop. I like dogs, so I thought that was cool.



Gear: I used a 14x23 Riviera RP raceboard with a Riviera Bump 8.0 paddle, and a Fins Unlimited 6" Keel fin.

Results: I had the fastest time in the 14' sup class, with 34:18, followed by Robert Norman in 36:20. Third 14' man was Murray Hunkin with 37:11. Matt Kearney was the first 12'6 paddler, getting 37:46 on his 24" wide Hovie Comet ZXC. The top three women (all on 12'6 boards) were Damien Lin in 43:19, Jen Hayes in 44:53, and Donna Catron in 46:31. Full results will be posted on the CGT Time Trials page.

Here's my GPS track and data from the race. You have to log in to Strava to see the details.


Play by play: I started in the first group, with Murray Hunkin, Devin Turetzkin, and Robert Norman. I was in the faster-flowing middle of the river, which helped me nose ahead in the initial sprint and find an open path in undisturbed water. Meanwhile the other guys had to struggle with each others' wakes as we formed a draft train. Though I was confident that I could eventually tire out and drop Murray and Devin (those guys are 14 years older than me and not as ultra fit as Mark Athanacio), I was worried that Robert (14 years younger than me and very fit) might be able to stay in my draft indefinitely and then pass me later when I got tired. Fortunately for me / unfortunately for Robert, his start put him in 4th position in the draft train. So when Devin and Murray couldn't stay on my tail, Robert got dropped, too. I knew I wasn't totally out of the woods, though. I'd still have to maintain a fast pace to hold the initial lead.

On the first downriver leg I opted to go to the more distant buoy, to get my long lap over with first. Of our starting group, only Murray chose to do the short lap first. At the turn I was nervous and almost fell, but was reassured to see that I had a safe gap on Robert and Devin. The wind and current were annoying on the upriver leg, but I tried to paddle especially hard in the worst patches to get through them quicker. Back at the start/finish line I rounded the halfway buoy without incident, though I think I took it wider than necessary. Devin's girlfriend Larissa took a lot of good pictures of people rounding the buoy.

Me on the 14x23 Riviera RP.


Robert Norman on the 14x21 MHL custom.


Matt Kearney on a 12'6x24 Hovie Comet ZXC.


Justin DiGiorgio on 14x24 Hovie Comet GT.


Bryan Herrick on 14x23.75 Riviera RP custom.


On the second, shorter lap I was feeling pretty tired but tried to think fast, peppy thoughts to continue paddling effectively. I wasn't wearing my heartrate monitor, which died the other day, so I gauged my effort level just by how I felt. A couple hundred meters from the end I picked up the pace to make sure I used up all my remaining energy. It sure felt good to cross the line and be done. Then it was fun watching everybody finish and hanging out on the water. I can't wait for the next race two weeks from now. :)

What else is new: CGT recently became a Starboard dealer (Starboard is the #1 sup and windsurf board brand in the world), and they're getting their first shipment of race boards in early January. They will keep selling Riviera boards, which is good because I am a Riviera brand ambassador and plan to stick with them for the foreseeable future. As far as I can tell the Riviera boards are at least as fast, and cheaper.

Later this winter Robert Norman is going to try to break the world record for the longest distance sup paddled in 24 hours. The current record is held by Seychelle Hattingh, who set it earlier this year at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, FL. Robert is going to make his attempt at the same park, which is a big artificial lake used for rowing competitions and such. Whereas Seychelle set her record on a 14' Mistral sup, Robert is going to use an unlimited length sup; a 17'6x23 Starboard Sprint. The very long board should make it a little easier to maintain a high average pace for a long time, but I still think it will be very difficult for Robert to beat Seychelle's incredible record of 177 km. It will be neat to see him try, though.