Ghostryder Watermans Club is a nonprofit corporation that
uses its events to raise funds for the Santa Cruz Junior Lifeguards program.
This year, GRWC decided not to host the logistical nightmare that is the
Monterey Bay Crossing, choosing instead to better energize the 14-mile
Davenport Downwinder. With new sponsors on board, their efforts paid off.
For raw downwind, open-ocean confrontation along majestic,
undeveloped, rugged California coastline, this race delivered.
GRWC’s invitation made this clear: advanced paddlers only. Anyone who might have missed the point just needed to take one look at the course map:
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| The course. No food, no services, just gas. |
Conditions didn’t need to be maxed out to get your full
attention, start to finish. It’s obvious this run is to be taken seriously. One
look from the beach tells you anything can happen out there, and fast. So it’s easy to
understand why some of the best paddlers from all over California showed up,
both prone and SUP.
Davenport Landing offers a large, crescent beach nestled
between two point breaks. (Click on photos to enlarge, then hit your browser's back button to return to this story.)
Mike Roberts told me the waves get big here and have played havoc with this race before. Today, we got lucky.
Paddlers
arrived, checked in, and caught up on the latest with each other. Our energy
level uniformly rose as race time neared.
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| Mike Roberts, readying his ride. |
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| Thanks, Mike, for providing transport to Davenport! |
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| A total stranger was kind enough to offer to take this. And also kind enough to give my camera back to me. |
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| BARK-ing sands. Reno Caldwell is the one holding up his board and throwing shaka. |
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| Jack Bark, Reno Caldwell, Steve Shlens, about to kill it. |
Zach Wormhoudt described the course and safety, and we got
ourselves ready to go.
Today, there wasn’t much surf, so the beach start was easy.
The first challenge was to paddle crosswind in order to accomplish two things.
First, staying too far inside meant getting hung up in kelp and fighting to
stay away from shore. Second, the runners are better farther out.
The difficult part was that refraction off of the various
points along the course caused some disorganized water. I got bucked off my board a few times. But that was a small price to pay for all those fun bumps I caught.
Mike Roberts and I did some good training runs in Monterey
this year, and now we were both cashing in, having a blast. During our training
runs we kept track of the fastest bump. We were over the moon when my Garmin said we
hit 12 mph on our best run. But at the Davenport race, I dropped into one that was even faster:
The venue, the day, and the conditions were so enthralling I
took the time to snap a few photos from the water. I figured I could just let
it be a race for someone else (for once) and free myself to take in my surroundings a bit
more. I’m really happy I did.
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| Bumps everywhere! |
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| Josh Pederson caught me in the act of taking this photo. |
On the approach to the Santa Cruz Municipal Pier, just
outside Seal Rock, Josh Pederson
and I caught up to each other and paddled in together to the finish. It was a great way to end one of the best races I have been in.
It was obvious at the awards party that every last paddler
was amped from the run. The talking had so much energy that poor Zach could hardly
be heard as he announced the awards.
Which speaks volumes about what the real reward was: if you
did this race, you won. Period.
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