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Gair tops huge field at US Paddleboard Championships
by John Tawa
Santa
Monica lifeguard Tim Gair continued his winning ways Saturday, outracing 114
other paddlers to the Hermosa Beach Pier to win the unlimited class at the Second
Annual United States Paddleboard Championships. His time of two hours, 48 minutes
in the 16-mile paddle from Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro was three minutes faster
than second-place finisher Nathan Meyer, 24, a late entrant from the Gold Coast
in Australia.
Meyer led the race early, but Gair caught him midway through the race. The competitors paddled together for the next hour, before Gair broke away for the 400-yard victory, his second in the two-year history of the event.
From shore, it appeared that two paddlers were battling neck and neck 200 yards from the finish, a refreshing change considering that Gair had dominated every event he’d entered the last three years. But, alas, it was only a lifeguard buddy in a kayak urging him to the finish.
‘This one was a big deal," Gair said despite his relatively easy win. "It was probably the best field I’ve ever raced against in California. It was definitely the closest race I’ve had in the last three years."
The race was the first long distance paddle for Meyer, a sprint paddler spending the summer teaching surfing in Malibu.
"I enjoy a little bit of paddling," he said, a quintessential "down under"-statement. "I thought I’d come along and have a little bit of a go.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it. We had a nice south tailwind. Conditions were
great for the event. I knew Tim would be hard to beat. I was really happy with
second."
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Brian Zeller, left, and George Kabris, who finished third and fourth, respectively, in the unlimited class, celebrate their efforts on shore. Photo by John Tawa. |
San Diego’s Brian Zeller, Ventura’s George Kabris and Malibu’s Ryan Addison rounded out the top five finishers in the unlimited class.
"For me it was my best race," Zeller said. "There were a ton of waves to ride. It was like a little obstacle course."
World class longboard surfer Dylan Jones of Woodland Hills won the stock class for boards 12 feet and shorter in his first paddling effort. He outlasted Hawaii’s George Ramos. Beau Brown of Hermosa Beach, Jeff Stoner and Jay Sheckmann completed the top five.
"I really enjoyed it," Jones said, adding, "I didn’t think I’d win the first race that I was in."
Jones said he was inspired to compete by the giants in the sport.
"A lot of my heroes are watermen," he explained. "Part of the watermen character is paddle racing. Gene Rink and Tim Gair motivated me."
Jones decided to race in the stock class "mainly because the stock board fits in my car. Also it was the only board Gene Rink would let me borrow," he said with a laugh.
Mike Eaton of San Diego, 65, won the 60-and-over division.
The
top female finisher was long distance ocean swimmer Jane Cairns of Santa Barbara,
who finished in 4:02 atop a stock board. She repeated her victory of last year,
when the race was contested from Malibu to Hermosa.
"It was fun for the first half," she said. "From the point into the pier was hard. It was choppy. The wind was behind you, but it was like a bathtub out there."
Cairns said she originally bought a paddleboard for escorts on her long distance swims and started riding it for fun last summer.
"Now I’m into it," she said. "It’s another way to be out on the water. And the camaraderie with everybody is just so great." ER
Matt Mirick, 9, of Manhattan Beach, hauls his paddleboard out of the water. The junior guards held a well-received paddling competition concurrently with the US Paddleboard Championships. Photo by John Tawa.