El Morro had a pretty impressive turnout for a race that just started last year in 2023, put on by Bill Lafferty.
The race started nice and easy with about 4 miles through the Newport harbor before paddlers hit the open ocean and endured about 3 miles of pretty brutal headwind. At the buoy turn, some paddlers took advantage of the downwind and took off, before hitting the harbor again and finishing up with 4 miles of flat water. The switch from flat water, to headwind, to downwind, and back to flat water made for some interesting positioning in the race, with certain paddlers favoring different legs of the race and using those chunks of miles to get ahead and make up time.
This race also featured a pretty large women's division, with 13 participants making up a Stock and 14' class. Overall for the women, “Queen of the Channel” Liz Hunter finished 1st on a stock with a time of 2:44:19. She was also the third stock overall for the race. Following her on a 14’ Greyhound was Emily Bark at 2:46:33, and Sydney Brouwer on a stock at 2:53:49.
First overall and first Unlimited was Max First with a time of 2:16:22. Second Unlimited was Zach Jirkovsky at 2:23:17, and in third finished Chris Russel at 2:24:37.
Spencer Pirdy took home the 14’ win for the second year in a row with a time of 2:31:21, followed by Slader Bark in 2nd at 2:37:12, and Deon Lourens taking 3rd with a time of 2:39:44.
David Thomas finished first Stock and 10th overall with a time of 2:35:23. Second and third stocks were Oliver Levine (2:40:41) and Rick Strobel (2:46:32).
Pretty cool to see how many young guns were in the water competing at this race, as well as quite a few paddlers new to the sport. We're definitely noticing an influx of people picking up prone paddling and it's exciting to see where the sport will go in the next few years.
Top Finishers
NAME | DIVISION | PLACE | TIME |
MAX FIRST | UNLIMITED | 1 | 2:16:22 |
ZACH JIRKOVSKY | UNLIMITED | 2 | 2:23:17 |
CHRIS RUSSEL | UNLIMITED | 3 | 2:24:37 |
SPENCER PIRDY | 14' | 1 | 2:31:21 |
SLADER BARK | 14' | 2 | 2:37:12 |
DEON LOURENS | 14' | 3 | 2:39:44 |
DAVID THOMAS | STOCK | 1 | 2:35:23 |
OLIVER LEVINE | STOCK | 2 | 2:40:41 |
RICK STROBEL | STOCK | 3 | 2:46:32 |
LIZ HUNTER | WOMENS OVERALL | 1 | 2:44:19 |
EMILY BARK | WOMENS OVERALL | 2 | 2:46:33 |
SYDNEY BROUWER | WOMENS OVERALL | 3 | 2:53:49 |
All Results
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