Battle of the Paddle 2010, California - Results & Video

Danny Ching of Redondo Beach defeated 159 of the world’s top SUPers in the Elite Race at the Battle of the Paddle in Dana Point, California yesterday – a 5-mile, 4-lap buoy circuit in and out of the surf that included 100-yard beach sprints between laps. With a time of 57 minutes and 45 seconds, Ching beat out last year’s winner, nine-time world paddleboard champion Jamie Mitchell of Australia. Mitchell came in second with a time of 59 minutes and 36 seconds. 15-year old Slater Trout of Maui came in third with a time of 1 hour and 39 seconds. Ching won $5000, Mitchell $3500, and Trout $2500.

In the women’s division, Candice Appelby of San Clemente came in first (on a Joe Bark race board), with a time of 1 hour and 31 seconds. Brandi Baksic, also from San Clemente, took second with a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes and 3 seconds. Jenny Kalmbach who grew up in Costa Rica and currently lives in Kona Hawaii, came in third. Appelby won $2500, Baksik $1250, and Kalmach $1000.

The Open Age-Group Race highlighted the accessibility of SUP to people of a wide variety of ages and skill levels. The 340 entrants included paddlers as young as 6 and as old as 73.

In today’s Distance Race – a scenic but challenging 10-mile paddle from Doheney State Beach to San Clemente Pier and back, Danny Ching was victorious again (as he was in the Battle of the Paddle, Hawaii in June). Rob Rojas of Laguna Beach took second. In the women's division, Brandi Baksic was the winner, followed by Rachel Brunton and Andrea Moller.

Bend local, Battle of the Paddle co-founder and surfing icon, 61-year old Gerry Lopez competed in every division, placing first in the Distance Race in his age group and second in the 60-69 Age Group Race.

Both Gerry Lopez and Danny Ching have been known to ride boards by their friend, master- shaper Ron House. Want one? Check out the ultra-sleek Ron House Race Board by Riviera.

Elite Race Results

Rank	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
1	Danny Ching	Redondo Beach	27	0:57:45
2	Jamie Mitchell	Currmbin, AUS	33	0:59:36
3	Slater Trout	Lahaina, HI	15	1:00:39
4	Travis Grant	Palm Beach, NA	27	1:00:39
5	Andrew Logreco	Honolulu, CA	26	1:00:43

Rank	Name	Hometown	Age	Time
1	Candice Appelby	Honolulu, HI	24	1:10:31
2	Brandi Baksic	San Clemente, CA	38	1:11:03
3	Rachel Bruntsch	Honolulu, HI	26	1:12:59
4	Jenny Kalmbach	Kailua Kona, HI	27	1:13:20
5	Gillian Gibree	San Diego, CA	24	1:14:35

Click here for complete results.

Check out this video of the start of the Elite Race, taken from a competitor's helmet: