Fun in the Sun: Sharkbite, Family Vacation

For a few years I had wanted to attend the Sharkbite Challenge in Dunedin, Florida. Many of my New England paddling friends had done it and had a wonderful time. So last year, 2016, I made the trek down as part of the Stellar team, helping out the Paddle Attic. Despite that race being cancelled due to weather, I almost immediately began planning my 2017 trip to sunny Florida with my wife.

Paddle Attic

That included my wife renting a condo in Estero, Florida in the same complex as one of her sister’s for a month. I would take vacation time along with my son and his fiancee to be there the same week as the Sharkbite Challenge. So far, the planning has worked out beautifully. Now no longer with Stellar, I contacted, Mark Mckenzie of Elite Ocean Sports for a surfski to paddle hoping it would be Think’s new Ion 3G.  Mark unfortunately could not make it, so Mark arrange an the boat via Mike Canfield of Ocean Paddling Company. Mike and Brenda were very helpful and I appreciate the loaner and their hospitality.

Mike and Brenda Canfield of Ocean Paddle Company

Mike finishing the 8 mile Race

So with the boat lined up and a PERFECT weather day, 70 degrees with low humidity, and single digit winds, I set off at 5am from Estero to Dunedin in my “not my Dad’s Buick” rental car for the 2.5 hour drive. My Dad actually had many Buicks including Belair, Lesabre, and my favorite: the Electra 225. This was a Buick Verono with great seats and enough power to cruise the flat terrain of the I75 at 70 mph.

I have been so looking forward to this trip for many reasons. Number one is to get out of the cold overcast New England. I live in one of the most scenic areas of all New England: Newport, Rhode Island, one of the sailing capitals of the world, but winters/spring creep along slowly to summer. So thoughts and the realism of sunny Florida lifts the spirits immediately. Secondly, having my whole family down is super, my son Tyler along with his bride to be, Jennifer and my sister in law, Linda and her husband who live in Estero six months of the year. Thirdly, I get to have so much fun at the Sharkbite Challenge which has grown to a must attend event if you live in New England or just paddle surfski, SUP or OC.

Family Vacation in Florida

Rob and Karen Mirlenbrink, paddlers of all craft and Race Directors, do a wonderful job with the paddle weekend with multiple races and clinics for all types of paddlers. Sponsors get their money’s worth too, with exposure to a broad variety of paddlers. Think, Stellar, Epic and Nelo all were well represented with top East Coast paddlers like Eric Mims and Chris Hipgrave of Epic; South African Matt Bouman(Epic) a top 10 finisher in any world surfski race, Reid Hyle (top East Coast paddler),6X World Champion Teneale Hatton of Think, and of course Oscar Chalupsky, the best downwind paddler of all time with Nelo.

With a pit stop badly needed from my drive, I stop at the Triple D(Dunedin Dunkin Doughnuts) where I ran into Eric Mims and Waylon. The nice thing about a big event is that you run into many paddlers. I first met Eric at the 42 mile Mississippi Phatwater Challenge a few years back. Eric just last year, won the 2016 Blackburn Challenge (19.4 mile) out sprinting local favorite Greg Lesher from the Dog bar to the greasy pole. With coffee brew in hand and feeling the excitement of caffeine and race anticipation,I arrived at the Honeymoon State Island Park before the 8am gate opening to wait in traffic.

Once in the Park, I quickly found Mike Canfield of Ocean Paddle Company who was all set up on the beach with the many other vendors. Mike is super organized along Brenda, his wife. I was eager to get into the Ion 3G, so after setting the footplate, removing Mike’s seat pad, and attaching my paddle leash, I was into the warm waters with only summer attire, Yahoo! Just 4 days before I was doing intervals in a drysuit in 40 degree air and water temperature. So after my boat set up and warm up, I could now mingle with the many paddlers and wait until the 11 am start time for the Epic 8 Mile Race.

1st time in Ion 3G

As I walked down the beach I stopped to talked to Chris Hipgrave. Chris Hipgrave Race Summary

We talked about the Gorge, and Chris assured me it is a must for any paddler and said anyone who surfs in New England Ocean waters can max out the fun at the Gorge. I will be doing the Blackburn again this year but many of my New England paddling friends will be there. I asked Chris has thoughts on the new V12 and he was extremely positive on the speed and stability. I would have to wait until after the race to demo one, which I did thanks to Randall Taylor who I met pre-race.  I wanted to demo two skis at the race: the V12 and the Ion 3g which I raced. Mission accomplished. It is super when 4 of the 5 surfski makers, Stellar, Think, Epic, Nelo are all at one event so you can try all the skis out. Demo day was the following day where you could go for extended time in the skis.

Chris Hipgrave and Eric Mims

New England paddlers, Tom Kerr and his daughter Kaitlin were all smiles looking forward to paddling a surfski double in the 8 mile race. How good is it to paddle a double with one of your daughters.  It is always great to see a Timmy Shields and Kerry from Boston. Tim Milligan and Robert Lang from Nova Scotia who came down to spend a month in Florida as they have done for years. One of the fastest New England paddlers is Jan Lupinski who spends time at his New Jersey home and his Naples, Florida home. Jan came in second in his age group behind Oscar, and 10th overall in the surfski division.

Timmy, Wesley,Tom and daughter Kaitlin

Pam Boteler and Theo Burns finishing 4 mile race and paddling OC in 8 mile race. Pam doubled in OC2 with Scott Miller

I also to talk with Tenealle and I asked her about the new online coaching and social paddling platform PaddleMonster.com. After I made the rounds, it was time for the 8 mile race which would be 3 loops around two buoys spaced 2.6 miles apart. The start would be a water start with a beach finish.

Wesley and Teneale Hatton of PaddleMonster.com

I positioned myself on the ocean side and not in the middle of the pack to avoid all the chaos of a mass start. I had no idea how I would do: new ski, hotter temps, and losing a few weeks of training in March. But here I was, happy to be with so many paddlers. The nice thing about a loop course is that you can see all the faster paddlers on the returning loop and see the order. After the first loop, Matt Bouman had a commanding lead, followed by a fit looking Oscar and then Nate in a low volume MacGregor ski. I was slowing making my way up the pack before the 1st buoy turn, settling in behind JC Malick. I would be anywhere from one to six boat lengths chasing JC the whole race. Greg Greene in the meantime was chasing me and JC and Greg caught me on the last upwind turn and Greg surfed away from JC on the last downwind leg. Greg is excellent downwind. Conditions were perfect for everyone to enjoy:  3 upwind legs and 3 very small downwind with ocean buoys turns which we rarely get in New England ocean races.

The most exciting part for me was the last buoy turn located 100 yards off the beach. With a tight close turn around it, Rand Perkins was slightly ahead of me who caught me moments before the turn. I assume the message from the captains meetings was to grab your ski at the beach finish and run with it the 15 yards passing the electronic mat that recorded your time from your chip ankle bracelet. Since I was warming up, I missed the meeting. So as I was approaching the beach, I unclipped my drinking tube and paddle leash. There were support staff grabbing skis as racers exited their skis, so I took advantage of a quick exit and sprinted pass Rand, who choose to carry his ski. I nicked Rand at the finish by a foot. I would be curious to see how accurate the electronic timing would be. On Sunday I checked the results and indeed I finished 21 of 46, 4th in my age group, and yes, 1 second ahead of Rand. I found out later Rand got entangled with an OC on one of the buoy turns otherwise he would have had a better race.

Sharkbite Results

With all the paddlers in, the awards ceremony began with Rob at the microphone on the command Red Bull truck/tank and Karen handing out well deserved medals for the 4 mile and 8 mile SUP, Ski, OC age categories. I took pictures and spent a few minutes talking to Oscar about the merits of cholesterol lowing meds since I promote a biologic for this. Oscar has researched the topic as well though we came to different conclusions.

Oscar thanking Rob and Karen for organizing the event.

Karen Mirlenbrink giving long time friend and paddler Andy Gerber a hug.

Jan sharing the podium with Oscar(2nd overall). This is age group winners. Kiril Florov is on right.

Winners: Matt Bouman, Oscar, Nate Humberston

Just prior to the awards, I tracked down Randall to demo the new V12. Like Chris Hipgrave, I too was very pleased with how it paddled. I reviewed the v12 1G years ago and this is not your fathers V12, new design, and new feel.  My impressions of the Ion 3g were also very positive and nothing like the previous generations. The skis just keep better! Thanks to Mike Canfield again for letting me borrow his ski.

Randall with new V12

Once I got back to Estero, Betsy and I made plans to secure another condo rental for next year so she can enjoy a month off and I can look forward to the 2018 Sharkbite. I am sure it will be as much fun as this years with hundreds of paddlers, expert organization, chip timing, vendors, clinics, and of course the Florida sunshine, we New Englanders crave for this time of year. Make your plans!