SAN CLEMENTE, CA – (August 4, 2008)  -That stand-up paddleboarding has become the coast’s fastest-growing ocean sport should come as no surprise. Combining surfer’s balance skills and wave riding with canoe paddler’s endurance and speed, SUP harkens back to the surfing’s Golden Age, when in the 1940s and ‘50s calling yourself a surfer meant mastering a broad variety of ocean skills.

Now come celebrate the modern West Coast waterman’s lifestyle at the Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez’s Battle of the Paddle, a stand-up paddle festival/exposition with a series of races and demonstrations that offer ocean athletes of all ages and skill levels the chance to experience this exciting new sport.

Staged at Dana Point’s historic Doheny State Beach, the Battle of the Paddle is more than an ordinary paddle race.  For the sport’s elite paddlers it presents the first-ever championship styled SUP race featuring an offshore course that tests not only endurance but also the open-ocean and surfing skills of the world’s best men and women stand-up paddle racers. Not to mention a cash purse of over $25,000.

Invited competitors on stock (12’6”) SUP boards, will complete multiple laps on a circuit that will include beaching their equipment through the surf for a short run around a course flag on the sand.  This exchange will challenge competitor’s technical and athletic skills as well as create great spectator drama.  There will also be an age-group race open to all SUP craft categories (12’6” stock, 14 ft. and unlimited) that will compete on the same circuit course without the exchange.

For the recreational paddler and newcomers to the sport The Battle of the Paddle’s exclusive festival/exposition is an extraordinary opportunity to paddle with legendary watermen like Gerry Lopez, Dave Kalama, Jamie Mitchell, Kyle Mochizuki, Colin McPhillips, Titus Kinimaka and many more. You’ll meet the world’s best shapers, check out the latest board designs and paddle innovations and naturally there will be demo boards and paddles of all shapes and sizes available for those who want to perfect their stroke or even try SUP for the first time.

Everyone who enters The Battle of the Paddle will receive a free pair of Rainbow Sandals, event tee and lunch.  There will also be a special awards dinner and aloha concert featuring the music of legendary waterman Titus Kinimaka at the Surfing Heritage Foundation on Saturday evening October 11.  All event proceeds to go to the Surfing Heritage Foundation and the Doheny State Beach Interpretive Association.

Whether you’re racing for the prize or just getting started, The Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez’s Battle of the Paddle is the perfect way to immerse yourself in the rich tradition of Southern California’s original surf lifestyle, and the dynamic new surf/paddle discipline known as stand-up paddling.

More Information at: http://www.rainbowsandals.com/battleofthepaddle/  

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