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I needed a website to launch the first ever surfski DVD. I can remember walking on the beach after the Lighthouse to Lighthouse Race with Chris who I had recently met at my house when I sold him a used Onno paddle and later a V10 Sport. Chris paddled the V10 sport for only the third time at the race determined not to come in last. He has come along way since then! During that conversation, I explained the DVD to Chris and that I needed a website to promote and sell it. To my surprise,Chris said, “oh I can help you with that”. The following day I got an email with a link to the original SurfskiRacing.com. I opened up the link and was duly impressed with what I saw. From that point on my relationship with Chris(web master, training partner, and friend) grew to what it is today. SurfskiRacing.Com was founded that Sunday after the L2L and has grown to what it is today thanks to Chris’s tireless work in designing and maintaining the site. As most of you know I provide most of the content while Chris does the rest. So in tandem we have made it work over the years.
While I am recalling the beginning of SurfskiRacing.com I also am reminded of the day I came up with the idea of the Surfski Basics Dvd. I was riding in the car with Tim and Paul for a downwind paddle from Point Judith to Jamestown. I had thought about writing a short book on my experiences with surfskis and got as far as the first paragragh and quickly dropped that idea, too hard, too time consuming, and I am not much of a writer. So I floated the idea to Paul and Tim and Paul a videographer, who said you could do that! Tim as I remember it, had some hesitation, intimating that only the elite paddlers could do a video. Having been in pharmaceutical sales for 12 years at the time, I knew you did not have to be the “Elite paddler” to make a video. Just like you don’t have to be a cardiologist or psychiatrist to discuss your products intelligently with them, you just need to know you subject matter. What you did need was enthusiasm, a passion for the subject matter, some guidance, money, and support. I got that guidance and support from Mark Ceconi and my wife. Mark enthusiatically agreed to do the video with me. I called a few manufacturers at the time and asked them if they would support the video. Jude from Huki, said “sure” and sent me a check and “said great idea”. I put up the rest of the money and paid a profesional photographer to shoot the video. That whole process was a great learning experience and set the wheels in motion for the website.
A few years prior to that November day at the Potato Race when I meet Dave, my association with Stellar four years,I have reviewed every ski with the exception of the SE. My association with Stellar like many things in life began by happenstance. I was at Chris Chappells’s house after a paddle and Chris showed me an advertisement on the internet or message board with a Massachusetts contact number. I called that number and talked to Dave briefly and told him we would be at the Potato Race in Holyoke, Massachusetts only an hour from Daves. That day I can remember walking up and seeing the white SE in the slings. The construction and finish was the best I had ever seen on a ski. At that time I had already reviewed over 30 surfskis. Chris and I talked briefly to Dave and Ed and then took the SE out for a spin. Dave took pictures of me and Chris in the SE. Dave asked us if I wanted to take and then give him feedback on it. From that point on I have been giving Dave feedback for that last four years. I don’t think Dave and Ed realized at the time, I would play a pivotal role in the launching of Stellar Surfskis. What I did not know at the time I met Dave that I had already spoken to Dave at the Snow Row. Dave was paddling a tandem rowing shell trying to keep it headed in the right direction toward Sheep Island. I yelled over to them to hold your line, while passing them in 15 mph beam chop was making it difficult for them to steer.
Last year after a paddle on the Cape with Mike McDonough and crew, Leslie Chappell, Chris’s wife, commented to me, “you know, you and Chris can talk endlessly about surfskis even if you start to repeat the same stuff, you two make it same as though you never discussed it before”. I smiled and thought to myself, we both share the enthusiasm for paddling that rivals few, and have the energy level to not only train hard, but also put endless hours maintaining SurfskiRacing.com that has helped countless paddlers thoughout the world with reviews, race summaries, and helped them sell their used skis to buy other skis through our classifed section.
