OluKai Lowcountry Boil Paddle Battle 2020

A few weeks, on September 12, 2020, 129 paddlers completed the long and short courses which were held in Hilton Head, SC on Scull Creek. This is primarily a SUP race but like so many races over the last few years, these SUP races will have a surf ski class. I spoke to Elaine Harold, the winner of the female long course surfski course. Below I paraphrased our discussion.

In 2019 Elaine participated in a few surfski races then broke her elbow and could not race for a year. This race was her first race in a year. Like any of us, she was nervous about how well she would do after that much time off. She lined up beside Alessia Faverio, another female paddler. Elaine drafted Alessia for the first 2 miles of the race. Throughout the race, both paddlers were never too far apart. Elaine decided she wanted to be the first to round the first lap buoy so she would not loose and time on the turn.

Elaine maintained her lead throughout. There was some confusion on what buoy was the finish line so Elaine stopped at the wrong buoy, lost some time, but finished 1st female and 9th overall of all paddlers.

https://paddleguru.com/races/OluKaiLowcountryBoilPaddleBattle2020/results

I looked at the results and saw a few paddlers that I know. (Diego)Flavio Costa placed 1st in the surfski division after losing the lead on a wrong buoy turn but regaining it on a solid push to the finish and placing first overall ahead of even the surfski doubles and K2. Flavio was a top finisher in our New England races for a number of years before moving to Florida.

I met Alessia at the 2019 East Coast Championships in Norwalk, CT along with her Dad. That race was her first ocean race and she placed 2nd with an excellent time for her debut on the ocean.

While female paddlers are no strangers to SUP races, they are still only a tiny number of female paddlers that race skis. I try to promote women surfski paddlers on this site. With better fitting surf skis for women paddlers by most brands, finding a suitable ski is no longer a barrier to the sport. As I told Elaine, it does not matter what kind of water you race surf skis on, flat or ocean, we are all products of the waters we have access too. As we know, skis are incredibly fast on any kind of water, efficient, light, and rewarding to paddle. So I hope paddlers don’t think skis are just for the ocean. Like skis, there is a better selection of smaller wing paddles by manufacturers to accommodate women and men who can benefit from a smaller blade size and flexible shafts.