We once again welcome, guest blogger, team paddler and Werner Paddles
Ambassador, Genna Flinkman. Genna was in California for the Pacific Paddle Games at beautiful, Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California earlier this month.
Well
PPG is over and I have to say, for me it lived up to the hype. The whole event
was larger than life. From the moment you walked through the Pacific Paddle
Games Entrance you were greeted with an amazing spectacle involving the biggest
brands and names in the paddle board world. One thing I noticed right away was
the effort put in by the volunteers and organizers to make everything run
smoothly, and I think they succeeded.
The
race formats consisted of the traditional technical and distance races. In addition,
there was also a team battle where each assigned athlete could garnish points
for their board sponsor. Because of this, I was lucky enough to have an awesome
tent to sit under with the always fun and amped up #infinityspeedfreaks.
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| Genna is just beyond the wave |
The
first race of the day, and my first race, was the open technical. The men took
off first and for the most part, got out clean. The organizers did a great job
of planning the start so that we did not have to go out in the big sets. The
technical races was fun with lots of buoy turns and the challenge of going out
through the break and coming in with the waves. I had a solid race, I got
around the buoys well and managed to get a good wave on the way in to pass a
few ladies. With the good fortune of a wave, I was able to move up two
positions to snag 1st in my age class and 6th overall women’s open. Everyone
did amazing and the level of skill in the open race was fantastic.
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| Genna on the right |
Of
course the highlight of the day was watching the elite groms, and elite
women/men. With big sets rolling in, the races had everything a spectator could
hope for! There were amazing feats of getting over waves, tight buoy turns,
party waves, last minute passes and unexpected winners. However, no matter the
intensity of the race, once done everyone had a smile on their face and high
fives.
The
second day was comprised of the distance races and finals for the elite
technical. Generally distance is not my favourite race but this one was pretty
fun. However, it was definitely a challenge as all mens and women’s open took
off at the same time. This meant that for roughly a mile and a half, saying
that the water was choppy was an understatement. Above that, there was the
challenge of big rolling waves, boat wakes, and warm weather conditions to contend
with. My favourite part was catching a wave to surf in to the finish line.
Again, I was lucky enough to snag 1st in my age class and 9th overall women’s
open.
The
elite technical finals were extremely exciting. With two of the buoys close to
the beach, spectators were in a prime spot to see the athletes catch waves,
make amazing buoy turns, party waves, and crashes. It was easily one of the
most exciting races to watch all year. It was not uncommon to see the lead
change multiple times, especially for the women, so it was a nail biter to the
end.
All
in all, the weekend was amazing. I could not have asked for better weather,
people, vendors, race organization, and support. It was a weekend I’ll never
forget! A enormous thank you to my sponsors Werner Paddles, Nikki Rekman Sales,
Infinity SUP, Virus Canada, CJC SUP Fins, and Spy Optics. Without the support
of these companies, my friends, family and husband I would not have had the
chance to attend all of the races that I went to this year. Each company gave me
the best equipment possible to put me in a position to do well and I am
extremely grateful for that. Also, a huge thank you to all of the volunteers,
contestants and Infinity Family for making PPG so memorable. I could not have
asked for a better event to end the race season on.
Until
next year, cheers and enjoy the snow!
