Quiver talk
More pictures of the new Naish Javelin were revealed, courtesy of Casper Steinfath racing in the Italian Surf Expo. The biggest change appears to be some radical nose surgery, although there's little doubt more subtle changes abound.
A vid has also been released of the downwind version, the Javelin Maliko, which will be available in 14'x24" and 14'x26". Apologies, but the vid is in French - Colas, care to translate for everyone?
www.dailymotion.com/video/x2yqtge
Full Naish reveal next week. And if you're on the East coast of Oz, look out for the Naish team, who are embarking on their demo roadshow. The itinerary's at the bottom of this post.
More shots of the new Starboard range were also uncovered in Italy, with Leonard Nika on a new board. While SB has ditched the brushed carbon look in favour of a sharper paint job, actual changes to the board's shape are harder to spot - is there more volume in that nose? The following photo offers a nice contrast between old and new.
Meanwhile, Fanatic's new race boards appear to be commonplace on the European race scene, despite no official launch as yet.
Recalling the spirit of Ben Lexcen and Australia II, Futures Fins has posted details and pics of a winged downwind fin. The company has been working on a fin that incorporates hydrofoil technology that enhances downwind paddling. The idea for the fin stemmed from trying to find a way to reduce the drag flowing off the board. Best to quote Futures directly from here, save missing any detail.
"Essentially, a lot of the energy created from paddling is absorbed into overcoming the water resistance, or the drag, caused from the water flowing off the board. Hydrofoil technology works best at increased speeds. During downwind paddling, the point at which you reach maximum speed is usually when you are taking advantage of riding the bumps. With this in mind, the board will glide through the water enabling even more speed due to the fact that there is much less drag created by water resistance on the bottom of the board. The extra force the wing provides on the tail keeps it higher for a longer amount of time when riding bumps, which, in effect, holds the nose down and allows you to stay on bumps for even longer. The overall effects are faster and more exhilarating rides off each bump."
futuresfins.com/journal
Competition
If you haven't seen the results of the Molokai to O'ahu (M2O), you need to stay in more. ANZACs dominated the SUP and prone disciplines on a brutally hot and windless course that produced some big-name DNFs. Without a breeze the longer unlimited boards afforded little advantage over the stock class. That was evident with line honours going to the Danny Ching/Kaihe Chong duo on a 14' 404.
Only 18 seconds later they were followed over the finish line by Australian Travis Grant with a time nearly an hour outside last year's record. Nonetheless, his effort has been hailed as one of the greatest paddleboard wins given the gruelling conditions. Grant won on a board (pic below) designed by Dale Chapman, whose order book has now reportedly extended into the new year. Kai Lenny (Hawaii) came in 15 minutes later, while Lincoln Dews (Australia) claimed third. Special mention goes to Travis Baptiste (Hawaii), fifth again while claiming first in the stock class for a third successive year.
In the women's race, Sonni Honscheid (Germany) grabbed first place in 5:53, followed by two Kiwis, Annabel Anderson second (on a stock 14' board no less) four minutes later and Penny Strickland third, squeezing in under six hours.
In the prone unlimited, Australian men claimed the trifecta: Matt Bevilacqua, Brad Gaul and Rory Chapman. Not to be upstaged, the Australian women took the quinella: Jordan Mercer and Maddy Dunn; Kanesa Duncan Seraphin from Hawaii claimed third.
Awesome effort from everyone who competed at M2O 2015.
On the other side of the world, the third and deciding leg of the European Cup - the Italia Surf Expo - was also held. The event had the standard combination of a distance race, followed by a sprint series.
Casper Steinfath (Viking) held out Zane Schweitzer (Hawaii) and Leonard Nika (Italy) in the distance race. In the sprint, Schweitzer and Nika ran second and third again, but topped this time by Dylan Frick from South Africa. Here's Nika (SB 2016) hot on Schweitzer's tail (SB 2015) in the distance race (that SB tiki gets bigger every year).
In the women's distance race, Manca Notar (Slovenia) took a convincing win, ahead of Spaniards Ane Zulaika Aranburu and Susak Molinero. In the sprint, Notar and Zulaika Aranburu swapped places while Molinero repeated third.
So in the final wash up for the European Cup, Ane Zulaika Aranburu and Casper Steinfath claimed the wins. Celine Guesdon (France) and Notar completed the women's podium, while Schweitzer and Nika did the same in the men's.
Another elite competition bites the dust 
This time it's the dual Brazilian event, planned for August. The Brazilian Open of Stand Up Paddling was to be a combination of racing in the Stand Up World race series and surfing in the Standup World Tour. Apparently the Brazilian government had failed to provide promised financial support for the event (the country is suffering through its worst recession in a quarter of a century and numerous government scandals - not ideal one year out from the Olympics).
The event organiser, the Watermans League, is clearly going through a rough patch with other events under their banner cancelled this year: the German Cup and the Oleron Island race in France. A couple of years back the same organisation came under fire for delaying prize payments to athletes.
This week's number: 2.0
On a brighter note, Battle of the Paddle 2.0 appears to be a reality with the announcement that the Pacific Paddle Games will be held on October 10-11 at Doheny State Beach, in Dana Point, California. Of course the original long-running Battle of the Paddle (BOP), held every year at that time, was cancelled earlier this year. This time around they've managed to jag some deep-pocketed sponsors with a US$55,000 prize purse, surpassing Payette River Games as the most generous SUP event on the calendar.
Finer race details are yet to be revealed but there's little doubt that the bounty on offer will attract some big names and generate some tight racing.
Upcoming comps
For those who can't get enough downwinding, the Na Pali Race is being held along a 17 mile stretch of the Kauai coast in Hawaii.
Locally, the Avon Challenge on the Swan River is being held this weekend in WA. Details at http://wa.canoe.org.au/2015/07/22/be-active-avon-challenge/
Wildlife encounters
If you hadn't heard, Sydney has a resident whale. It decided to visit me (and a few others) paddling off Chinaman's Beach last Saturday. It kept circling then decided to swim directly under my board, surfaced the other side and banked around while giving me a good stare. One of life's unforgettable moments.
Happy paddling,
SJKJ
Nice overview of all the race goss. I enjoy reading your weekly news updates.
Thanks mate.
Luke
Thanks AndyR, I hadn't seen those pics. Striking new look. They've obviously removed that band along the rail, which I think had a tendency to get scuffed up.
Anyone know official release date for the new SB range?
