11th Annual Surftech Jay Race - Super Success

SANTA CRUZ, CA - June 28, 2012: The 11th Annual Surftech Jay Race presented by Quiksilver Waterman Collection featured more than 300 athletes competing in this one day event.

Australia's Jamie Mitchell made his Jay Race debut an impressive one by winning the Long Course SUP division and setting a new 14' SUP class record with a time of 1:55:34. Don Miralle (Encinitas, CA) won the Unlimited Paddleboard division and finished with the fastest overall time of the day, 1:51:39.

"I was super honored and stoked to do the Jay Race this year! What a great course and paddling community Santa Cruz has," said Mitchell. "It's a great event and I hope to be back next year." 

In the rest of the Long Course field, Jack Bark kept his win streak alive by winning the Stock Paddleboard class and improving on his 2011 time by 6 minutes! Jay Race co-founder, Joe Beek (Santa Cruz, CA), won the 14' Paddleboard class while Ben Sarrazin (Marin, CA) took out the 12'6" SUP division and local contender Tony Mueller won the Unlimited SUP division. 

On the women's side, it was Candice Appleby (San Clemente, CA) leading the way for the ladies finishing atop the Womens 12'6" SUP class and recording the fastest womens time of the day and the fastest womens SUP time ever with a 2:07:18 finish! Miami, Florida lifeguard and 5x Jay Race competitor Cynthia Aguilar finally achieved her goal of winning the Womens Stock Paddleboard Class finishing just seconds ahead of the 2nd place female. Australia's Jo Ambrosi used her Catalina Race experience to win the Womens Unlimited Paddleboard division and 17 year-old Brit Oliphant (Bend, OR) won the Womens 14' SUP division.  

The highly anticipated Quiksilver Waterman Challenge lived up to the hype with talented athletes from many different backgrounds all vying for the Quiksilver Waterman Challenge title. The three discipline event requires skill in open water swimming, prone paddleboarding and stand up paddling. The mens race saw Anthony Vela (San Clemente, CA) put his years of lifeguard competition experience to work, finishing just under a minute ahead of 18 year-old Jack Bark of Palos Verdes, CA (who was arguably the MVP of the Waterman Challenge) and former Ironman competitor and Triathlon coach Roch Frey (Encinitas, CA). 

On the Womens side Appleby once again reigned supreme, coming out of the water from the swim leg in 4th place and making up one position in the prone leg reaching the beach in 3rd. Once on her signature Bark 12'6" race board, Appleby caught Cynthia Aguilar at about the 250 meter mark and reeled in Alison Riddle at 800 meters. Candice led from there and crossed the finish line just under a minute ahead of Riddle.    

The Covewater SUP Relay was the final event of the Jay Race and featured six, three-person teams competing in the water and on the sand. GoPro cameras and Covewater gift certificates were at stake as the teams paddled their way around a quarter-mile water course and crawled, ran and climbed over and through the elaborate beach obstacle course provided by A Day at the Beach Events. Team Santa Cruz used local knowledge to come out of the grinding relay course on top with Team Awesome and The Upwinders rounding out the top three. 

FOR FULL JAY RACE RESULTS GO TO ACTIVE.COM

The Surftech Jay Race is as much a family event as it is an intense competition. While elite and age group competitors tackled the long and short courses and all-around water athletes went to battle in the Quiksilver Waterman Challenge, the kids got a taste of Jay Race competition in the "Mini Jay Race". Kids 12 and under paddled a small buoy course and collected "Live Like Jay" wristbands at each buoy.  Upon hitting the beach the kids had to run through the "A Day at the Beach" (ADATB) obstacle course. As the kids maneuvered through the ADATB course, their loving friends took the opportunity to spray them down with Super Soaker water guns!

The 11th Annual Surftech Jay Race presented by Quiksilver Waterman Collection had something for everyone and will go down as one of the best races to date. "It was truly a fantastic family event and I felt the love and ohana from everyone who volunteered and competed in honor of Jay," said paddleboard division winner Don Miralle. "Special thanks to the entire crew up there who put on a world class event with their efforts."  

The Surftech Jay Race is a fundraiser for Santa Cruz County Junior Lifeguard organizations. Santa Cruz City, State, and Capitola Junior Lifeguard programs will receive a donation for equipment and scholarships in the name of Jay Moriarity from funds raised through the Jay Race. Race entry fees for the 11th Annual Surftech Jay Race combined with raffle sales and silent auction bids raised more than $12,000 for Santa Cruz JG programs this year! 

For more information & photos:  www.jayrace.surftech.com  ;

Complete Results: www.active.com/jayrace 

A Note From Kim Moriarity, Jay's Wife:

"I know Jay would have absolutely loved the "Mini Jay Races" and the way that everyone came together on the beach to enjoy each others company, their love for Jay and their love for paddling. The energy at the Jay Race is just incredible and so full of Jay's spirit. There were endless smiles, cheering and good times all around. I'm so proud for Jay and blessed to have his legacy continue on for a long time to come! LIVE LIKE JAY!"·

About Jay Moriarity:

In a dozen short years, from the first time he pad­dled a surf­board out in Santa Cruz until his untimely death from a free-diving acci­dent in the Mal­dives, Jay Mori­arity earned a rep­u­ta­tion in the sport that will pre­vail indef­i­nitely. His much-heralded big-wave exploits and long­board exper­tise only dab­ble the first few brush­strokes of a life lived as a mas­ter­piece. In an ear­lier era, Mori­arity would have been just one of the boys, but to con­trast his waterman's spirit with that of other mod­ern pro­fes­sional surfers, his clear vision offers a much-needed dose of fresh air. His infec­tious smile and sense of humil­ity defined him, and in death they con­tinue to spread out from his North­ern Cal­i­for­nia play­ground to each cor­ner of the world... read more

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