Appleby Dominates the Field at Los Cabos Classic

At the Los Cabos Classic, held in Cabo San Lucas on November 5th, Candice Appleby beat out the entire field of paddlers (both men and women) with a finish time in the 10-mile race of 1:50:45.

At the top of her game, Appleby has been grabbing first place at events all year long.

Read about Appleby's sweep at the 2011 Battle of the Paddle California

CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico - The 2nd Annual Los Cabos Classic had an increased in the amount of participants bringing in big names from the Stand Up Paddle world including Candice Appleby, Anthony Vela, Gillian Gibree, Annie Doyle, Fernando Stalla, Colin McPhillips and Brian Haag.  SUP Mexico was also honored to host surf legends 73 yr old Mickey Munoz, 70 yr old Mike Doyle, big wave surfing pioneer for women Jericho Poppler and 60 paddlers from Mexico, Canada and the USA.  The sun was out with blue skies all weekend for the event, we couldn't have asked for better conditions.  

Saturday November 5th 10 Mile Point to Point Race
Before the event the competitors were spreading a buzz with hopes of a quality downwind race, and they got what they asked for.  The winds answered with perfect NNE wind blowing at 15-20 knots at the competitors backs all the way from Punta Gorda to Palmilla Beach. Almost all Pro's noted that the P2P race is one of the best down wind race courses they have competed in, ever.



Candice Appleby took huge advantage of this perfect weather conditions and smoked everyone on the field doing the entire 10.9 mile race in a new record time of 1 hour and 50 minutes and 45 seconds, a full minute ahead of the 2nd place Fernando Stalla in the men's division. Yes you are reading this right, Candice Appleby took 1st place overall in the 10 Mile race by a full minute. This is the first time in the SUP race elite racing that a woman has claimed this achievement.  We are stoked to have such a great athlete and person accomplish this feat at our race.

To top the day after a great race, Anthony Vela and Candice Appleby organized a fun Kid's SUP Camp under their Performance Paddling Clinic structure for all the local kids with the rest of the Pros (Gillian Gibree, Colin McPhillips, Fernando Stalla, Brian Haag) and the support of SUP Mexico. The kids had a blast and were able to go out in the water and enjoy the sport with some of the top athletes in the world do Stand Up Paddling.  Anthony Vela stated, "While I was on the beach arranging boards for the kids to jump on with the pro's, I saw nothing but smiles on everyone's face as they were coming back to the beach.  It was amazing."



Sunday November 6th 4 Mile Course Race
Sunday answered with perfect weather conditions all day for both the 4 Mile races and Relay Race. The 4 Mile Elite and Open race had 60 competitors total. The competitors stormed down the beach into the water at the 9 am start time with a super close race between Fernando Stalla, Anthony Vela and Colin McPhillips. The three were a tight pack for the whole 4 miles and it was hard to tell who will take the top place on the podium.  The last lap Colin's fin hit the reef as he gambled on a shorter line and lost a bit of ground leaving the door open for Fernando and Anthony.  Fernando took ahold of the opportunity and charged, never getting off the gas. Fernando, the Sayulita, Mexico raised pro, was able to hold his first place position the rest of the race.  Only seconds behind Fernando was Anthony Vela claiming the second place finish for the Men's Elite.

The last race of the event was the Relay Race Sunday afternoon. The race included 52 racers in 13 teams of 4 per.  A majority of the competitors were comprised of local business employees that enjoy the sport here in Los Cabos and are excited to be part of this new experience.  This year we designed a system that gave 6 lucky teams the experience to have a Pros on their team.  This made the Relay Race a unique experience for everyone who participated and brought in a new level of camaraderie.

While wrapping up the event weekend Candice exclaimed, "This is one of the best downwinders I have ever done, first or second for sure.  Still deciding.  It's either this SUP Mexico event or the Hood River event.  This is best run event I've been to this year, and definitely the most fun I've had at an event this year!"  Anthony Vela agrees, "Best event I've been to all year!"

SUP Mexico - Los Cabos Classic Official Results

10 Miles Point to Point Time

Men
1st Fernando Stalla 1:51:45
2nd Colin McPhillips 1:54:04
3rd Anthony Vela 1:54:19
4rd Brian Haag 1:57:30
5th Carlos Mendiola 2:13:25

Women
1st Candice Appleby 1:50:45
2nd Gillian Gibree 2:03:10
3rd Annie Doyle 2:19:40
4rd Janet Jensen 2:29:14
5th Ibet Igartua 2:31:20

4 Miles Course Race Time

Men
1st Fernando Stalla 37:40:00
2nd  Anthony Vela 37:49:00
3rd Colin McPhillips 38:45:00
4rd Brian Haag 39:50:00
5th Juan Barquelo 44:15:00

Women
1st Candice Appleby 39:59:00
2nd Gillian Gibree 41:35:00
3rd Annie Doyle  45:10:00
4rd Janet Jensen 47:11:00
5th Pamela Chu 50:50:00

.