Stand Up Paddle Video of the Week - 10.2

Check out the full articles on Day 1 and Day 2 of the Battle of the Paddle California

DANA POINT, California - Hundreds of racers and even more spectators turned up to Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, California last weekend for the 2011 Rainbow Sandals Gerry Lopez Battle of the Paddle. Among them was the world's best and most elite stand up paddle racers.

The first day of events, held on Saturday, September 24th, saw elite racers, in both the women's and men's field, going head to head in two qualifying heats. Due to an increase in racer registration over the previous events, the format of the event changed to include two qualifying heats that would serve to distill the field into one final elite race.

All the familiar names were present and it was no surprise when Candice Appleby finished first place among the elite women. Appleby, who has been destroying her competition this year in pretty much every event she has raced in, finished ahead of Brandi Baksic (second place) and Annabel Anderson (third place) with an impressive time of 49 min. 44 sec.

In the men's elite field, the race was tight between three racers from the first few paddles. Connor Baxter, Danny Ching and Jamie Mitchell were entrenched in a close battle for first place the entire race. But it was Connor Baxter, taking advantage of a mistake by Mitchell on the final buoy turn, who jumped ahead in the final sprint to the finish.

Check out the full articles on Day 1 and Day 2 of the Battle of the Paddle California

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