Supconnect Weekly Recap, 10-29-13

SAN DIEGO, California - Welcome to the Supconnect Weekly Heat, our countdown of the biggest news, reviews, interviews and features surrounding the world of Stand Up Paddleboarding. This week we’re bringing you another sample of the best stories covered by ourselves and other publications. If you’ve got anything pressing, impressive, relevant, weird or worth reading to add to the list, don’t be shy to share the scoop via Facebook.

5. Fernando Stalla Wins BOP Brazil

~   HEAT SCORE {29}   ~ One of Sayulita’s favorite son’s, Fernando Stalla, won the inaugural Battle of the Paddle Brazil this weekend, overcoming a mix of waves, wind and other determined paddlers to walk away with the distance and racing division, as well as the overall title. Californian Brandi Baksic followed suit in the ladies division, also making a clean sweep of the silverware in all disciplines. This was the first time the Battle of the Paddle was held outside Dana Point, taking one of the sport’s most loved events to new territory, highlighting the continual growth of competitive paddling around the world. We were immensely stoked to hear the event went well (despite some rough weather on Sunday) and more than a little jealous we couldn’t be there in person.

4. Shark Attacks Across The Globe

Reuinion island, scene of the crime.

~·HEAT SCORE {37}·  Reunion Island has had twelve recorded shark incidents since 2011, five fatal and the others very serious. Sadly last week a body-surfer was bitten while swimming about 60 feet from shore. For a country that generates a substantial portion of its income through tourism, the ripple-effect of these incidents has been devastating. An island-wide ban on surfing is currently in place, along with a move by authorities to cull 90 sharks along the coast, causing a serious divide between those who think its barbaric and those who think it’s the answer. In other shark news, Jeff Horton, a former boxer and current surfer in Kauai, was enjoying a session near Kilauea (a popular paddling area) when a shark struck him from below. He dodged it, climbed onto the shark’s back and did something totally unexpected: he grabbed a dorsal fin and started punching the shark’s eye, managing to escape with a few scratches, a wild bite mark on his board and the mother of all stories for the grandkids one day.

3. Ian Walsh Surfs Jaws On An Inflatable Hot Dog

~·HEAT SCORE {40}·~ From one mention of Jaws to another… While Robby Naish, Laird Hamilton and other genetically superior ilk constantly impress us all by paddle surfing Jaws Reef, young big wave surfer Ian Walsh recently released a clip of himself getting towed into a few beasts on an inflatable hot-dog. Yes - you read that correctly. After re-watching the clip about ten times or so, we came to the conclusion that a sturdy paddle might have made the experiment more successful - he needed to get in a bit quicker once the ski motors off to the safety of the shoulder. Or not, given the bottom turning potential a floaty provides (or fails to). Anyhow, this takes the art of goofing off to a new level.

2. Supconnect Profile: Donald Miralle

One of Donald Miralle's classic images from the BOP 2013

~·HEAT SCORE {48}·~ This week Supconnect was fortunate to catch up with Donald Miralle: a husband, father, surfer, paddler and one of the most respected sports/travel/lifestyle photographers in the business. With over forty international awards to his name a client base that includes National Geographic, the NFL, Sports Illustrated, UFC and several others, his craft has taken him around the world, to some of the biggest events in sport. In between hopping airplanes to Colorado and Hawaii for different jobs, we managed to button him down for a quick Q and A about the life and times of an award-winning photographer.

1. Nazare comes to life - in a big way

~·HEAT SCORE {55}·~  Again, it’s not SUP news, but anyone with a love for water can appreciate this. Footage of Portuguese big wave spot, Nazare, surfaced on Monday, after Maya Gabeira nearly drowned when she wiped out in what can only be described as mutant surf. We’re not qualified to call how big or round or whatever the waves were - they were just enormous. So big in fact, Brazilian Carlos Burle might be the new record holder for the largest wave ever ridden. Again - we’re not calling this, but the footage is definitely worth a watch. Joining Maya and Carlos was Garrett McNamara (the man who set the previous record there in 2011), who happens to be a pretty decent paddler, too.