Brandon Rahe – Yolo Winter Series Race #4 Report
YOLO Winter Race Series Race #4 March 19th, 2011
Clearwater, Florida has been the home of the YOLO Winter Race Series for 2011. The March 19th event was set to be the final race in the 4 race points series.
Entering the last race, I had two 1st place finishes and a 2nd place finish in the series, and therefore was the points leader. My close competition was really gunning for me on this last race to force a tie in points, and I couldn’t let that happen!
The course was set for 4 miles, out the Sand Key channel, then head South in the Gulf of Mexico, and then the return trip home. The biggest obstacle of the day proved to be dodging fishing lines in the channel, as the fishermen weren’t too keen on 50 SUP paddlers going right through their fishing grounds. A couple of racers definitely went down due to fishing gear!
It was a tight race, and there were a lot of close finishes, which made for an exciting event, but I managed to pull off the 1st place victory for Race #4, which secured my spot as #1 for the Series!
All the competitors had a blast after the race; swapping stories and boards and paddles. I can’t say enough about the SUP camaraderie that exists. It’s unlike any other sport!
There are tons of pictures and video online for this event, so check out some of the action on my Facebook page: friend request me at “Brandon Rahe.”
And of course, my presence in the SUP community wouldn’t be possible without the great love and support of my sponsor STARBOARD
– Brandon Rahe
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