May 22, 2014
by Christopher Parker (@wheresbossman)

Jamie Mitchell, Morgan Hoesterey Win Ghostryders’ Davenport Downwinder As The Wind Fires In NorCal


Davenport Downwind race santa cruz 2014

Davenport Landing, the starting point for the Ghostryders’ Davenport Downwinder (photo credit: Clayton Ryon / Blue Giraffe)

Jamie Mitchell has continued to work his way back into the racing scene, putting on a vintage display to comfortably win the Davenport Downwinder on the weekend, an event hosted by the Ghostryders paddling club out of Santa Cruz.

Not only did JM win the race, he did it on a 12’6 while most of the field were on 14 footers. The 10x World Champ’s time of 1 hour 47 minutes was 3 minutes clear of Matt Becker and over ten minutes clear of third-placed Eric Starnes.

Equally impressive was Morgan Hoesterey, who not only took out the women’s race on a 12’6 but also finished with the sixth-fastest overall time, beating home 90% of the men’s 14′ division while she was at it.

Also doing well was 2013 America’s Cup hero skipper, Jimmy Spithill, who crossed the line 4th overall.

Ghostryders Davenport Downwind SUP race Santa Cruz

Over 120 paddlers lined up for the start, including 50+ on stand ups (photo credit: Rob Born)

The 5th edition of this iconic regional race scored some very nice downwind conditions, with the wind firing along the 16 mile course in Northern California. The race starts at Davenport Landing and heads south, finishing beside the Santa Cruz pier.

Over 120 paddlers took part this year across the SUP, prone, outrigger and surfski divisions.

More coverage on the official Ghostryders page.

There’s an awesome race gallery on Facebook, including some great water shots, thanks to Rob Born.

A bunch of nice photos from Clayton Ryon as well.

Video footage on board with Kenny Howell, one of the surfski guys, gives a pretty good insight into the conditions.

Scroll down for the full results…

Davenport Downwinder SUP Race

Some solid bumps out there… (photo credit: Calyton Ryon / Blue Giraffe)

Jamie Mitchell downwind stand up paddling

Jamie Mitchell feeling right at home in Northern California… (photo credit: Rob Born)


2014 Davenport Downwinder RESULTS

Click “Division” to switch between men’s and women’s results
Click “Time” to reset the results

#NameTimeDivision#
1Jamie Mitchell1:47:59Men's 12'61
2Matt Becker1:50:50Men's 14'1
3Eric Starnes1:58:22Men's 14'2
4Jimmy Spithill2:00:15Men's 14'3
5Jeramie Vaine2:01:17Men's 14'4
6Morgan Hoesterey2:02:40Women's 12'61
7Robi Rousset2:04:37Men's Unlimited1
8Seth Springer2:05:19Men's 14'5
9John Griffith2:05:38Men's Unlimited2
10Hunter Griffith2:06:03Men's Unlimited3
11Bojan Bernard2:06:12Men's 14'6
12Tyler Schmuckle2:06:17Men's 14'7
13John Walsh2:06:22Men's 14'8
14Keith McConnaughay2:06:44Men's 14'9
15Zack Wormhoudt2:07:48Men's 14'10
16Joel Comer2:08:49Men's 14'11
17Tony Mueller2:09:24Men's 14'12
18Matt Evarts2:10:52Men's 14'13
19Dave Jensen2:11:17Men's 14'14
20Vince Longo2:11:54Men's 14'15
21Dusty Wiggins2:12:45Men's 14'16
22John Alexiou2:13:48Men's 14'17
23Jay Gomez2:14:50Men's 14'18
24Greg Welch2:16:32Men's 14'19
25Nevvar Hickmet2:16:34Men's 14'20
26Kalia Alexiou2:16:40Women's 14'1
27Peter DeAvila2:17:08Men's 14'21
28Jean-Michel Trivi2:18:15Men's 14'22
29Jeff Jones2:20:12Men's 14'23
30Kevin Scott2:21:23Men's 14'24
31Mike Irete2:21:27Men's 14'25
32Jen Fuller2:22:23Women's 14'2
33Ogee2:23:42Men's 12'62
34Jean-Michel Rathle2:23:47Men's 12'63
35Eric Diggins2:24:25Men's 12'64
36Grant McFadyen2:25:12Men's 14'26
37Scott Cheney2:26:21Men's 12'65
38Mike Dillon2:26:25Men's 14'27
39Tai Boutell2:27:15Men's 14'28
40Alison Riddle2:27:58Women's 12'62
41Geoff James2:29:25Men's 14'29
42Stephen Pugh2:30:14Men's 14'30
43David Swidan2:32:48Men's 14'31
44Kyle Wade2:33:58Men's 14'32
45Johnny Kessel2:34:14Men's 14'33
46Dino Wilson2:35:00Men's 12'66
47Bill Sullivan2:36:33Men's 12'67
48Dave Rundio2:37:14Men's 14'34
49Alon Altaman2:37:40Men's 14'35
50Guy Dickson2:39:12Men's 14'36
51Valerie Khachadourian2:54:15Women's 14'3
52Phil Tresenrider3:01:05Men's 12'68
53Mike Conway3:11:59Men's 12'69

(click here for results from the prone, outrigger and surfski divisions)