We’ve just wrapped up the second and final day of the 2014 Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge, with Connor Baxter and Annabel Anderson dominating an all-star field in what will surely be remembered as one of 2014’s best events.

After their respective victories in Saturday’s Course Race, the Starboard duo made it a clean sweep by claiming today’s unique “Double Downwind” event. With the winds lighter than usual for the Gorge (but much better than we’d feared last night), the elite field battled their way up the Columbia Gorge in back-to-back downwind runs.

The majority of the world’s top athletes were on show today, which gave us some intense racing and a great spectacle (especially from my vantage point out on the media boat).

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SKIP TO RESULTS: Elite Men – Overall Event Standings | Elite Women – Overall Event Standings | Elite Men’s Double Downwinder | Elite Women’s Double Downwinder | Open Downwinder | Elite Men’s Course Race | Elite Women’s Course Race | Open Men’s Course Race | Open Women’s Course Race | Grom Race – Boys | Grom Race – Girls

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Annabel faced stiff competition from the likes of Angie Jackson and Fiona Wylde, however the Kiwi was too strong on both runs to show there’s no conditions she can’t win in. With two wins today and one yesterday, that’s Annabel’s fourth straight major victory in the span of seven days.

Angie was very impressive and finished second overall, despite a course error on the first run costing her valuable minutes and left her with all the work to do on the second run. Local girl (and defending overall event champion) Fiona Wylde was strong and at times kept pace with Annabel, but couldn’t keep up the heroics for the full 8 mile course.

Sonni, Candice and Andrea were all up there at one point, but couldn’t crack the top three spots in the combined times from both runs.

Also Morgan Hoesterey gets special mention for doing almost the entire second run without her fin… Fighting Spirit Award.

In the men’s race it was all Connor. Despite being up against the powerhouse trio of Georges Cronsteadt, Travis Grant and Danny Ching, Connor used every last bit of energy to claim both of today’s downwind runs.

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RELIVE THE ACTION WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

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Travis, Georges, Danny and Jake were the only ones able to get anywhere near Connor, but the Maui superstar managed to pull away each time he was attacked to win comfortably on both runs. Connor looked absolutely exhausted this afternoon but he can now proudly say he’s won four major races in the past seven days.

Connor also took the overall “Waterman Champion” trophy (along with Annabel taking the title of “Waterwoman Champion”), which was based on combined times from the Course Race + Double Downwinder, yet required absolutely zero calculation because nobody passed this guy all weekend.

Travis and Georges had a great duel all day, with the Tahitian eventually overpowering the Aussie to claim the runner-up position. Danny Ching was in contention in both downwinders but struggled to hold the pace of the top three during the middle parts of the run. Jake Jensen fell back to 5th on the first leg but came home strongly on the second run to leapfrog Danny into 4th place overall.

One of the pre-event contenders, Kai Lenny pulled out from the event this morning citing exhaustion from his hectic travel schedule (as well as perhaps from babysitting 200+ kids on Friday afternoon at the Positively Kai event).

Particularly impressive was Bruno Tauhiro, the unheralded Tahitian who came out of nowhere to claim over a dozen big scalps this weekend. Bruno has spent the past eight years racing with the almight Shell Va’a team (the undisputed kings of six-man outrigger racing) and is now transitioning into SUP, similar to the path taken by Georges Cronsteadt. It’s quite a scary prospect to think there’s probably another 100 guys like Georges and Bruno waiting in Tahiti…

That also means that Tahiti had two of the top six men today, along with Australia and the USA. This could be a sign of a tri-nations dominance emerging on the men’s side of the sport…

The racing has literally just finished and we’ve got an SIC after party to get to, so full recap, results and pics coming soon.

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RELIVE THE ACTION WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

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ELITE WOMEN’S DOUBLE DOWNWINDER

Course: 7.7 miles
Conditions: Moderate wind. Not an all-time downwinder but very contestable
Boards: 12’6

#	Name	Downwind 1	Downwind 2	Overall
1	Annabel Anderson	1:15:01	1:20:48	2:35:49
2	Angela Jackson	1:17:25	1:22:02	2:39:27
3	Fiona Wylde	1:16:29	1:23:39	2:40:08
4	Candice Appleby	1:16:36	1:25:01	2:41:37
5	Sonni Hönscheid	1:19:34	1:23:12	2:42:46
6	Andrea Moller	1:17:42	1:28:01	2:45:43
7	Lina Augaitis	1:21:41	1:25:07	2:46:48
8	Shae Foudy	1:21:58	1:29:28	2:51:26
9	Shannon Bell	1:23:15	1:28:13	2:51:28
10	Devin Blish	1:22:11	1:29:18	2:51:29
11	Talia Decoite	1:22:34	1:31:01	2:53:35
12	Jennifer Lee	1:23:48	1:29:54	2:53:42
13	Alyson Fromm	1:25:36	1:34:42	3:00:18
14	Morgan Hoesterey	1:21:24	1:43:24	3:04:48
15	Kelsa Gabeheart	1:27:06	DNS	3:30:30

ELITE MEN’S DOUBLE DOWNWINDER

Course: 7.7 miles
Conditions: Moderate wind
Boards: 14′

#	Name	Downwind 1	Downwind 2	Overall
1	Connor Baxter	1:02:39	1:09:03	2:11:42
2	Georges Cronsteadt	1:03:32	1:09:41	2:13:13
3	Travis Grant	1:03:36	1:10:16	2:13:52
4	Jake Jensen	1:04:55	1:11:26	2:16:21
5	Danny Ching	1:04:23	1:12:07	2:16:30
6	Bruno Tauhiro	1:05:37	1:13:14	2:18:51
7	Andrew Logreco	1:06:00	1:14:44	2:20:44
8	Chase Kosterlitz	1:07:23	1:13:49	2:21:12
9	Travis Baptiste	1:06:45	1:15:18	2:22:03
10	Slater Trout	1:07:49	1:16:01	2:23:50
11	Kody Kerbox	1:07:30	1:18:36	2:26:06
12	Arthur Daniel	1:09:33	1:17:50	2:27:23
13	Paul Jackson	1:07:05	1:21:41	2:28:46
14	Riggs Napoleon	1:06:34	1:22:27	2:29:01
15	Belar Diaz	1:10:40	1:20:45	2:31:25
16	Javier Jimenez	1:12:31	1:19:20	2:31:51
17	Fernando Stalla	1:11:10	1:22:40	2:33:50
18	Ingo Rademacher	1:12:08	1:23:07	2:35:15
19	Thomas Maximus	1:12:58	1:23:58	2:36:56
20	Noa Ginella	1:13:26	1:24:31	2:37:57
21	Jan Boersma	1:12:10	1:25:50	2:38:00
22	James Casey	1:12:52	1:25:52	2:38:44
23	Jerry Bess	1:13:42	1:25:58	2:39:40
24	Derek Fromm	1:16:10	1:23:37	2:39:47
25	James Donovan	1:15:01	1:25:30	2:40:31
26	Chuck Patterson	1:14:35	1:26:06	2:40:41
27	Matt Parker	1:14:03	1:26:54	2:40:57
28	Jarkko Simonen	1:13:52	1:27:43	2:41:35
29	Livio Menelau	1:13:39	1:28:39	2:42:18
30	Billy Miller	1:16:59	1:27:15	2:44:14
31	Mike Tavares	1:15:34	1:28:56	2:44:30
32	Art Aquino	1:14:20	1:31:52	2:46:12
33	Anthony Vela	1:15:10	1:32:37	2:47:47
34	Brendan Light	1:17:29	1:30:42	2:48:11
35	Gary Parsons	1:18:36	1:29:53	2:48:29
36	Mike Darbyshire	1:16:32	1:32:02	2:48:34
37	E.J. Johnson	1:19:16	1:29:31	2:48:47
38	Macrae Wylde	1:18:17	1:31:32	2:49:49
39	Jason Bennett	1:18:43	1:32:12	2:50:55
40	Scott Vande Vusse	1:19:29	1:34:11	2:53:40
41	Gregg Leion	1:17:38	1:36:04	2:53:42
42	Jake Clement	1:20:31	1:33:22	2:53:53
43	Ford Huntington	1:18:53	1:35:23	2:54:16
44	Brett Saguid	1:20:08	1:34:11	2:54:19
45	Seth Springer	1:20:00	1:34:35	2:54:35
46	Tyler Tschritter	1:19:56	1:34:50	2:54:46
47	Dave Boehne	1:17:51	1:38:08	2:55:59
48	Rob Dies	1:20:35	1:37:05	2:57:40
49	Garrett Fletcher	1:24:12	1:34:19	2:58:31
50	Lance Leasure	1:21:31	1:37:11	2:58:42
51	Kelvin Humenny	1:23:08	1:36:36	2:59:44
52	Matt Campbell	1:26:27	1:47:18	3:13:45
53	Matt Lennert	1:28:03	1:49:21	3:17:24
54	Josh Riccio	1:08:21	DNS	3:30:30
55	John Beausang	1:27:41	no time?	3:30:30
56	Chance Fielder	1:13:49	DNS	3:30:30
57	Justin Langlais	1:24:59	DNS	3:30:30
58	Joshua Schiffer	1:28:20	DNS	3:30:30
59	Spencer Slaven	1:21:50	DNS	3:30:30
60	Timothy Smith	DNS	1:25:41	3:30:30

OPEN DOWNWINDER

Course: 7.7 miles
Conditions: Moderate wind
Click “Class” to show results from 12’6, 14 and Unlimited

#	Name	Time	Class	#	Age
1	Scott Trudon	1:10:26	Unlimited	1	55
2	Braly Joy	1:16:02	Unlimited	2	43
3	Alain Teurquetil	1:17:07	14	1	52
4	Kristian Mulholland	1:18:22	14	2	40
5	Jon Davies	1:18:32	14	3	48
6	Matt Spencer	1:18:50	14	4	31
7	Corey Lotnick	1:19:45	14	5	45
8	Doug Hopkins	1:20:06	14	6	53
9	Adam Cole	1:20:09	14	7	33
10	Tj Gulizia	1:21:27	14	8	38
11	Brody Welte	1:21:27	14	9	38
12	Dwayne Lotnick	1:21:36	14	10	53
13	Ryan Knysh	1:21:40	14	11	27
14	Bob Rueter	1:21:48	14	12	55
15	Tim Quarles	1:21:53	14	13	55
16	Ben Wright	1:21:58	14	14	34
17	Bruce Barry	1:22:05	12'6	1	63
18	Mariano Rossini	1:22:13	14	15	40
19	Leif Bergstrom	1:22:33	14	16	17
20	Jeff Bigler	1:23:06	14	17	37
21	Dave Billenness	1:23:11	12'6	2	45
22	Sofia Dewolfe	1:23:57	F14	1	19
23	Christopher Van Tilburg	1:24:26	14	18	48
24	Lucas Hansen	1:24:42	14	19	34
25	Anthony Scaturo	1:24:53	Unlimited	3	44
26	James Thesiger	1:25:37	12'6	3	34
27	Evan Derdowski	1:25:47	14	20	26
28	Kelly Bockins	1:26:02	14	21	52
29	Pablo Bori	1:26:18	14	22	38
30	Brian Tracy	1:26:21	14	23	31
31	Scott Lakusiak	1:26:59	14	24	41
32	Nick Stuart	1:27:11	14	25	33
33	Nakoa Decoite	1:27:23	14	26	26
34	Sean Thomas	1:27:30	14	27	37
35	Richard Gadoury	1:27:43	14	28	40
36	Forrest Wells	1:27:46	14	29	34
37	Ian Light	1:27:58	12'6	4	15
38	Brook Staples	1:28:36	14	30	46
39	Layne Stambaugh	1:28:53	14	31	31
40	Scott Burton	1:29:09	14	32	38
41	Jim Moore	1:29:34	Men's Surf	1	56
42	Jeff Parker	1:29:41	14	33	52
43	Bonnie Fromm	1:30:10	F14	2	52
44	Eric Nordstrom	1:30:13	14	34	47
45	Kim Rueter	1:30:21	F14	3	44
46	Vetea Boersma	1:30:56	12'6	5	13
47	Jason Lexa	1:31:01	12'6	6	39
48	Andrew Cropley	1:31:08	14	35	31
49	Corey Dolan	1:31:22	14	36	32
50	Steve Petersen	1:31:36	12'6	7	53
51	Grant Begley	1:31:42	14	37	33
52	Luke Allen	1:31:53	12'6	8	13
53	Nick Ogilvie	1:32:01	14	38	30
54	Oscar Maciel	1:32:17	14	39	44
55	Randall Barna	1:32:24	14	40	64
56	Daniel Fischer	1:32:28	14	41	16
57	Aj Kitt	1:32:32	14	42	45
58	Larry Phillips	1:33:43	14	43	45
59	Bill Babcock	1:34:00	Unlimited	4	67
61	Jason Wegrzyniak	1:34:06	14	44	33
60	Amy Staples	1:34:06	F14	4	44
62	Andrew Mcelderry	1:34:28	14	45	48
63	Savannah Boersma	1:34:30	F12'6	1	17
64	Eli Fischbuch	1:34:38	12'6	9	16
65	Glenn Haupt	1:34:43	14	46	48
66	Pelle Bergstrom	1:34:48	12'6	10	13
67	Jerry Ohlson	1:34:51	14	47	52
68	Hannah Hill	1:35:02	12'6	11	14
69	Matt Knysh	1:35:10	12'6	12	23
70	Rhys Staples	1:35:11	12'6	13	12
71	Sam Davies	1:35:17	F12'6	2	16
72	Thomas Burke	1:35:44	14	48	57
73	Mitch Billets	1:35:51	14	49	21
74	Rafael Kolic	1:35:52	14	50	38
75	Diego Tron	1:37:02	14	51	22
76	Clay Halverson	1:37:07	12'6	14	49
77	Burch Ault	1:37:11	14	52	19
78	Erin Mayer	1:37:16	F12'6	3	16
79	Tyler Staggs	1:37:30	14	53	35
80	Alison Wood	1:37:50	F14	5	45
81	D Pedersen	1:37:57	14	54	47
82	Liam Cursley	1:38:15	12'6	15	14
83	Dave Larkman	1:38:22	14	55	71
84	John Allen	1:38:26	14	56	53
85	Rose Appel	1:38:41	F12'6	4	34
86	Dean Brewer	1:39:05	14	57	48
87	Coby Howell	1:39:13	12'6	16	40
88	Adam Jossem	1:39:27	14	58	35
89	Victoria Hopkins	1:40:26	F12'6	5	41
90	Joseph Morgan	1:40:49	Men's Surf	2	57
91	Matix Springer	1:41:06	12'6	17	12
92	Maria Randle	1:41:40	F14	6	49
93	Brad Wilkins	1:41:58	12'6	18	43
94	Bernard Boglioli	1:42:04	14	59	61
95	Judy Shasek	1:42:53	F14	7	65
96	Sonny Schierl	1:42:55	14	60	45
97	Jessica Cichra	1:43:15	F12'6	6	32
98	Scott Thomas	1:43:28	14	61	39
99	Benjamin Russell	1:43:40	12'6	19	40
100	Travis Ronk	1:44:06	12'6	20	47
101	Charlie Sutherland	1:44:11	Prone	1	16
102	Erin Sutherland	1:44:22	F12'6	7	14
103	Mike Dawley	1:44:32	14	62	44
104	Kaden Sponhauer	1:44:40	12'6	21	13
105	Mia Wheatley-Maltais	1:44:51	F12'6	8	13
106	Tatiana Bigler	1:45:40	F12'6	9	33
107	Rhona Lotnick	1:45:45	F12'6	10	45
108	Richard Fernand	1:45:57	12'6	22	45
109	Ashlee Redfern	1:47:14	F12'6	11	32
110	Jane Staples	1:47:57	F12'6	12	12
111	Alexandru Pricope	1:48:44	14	63	47
112	Buck Schrey	1:49:08	14	64	42
113	Susie Inkpen	1:51:30	F12'6	13	32
114	Edward Shasek	1:52:04	14	65	64
115	Steven Baldwin	1:52:14	14	66	57
116	Jared Power	1:52:25	14	67	53
117	Mike Billets	1:53:02	12'6	23	57
118	Sean Couvreux	1:53:09	Men's Surf	3	35
119	Lars Bergstrom	1:53:16	Prone	6	45
120	Marcus Ashby	1:53:30	Unlimited	5	30
121	Tinker Hatfield	1:53:50	14	68	55
122	Estani Bori	1:54:48	12'6	24	10
123	Taegen Campbell	1:54:57	12'6	25	12
124	Jude Russell	1:55:00	F12'6	14	70
125	Sam Fitz-James	1:55:12	12'6	26	12
126	Daisy Dolan	1:58:22	F12'6	15	15
127	Rayna Morton	2:00:33	Women's Surf	1	32
128	Sage Heyer	2:02:00	F12'6	16	11
129	Graison Poledxia	2:02:53	12'6	27	10
130	Trevor Bozina	2:05:39	Men's Surf	4	30
131	Ashley Orr	2:05:55	Women's Surf	2	40
132	Tee Wolf	2:07:44	F14	8	58
133	Jim Aproberts	2:08:20	12'6	28	67
134	Kathy Brewer	2:13:59	F12'6	17	49

ELITE WOMEN’S OVERALL

Combined times from the Course Race + Double Downwinder
CT Points = Champions Tour Ranking Points

#	Name	DW 1	DW 2	DW Total	Course	OVERALL	CT Points
1	Annabel Anderson	1:15:01	1:20:48	2:35:49	1:01:53	3:37:42	100
2	Angela Jackson	1:17:25	1:22:02	2:39:27	1:04:21	3:43:48	75
3	Candice Appleby	1:16:36	1:25:01	2:41:37	1:03:20	3:44:57	60
4	Fiona Wylde	1:16:29	1:23:39	2:40:08	1:05:47	3:45:55	50
5	Sonni Hönscheid	1:19:34	1:23:12	2:42:46	1:04:18	3:47:04	42.5
6	Lina Augaitis	1:21:41	1:25:07	2:46:48	1:02:21	3:49:09	35
7	Shae Foudy	1:21:58	1:29:28	2:51:26	1:05:00	3:56:26	30
8	Shannon Bell	1:23:15	1:28:13	2:51:28	1:05:54	3:57:22	25
9	Jennifer Lee	1:23:48	1:29:54	2:53:42	1:08:08	4:01:50	22.5
10	Alyson Fromm	1:25:36	1:34:42	3:00:18	1:08:01	4:08:19	20
11	Kelsa Gabeheart	1:27:06	DNS	NA	1:08:25	NA	18
12	Andrea Moller	1:17:42	1:28:01	2:45:43	DNS	NA	16
13	Devin Blish	1:22:11	1:29:18	2:51:29	DNS	NA	15
14	Talia Decoite	1:22:34	1:31:01	2:53:35	DNS	NA	14
15	Morgan Hoesterey	1:21:24	1:43:24	3:04:48	DNS	NA	13

ELITE MEN’S OVERALL

Combined times from the Course Race + Double Downwinder
CT Points = Champions Tour Ranking Points

#	Name	DW1	DW2	DW Total	Course	OVERALL	CT Points
1	Connor Baxter	1:02:39	1:09:03	2:11:42	0:56:02	3:07:44	100
2	Georges Cronsteadt	1:03:32	1:09:41	2:13:13	0:56:22	3:09:35	75
3	Travis Grant	1:03:36	1:10:16	2:13:52	0:56:11	3:10:03	60
4	Danny Ching	1:04:23	1:12:07	2:16:30	0:56:15	3:12:45	50
5	Jake Jensen	1:04:55	1:11:26	2:16:21	0:57:10	3:13:31	42.5
6	Bruno Tauhiro	1:05:37	1:13:14	2:18:51	0:58:28	3:17:19	35
7	Chase Kosterlitz	1:07:23	1:13:49	2:21:12	0:58:03	3:19:15	30
8	Andrew Logreco	1:06:00	1:14:44	2:20:44	1:00:20	3:21:04	25
9	Slater Trout	1:07:49	1:16:01	2:23:50	0:58:16	3:22:06	22.5
10	Kody Kerbox	1:07:30	1:18:36	2:26:06	0:56:31	3:22:37	20
11	Travis Baptiste	1:06:45	1:15:18	2:22:03	1:01:25	3:23:28	18
12	Arthur Daniel	1:09:33	1:17:50	2:27:23	0:57:22	3:24:45	16
13	Paul Jackson	1:07:05	1:21:41	2:28:46	0:58:22	3:27:08	15
14	Riggs Napoleon	1:06:34	1:22:27	2:29:01	1:01:13	3:30:14	14
15	Javier Jimenez	1:12:31	1:19:20	2:31:51	0:59:53	3:31:44	13
16	Fernando Stalla	1:11:10	1:22:40	2:33:50	0:58:42	3:32:32	12
17	Belar Diaz	1:10:40	1:20:45	2:31:25	1:02:34	3:33:59	11
18	Thomas Maximus	1:12:58	1:23:58	2:36:56	1:00:08	3:37:04	10
19	Ingo Rademacher	1:12:08	1:23:07	2:35:15	1:01:55	3:37:10	9
20	James Casey	1:12:52	1:25:52	2:38:44	1:01:07	3:39:51	8
21	Jerry Bess	1:13:42	1:25:58	2:39:40	1:01:30	3:41:10	7.5
22	Derek Fromm	1:16:10	1:23:37	2:39:47	1:01:32	3:41:19	7
23	James Donovan	1:15:01	1:25:30	2:40:31	1:01:30	3:42:01	6.5
24	Jan Boersma	1:12:10	1:25:50	2:38:00	1:04:17	3:42:17	6
25	Chuck Patterson	1:14:35	1:26:06	2:40:41	1:01:44	3:42:25	5.5
26	Jarkko Simonen	1:13:52	1:27:43	2:41:35	1:01:41	3:43:16	5.2
27	Matt Parker	1:14:03	1:26:54	2:40:57	1:02:44	3:43:41	4.9
28	Billy Miller	1:16:59	1:27:15	2:44:14	1:01:28	3:45:42	4.6
29	Mike Tavares	1:15:34	1:28:56	2:44:30	1:01:21	3:45:51	4.3
30	Mike Darbyshire	1:16:32	1:32:02	2:48:34	1:01:35	3:50:09	4
31	Brendan Light	1:17:29	1:30:42	2:48:11	1:02:29	3:50:40	3.8
32	E.J. Johnson	1:19:16	1:29:31	2:48:47	1:02:53	3:51:40	3.6
33	Gary Parsons	1:18:36	1:29:53	2:48:29	1:03:26	3:51:55	3.4
34	Jason Bennett	1:18:43	1:32:12	2:50:55	1:03:27	3:54:22	3.2
35	Brett Saguid	1:20:08	1:34:11	2:54:19	1:01:42	3:56:01	3
36	Jake Clement	1:20:31	1:33:22	2:53:53	1:02:40	3:56:33	2.8
37	Ford Huntington	1:18:53	1:35:23	2:54:16	1:03:12	3:57:28	2.6
38	Scott Vande Vusse	1:19:29	1:34:11	2:53:40	1:04:52	3:58:32	2.4
39	Tyler Tschritter	1:19:56	1:34:50	2:54:46	1:04:47	3:59:33	2.2
40	Garrett Fletcher	1:24:12	1:34:19	2:58:31	1:02:13	4:00:44	2
41	Kelvin Humenny	1:23:08	1:36:36	2:59:44	1:05:01	4:04:45	1.9
42	Josh Riccio	1:08:21	DNS	3:30:30	1:01:21	4:31:51	1.8
43	Chance Fielder	1:13:49	DNS	3:30:30	1:01:59	4:32:29	1.7
44	Spencer Slaven	1:21:50	DNS	3:30:30	1:02:01	4:32:31	1.6
45	Kai Lenny	DNS	DNS	NA	0:58:18	NA	1.5
46	Adam Jossem	DNS	DNS	NA	1:12:06	NA	1.4
47	Brian Frost	DNS	DNS	NA	1:15:21	NA	1.3
48	Noa Ginella	1:13:26	1:24:31	2:37:57	DNF	NA	1.2
49	Livio Menelau	1:13:39	1:28:39	2:42:18	DNS	NA	1.1
50	Art Aquino	1:14:20	1:31:52	2:46:12	DNS	NA	1
51	Anthony Vela	1:15:10	1:32:37	2:47:47	DNS	NA	0
52	Macrae Wylde	1:18:17	1:31:32	2:49:49	DNS	NA	0
53	Gregg Leion	1:17:38	1:36:04	2:53:42	DNS	NA	0
54	Seth Springer	1:20:00	1:34:35	2:54:35	DNS	NA	0
55	Dave Boehne	1:17:51	1:38:08	2:55:59	DNS	NA	0
56	Rob Dies	1:20:35	1:37:05	2:57:40	DNS	NA	0
57	Lance Leasure	1:21:31	1:37:11	2:58:42	DNS	NA	0
58	Matt Campbell	1:26:27	1:47:18	3:13:45	DNS	NA	0
59	Matt Lennert	1:28:03	1:49:21	3:17:24	DNS	NA	0
60	John Beausang	1:27:41	no time?	3:30:30	DNS	NA	0
61	Justin Langlais	1:24:59	DNS	3:30:30	DNS	NA	0
62	Joshua Schiffer	1:28:20	DNS	3:30:30	DNS	NA	0
63	Timothy Smith	DNS	1:25:41	3:30:30	DNS	NA	0

---

DAY 1 UPDATE…

>>> FOLLOW THE ACTION ON DAY TWO WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

Day One of the Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge is over and it was a familiar sight on the podium this afternoon, with Annabel Anderson and Connor Baxter winning the women’s and men’s Elite Course Races respectively.

On a sunny, hot, windless day here in Hood River, Oregon, most of the world’s best paddlers lined up at the start for the 5-lap, 5-mile course race. After first the Super Groms and then the Junior and Open Women and Men had entertained the crowd, after lunch it was time for the big guns to take over.

This event will probably go down as the single most competitive race ever held outside of Dana Point, with a virtual who’s who of the paddling world in town for the 4th annual Gorge Paddle Challenge.

Set against a beautiful backdrop of a wide open river and beautiful mountains, the Gorge race lived up to its pre-event hype by delivering an absolute cracker of a contest between all-star athletes such as Annabel Anderson, Candice Appleby, Lina Augaitis, Danny Ching, Connor Baxter, Travis Grant, Georges Cronsteadt and Kai Lenny.

Pretty much all the big names were in town and the assembled crowd down here at the Hood River Waterfront Park were treated to quite a show. Flat water racing isn’t always the most interesting affair, however this year’s Gorge Course Race won’t soon be forgotten. The very cool “Athlete Introductions” that kicked off proceedings (where each entrant was introduced one-by-one) were a novel touch and a good sign of the entertainment that was to come out on the water.

First up it was the women’s race, where Candice Appleby flew out of the gates to set the pace on the opening lap. Going with her was Lina Augaitis and Annabel Anderson, while Fiona Wylde, Angie Jackson, Sonni Hönscheid, Shae Foudy and Shannon Bell were dropped towards the end of the first round.

>>> FOLLOW THE ACTION ON DAY TWO WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

Candice pushed hard early and clearly had a point to prove, however it was almost inevitable that Annabel would take over at some point. That happened about one third into the race, when the hard-training, no-fuss Kiwi put the hammer down to first pass, then gap the former BOP Queen Candice. Lina Augaitis had been bravely hanging on to the lead two – losing ground at each buoy turn (not Lina’s strong point) before sprinting to get back on their tail in the flat stretches – but didn’t have the speed or stamina to go with Annabel.

By the mid way part of the race the result was clear: Annabel had established a strong gap and didn’t look back. The lead was around 30 seconds by the start of the fourth lap and would stay that way until the end. Candice and Lina were locked in a close tussle for second, however Candice’s fast pace early eventually caught up with her: Candice started tiring, Lina started surging and the first three positions were decided halfway through the final lap.

It was an all-star performance from Annabel Anderson, cementing her position as the undisputed #1 woman in the world, just six days after she showed her class at Waikiki to win the big Showdown event.

Angie and Sonni worked hard to try and close the gap, while Shae bravely held on to their tails for much of the race. It was a long, hot, grinding affair out there today, so hats off to everyone that zipped around the course with so much determination.

Scroll down for FULL RESULTS…

Behind the leading trio it was a great battle for 4th: Molokai champ Sonni Hönscheid was going back and forth with Aussie star Angie Jackson, while young up-and-comer Shae Foudy bravely hung on to their tails. Eventually the older duo dropped the youngster, before sprinting to the line where Sonni just pipped Angie for the 4th step on the five-woman podium.

Coming home in 7th place was local hero and defending event champion Fiona Wylde, with Canada’s Shannon Bell in 8th and Alyson Fromm, Jen Lee and Kelsa Gabeheart rounding out the elite field.

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After the women had finished it was straight into the men’s race. This was always going to be an epic battle, with at least two dozen world-class contenders on the start line.

As the horn went it was Danny Ching taking the early lead, rounding the first buoy ahead of Jake Jensen and Kai Lenny. Pre-race favourite Connor Baxter had a shocking start, relegating himself to 15th or 20th in the opening seconds and having to quickly fight his way back through the pack.

Within the first kilometre the lead 20-30 guys had started forming into a train. Danny looked strong out front, Jake Jensen was holding his wash while Travis Grant moved up into a safe third position. One of the other big favourites, Tahiti’s Georges Cronsteadt, was sitting comfortable in 4th or 5th for much of the opening stanza.

However the big surprise early was the performance (or lack of) from Kai Lenny. Definitely one of the pre-race contenders, Kai was perhaps feeling the effects of babysitting 200+ kids the night before (courtesy of his Positively Kai event), falling from third to fourth to fifth to sixth to seventh to eight… Before eventually being dropped by the lead group of seven guys.

It was quite a sight to see this young superstar hitting the wall so early. I’m not quite sure what happened but Kai looked absolutely spent by the end of the first lap. Amazingly, he fought back over the next 45 minutes to hold his position inside the Top 10 – it was almost as if he ran out of gas early before gaining a second wind.

>>> FOLLOW THE ACTION ON DAY TWO WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

So after the first of five laps the race was set: There were seven guys in the lead pack (Danny, Jake, Travis, Connor, Georges, Kody Kerbox and Arthur Daniel), with another six guys chasing (Kai Lenny, Slater Trout, Paul Jackson, Chase Kosterlitz, the #1 Dark Horse – Bruno Tauhito from Tahiti and Fernando Stalla, who had to fight hard to connect with the second group after a horror start put him well down the order).

Behind those top 13 there was a 20-man battle for the minor placings inside the top 20. Such was the depth of this field that at one point we were calling big names such as Riggs Napoleon as sitting outside the top two dozen.

It was a huge effort from the four big guns (Connor, Danny, Travis and Georges – I’d usually throw Kai in there as well but he was having an uncharacteristic race today), while Jake Jensen showed his potential in the first four laps, Kody showed he’s the defending champ for a reason and Frenchman Arthur Daniel surprised everyone (except for everyone in France) by sticking with the leaders for 90% of the race.

During the middle stretch of the battle little changed: The top seven guys held their form while the next group of six chasers tried everything but couldn’t close the gap at all. The distance was at a good minute by the time they hit the final round and that’s where it got interesting.

There was a crazy snake quite literally filling the entire course, with the leaders eventually lapping some of the backmarkers and paddlers spread out all around the 1 mile, 7-buoy course. They were even spread out onto the sidelines, with Noa Ginella unfortunately retiring hurt on the second lap, though as a consolation he had one of the best possible views of the race, opting to stay out on the course, sitting on his board and watching his mates go flying by each lap.

As the paddlers rounded the inside buoys on this unique flat water course here in the Gorge, to signal the start of the final lap, everything went haywire. Groups started splintering, train drivers started getting overtaken by their passengers and the whole rhythm was suddenly broken.

Scroll down for FULL RESULTS…

In the front group it was still Danny Ching setting a mean pace, however on the back straight of the final lap we saw Connor Baxter and then Travis Grant make attacking moves.

Connor eventually wrestled control of the lead from Danny and Trav with about 600 metres to go. At this point we saw Arthur get dropped, the Frenchman’s brave campaign finally coming to end. Shortly thereafter young Jake Jensen from Australia lost contact with the leaders, whittling the lead pack down to five guys (Connor, Danny, Travis, Georges and Kody).

Kody Kerbox was supremely impressive out there today. He won the overall Gorge Paddle Challenge title twelve months ago but that was against a much shallower field. I don’t think many pundits had given Kody a chance going into this weekend, however I for one was stoked to see the Maui youngster going toe-to-toe with the worlds’ best.

As the lead five rounded the fourth last buoy of the race, Danny Ching was hit from behind by Georges Cronsteadt, throwing the fluro green-hatted man into the water and allowing Connor to make a fast break. Travis Grant went around the outside of the carnage while Kody went up the inside. At one point Kody actually sprinted into second position, however he may have made his move too soon, eventually tiring and being passed by Travis, Danny and Georges.

>>> FOLLOW THE ACTION ON DAY TWO WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

But Connor didn’t tire and he never looked back, making the most of his slight gap to sprint away from the field over the final few hundred metres. For the second time in six days, he would stand atop the podium with his Starboard teammate Annabel Anderson to share a hard-fought victory over the world’s best paddlers.

Behind Connor there was a sprint for second: Travis and Danny were side by side with 100 metres to go, however Travis milked the tiniest of bumps on the ride home to claim the runner-up spot by a single board length. Georges Cronsteadt was right behind those two in 4th spot, showing he deserves his spot among the Big Five, while Kody Kerbox came home for a well deserved 5th place.

Jake Jensen held onto 6th while Arthur Daniel remained in 7th, with a fast-finishing Chase Kosterlitz breaking the second pack on the final lap to take 8th.

Kai Lenny and Slater Trout had gone back and forth over the second half of the race, with the two locked in a sprint to the line. Eventually it was Slater who edged ahead, with Kai crossing in 10th place and perhaps feeling the effects of his incredible, rockstar-like travel schedule this past year or two.

Coming home 11th was Paul Jackson, who had an excellent race and finished well ahead of several of his close rivals. Jacko puts more effort into his paddling than just about anyone, so it was good to see him rewarded with a finish close to the front groups. Behind Jacko it was the absolute dark horse of the event, Tahiti’s Bruno Tauhiro. Bruno is a complete unknown in the stand up paddling world, however he’s a borderline god in the world of outrigger, being one of the lead paddlers for the almighty Shell Va’a team (basically the dream team in the world of six-man outrigger racing).

Bruno did show his freshness to the world of SUP racing though: He was slow around the buoys and didn’t seem to enjoy wash riding (drafting), instead sitting off to the side in his own clean water. But the fact he did most of the race on his own and still held the pace of the big guns, without drafting, showed us just how scary it’s going to be when the Tahitian outrigger paddling machines decide to cross over into stand up.

In 13th it was Fernando Stalla, who’d fought hard on the opening two laps to connect with the second pack but had clearly spent too much in doing so. Not far behind was Fernando’s Sayulita comrade, Javier ‘Bicho’ Jimenez, who’d been locked in a no-mans-land battle with Thomas Maximus and Andrew Logreco for much of the race. Behind that trio were another 15 guys battling for the final few spots inside the top 20.

Scroll down for FULL RESULTS…

This really was a massively stacked field: Making the top 10 was a huge achievement; hell even making the top 20 deserved a medal. Outside of the Battle of the Paddle, I’d say this was the most competitive men’s SUP race ever seen.

And this was only half of it…

Actually not even half of it: The Course Race represented just one-third of the overall Gorge Paddle Challenge event, with tomorrow’s unique ‘Double Downwinder’ helping decide the overall event standings.

However if the wind is as light tomorrow as it is today, there will be an inevitable change to the format. The Columbia Gorge here in Hood River, Oregon is famous for its winds but it was dead flat out there today. Hopefully the wind starts macking in the morning, but if not the organisers are in for a tough decision: The Double Downwinder will be no fun if it’s 2x races up-stream against the current (downwinders here in the Gorge quite literally go up-stream).

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While we’ll all be crossing our fingers the forecast is 50/50 at best, so I guess we’ll wake up in the morning and see how it looks. My call is we’ll see a single downwinder run in the early afternoon when the winds pick up somewhat.

Until then our big congratulations go out to Connor Baxter and Annael Anderson, who once again showed they’re virtually unstoppable.

But it’s not all over: Times from all three races will be combined, so the guys and girls currently filling the minor placings still have a chance to make up the ground. So if you wanna see how it all unfolds tomorrow (Sunday), then tune in for our LIVE BLOG presented by Quickblade Paddles at around 11am local time (Pacific Time).

Until then, here’s a pic of a guy (Matt) and his dog (Hunter), who didn’t go anywhere near winning the race today but probably got a bigger cheer than 99% of the other competitors. Awesome to see:

 

>>> FOLLOW THE ACTION ON DAY TWO WITH OUR GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE LIVE BLOG

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2014 Gorge Paddle Challenge RESULTS

ELITE WOMEN’S COURSE RACE

Course: Approximately 5 miles
Conditions: Dead flat and glassy
Boards: 12’6

#	Name	Time	Age
1	Annabel Anderson	1:01:53	33
2	Lina Augaitis	1:02:21	33
3	Candice Appleby	1:03:20	28
4	Sonni Hönscheid	1:04:18	33
5	Angela Jackson	1:04:21	38
6	Shae Foudy	1:05:00	15
7	Fiona Wylde	1:05:47	17
8	Shannon Bell	1:05:54	40
9	Alyson Fromm	1:08:01	20
10	Jennifer Lee	1:08:08	33
11	Kelsa Gabehart	1:08:25	34

ELITE MEN’S COURSE RACE

Course: Approximately 5 miles
Conditions: Dead flat and glassy
Boards: 14′

#	Name	Time	Age
1	Connor Baxter	0:56:02	19
2	Travis Grant	0:56:11	31
3	Danny Ching	0:56:15	31
4	Georges Cronsteadt	0:56:22	34
5	Kody Kerbox	0:56:31	20
6	Jake Jensen	0:57:10	19
7	Arthur Daniel	0:57:22	18
8	Chase Kosterlitz	0:58:03	28
9	Slater Trout	0:58:16	19
10	Kai Lenny	0:58:18	21
11	Paul Jackson	0:58:22	38
12	Bruno Tauhiro	0:58:28	32
13	Fernando Stalla	0:58:42	27
14	Javier 'Bicho' Jimenez	0:59:53	19
15	Thomas Maximus	1:00:08	45
16	Andrew Logreco	1:00:20	30
17	James Casey	1:01:07	22
18	Riggs Napoleon	1:01:13	16
19	Josh Riccio	1:01:21	25
20	Michael Tavares	1:01:21	31
21	Travis Baptiste	1:01:25	40
22	Billy Miller	1:01:28	29
23	James Donovan	1:01:30	23
24	Jerry Bess	1:01:30	49
25	Derek Fromm	1:01:32	17
26	Mike Darbyshire	1:01:35	27
27	Jarkko Simonen	1:01:41	35
28	Brett Saguid	1:01:42	37
29	Chuck Patterson	1:01:44	45
30	Ingo Rademacher	1:01:55	42
31	Chance Fielder	1:01:59	42
32	Spencer Slaven-Lazzar	1:02:01	26
33	Garrett Fletcher	1:02:13	23
34	Brendan Light	1:02:29	19
35	Belar Diaz	1:02:34	37
36	Jake Clement	1:02:40	20
37	Matt Parker	1:02:44	35
38	E.J. Johnson	1:02:53	51
39	Ford Huntington	1:03:12	18
40	Gary Parsons	1:03:26	54
41	Jason Bennett	1:03:27	28
42	Jan Boersma	1:04:17	45
43	Tyler Tschritter	1:04:47	18
44	Scott Vande Vusse	1:04:52	35
45	Kelvin Humenny	1:05:01	46
46	Adam Jossem	1:12:06	35
47	Brian Frost	1:15:21	38

SUPER GROMS – GIRLS RACE

Course: Approximately 1 mile
Conditions: Dead flat and glassy

#	Name	Time	Age
1	Rhys Staples	0:13:41	10
2	William Dewolfe	0:13:50	11
3	Matix Springer	0:13:57	10
4	Estani Bori	0:14:56	10
5	Nathaniel Meyer	0:14:59	11
6	Sam Fitz-James	0:15:21	11
7	Owen Wright	0:15:35	10
8	Diesel Henderson	0:15:40	11
9	Wyatt Duce	0:16:17	10
10	Graison Poledxia	0:16:42	10
11	Mattox Daley	0:17:27	10
12	Austen Abel	0:18:02	11

SUPER GROMS – BOYS RACE

Course: Approximately 1 mile
Conditions: Dead flat and glassy

#	Name	Time	Age
1	Pelle Bergstrom	0:13:15	13
2	Luke Allen	0:13:25	13
3	Vetea Boersma	0:13:27	13
4	Kaden Sponhauer	0:13:30	13
5	Rhys Staples	0:13:41	10
6	William Dewolfe	0:13:50	11
7	Matix Springer	0:13:57	10
8	Marcus Dunn	0:14:18	13
9	Christopher Riviello	0:14:36	13
10	Taegen Campbell	0:14:45	12
11	Estani Bori	0:14:56	10
12	Nathaniel Meyer	0:14:59	11
13	Sam Fitz-James	0:15:21	11
14	Owen Wright	0:15:35	10
15	Diesel Henderson	0:15:40	11
16	Wyatt Duce	0:16:17	10
17	Graison Poledxia	0:16:42	10
18	Joshua Nardone	0:16:56	12
19	Logan Rueter	0:17:15	12
20	Mattox Daley	0:17:27	10
21	Austen Abel	0:18:02	11

OPEN RACE – MENS

Course: Approximately 4 miles
Conditions: Dead flat and glassy

#	Name	Time	Class	#	Age
1	Seth Springer	0:50:37	14	1	37
2	Jon Davies	0:50:57	14	2	48
3	Evan Derdowski	0:51:14	14	3	26
4	Ryan Knysh	0:51:32	14	4	27
5	Tj Gulizia	0:51:35	14	5	38
6	Adam Cole	0:51:38	14	6	33
7	Braly Joy	0:51:47	14	7	43
8	Gregg Gilbert	0:51:50	14	8	47
9	Yannick Michaud	0:51:54	14	9	39
10	Kristian Mulholland	0:51:58	14	10	42
11	Macrae Wylde	0:52:04	14	11	50
12	Tim Quarles	0:52:12	14	12	55
13	Daniel Fischer	0:52:16	14	13	18
14	Mariano Rossini	0:52:38	14	14	40
15	Leif Bergstrom	0:52:48	14	15	18
16	Dwayne Lotnick	0:52:53	14	16	40
17	Alain Teurquetil	0:53:08	14	17	52
18	Ben Wright	0:53:14	14	18	34
19	Rob Dies	0:53:21	14	19	38
20	Pablo Bori	0:53:35	14	20	38
21	Gregg Leion	0:53:53	14	21	56
1	Dave Billenness	0:53:54	12'6	1	45
22	Bob Rueter	0:54:12	14	22	59
2	James Thesiger	0:54:55	12'6	2	34
23	Matt Lennert	0:54:55	14	23	42
3	Ian Light	0:55:01	12'6	3	15
24	Layne Stambaugh	0:55:06	14	24	31
25	Nick Ogilvie	0:55:09	14	25	30
26	Glenn Haupt	0:55:14	14	26	48
27	Scott Burton	0:55:20	14	27	38
28	Nils Engbersen	0:55:28	14	28	17
29	Darian Hildreth	0:55:47	14	29	41
30	John Allen	0:55:53	14	30	53
31	Brook Staples	0:55:57	14	31	46
32	Scott Lakusiak	0:56:03	14	32	41
33	Eric Nordstrom	0:56:08	14	33	47
34	Rick Weaver	0:56:11	14	34	53
35	Richard Gadoury	0:56:16	14	35	40
36	Doug Hopkins	0:56:23	14	36	53
37	Jason Wegrzyniak	0:56:24	14	37	33
38	D Pedersen	0:56:33	14	38	47
39	Jerry Ohlson	0:56:52	14	39	52
40	Grant Begley	0:57:10	14	40	33
41	Oscar Maciel	0:57:25	14	41	44
42	Zack Schwartz	0:57:31	14	42	29
43	Thomas Burke	0:57:33	14	43	57
4	Jason Lexa	0:57:37	12'6	4	39
44	Russel Peart	0:57:41	14	44	40
5	Liam Cursley	0:57:46	12'6	5	14
45	Rafael Kolic	0:58:55	14	45	38
46	Randall Barna	0:59:04	14	46	64
47	Mitch Billets	0:59:11	14	47	21
48	Tyler Staggs	0:59:13	14	48	35
6	Richard Fernand	0:59:54	12'6	6	45
7	Eli Fischbuch	1:00:21	12'6	7	16
49	Tim Mckenne	1:02:21	14	49	48
50	Scott Thomas	1:02:50	14	50	39
51	Dean Edleston	1:04:41	14	51	50
52	Matt Willett	1:06:24	14	52	42
8	Bill Babcock	1:06:52	12'6	8	67
9	Bruno Forsterer	1:09:01	12'6	9	53
10	Pascual Torres	1:10:21	12'6	10	26

OPEN RACE – WOMENS

Course: Approximately 4 miles
Conditions: Dead flat and glassy

#	Name	Time	Age
1	Alison Wood (* 14' board)	0:55:54	45
2	Hannah Hill	0:57:32	17
3	Kim Rueter	0:57:44	44
4	Erin Mayer	0:57:56	16
5	Sarah Sandstrom	0:58:14	35
6	Sam Davies	0:58:53	16
7	Amy Staples	0:59:20	44
8	Savannah Boersma	0:59:39	17
9	Erin Sutherland	1:01:07	14
10	Jessica Cichra	1:01:54	32
11	Victoria Hopkins	1:02:00	41
12	Lindsay Lambert	1:02:03	30
13	Maria Randle	1:02:08	49
14	Rose Appel	1:03:13	34
15	Mia Wheatley-Maltais	1:04:05	14
16	Daisy Dolan	1:04:20	15
17	Nicolette Paulus	1:04:51	14
18	Michelle Black	1:05:09	45
19	Valerie Fischer	1:05:11	14
20	Susie Inkpen	1:07:13	32
21	Tonya Schrey	1:08:11	40
22	Claire Davies	1:08:50	14