Welcome to PPGs Week: Get Ready for the Biggest Race of the Year (Here’s the Full Schedule)
Zane Schweitzer sending it during last year’s Pacific Paddle Games presented by Salt Life (photo: @gregpanas/@supthemag)
After an amazing season that’s stretched right around the world and given us six months of slick highlights, we’re finally down to the season-ending “Super Bowl of SUP” in Southern California.
The 2017 Pacific Paddle Games presented by Salt Life are set to light up Doheny State Beach this weekend, with scores of weekend Joes and virtually every single one of the world’s best paddlers making the annual pilgrimage to Dana Point.
Combine this elite level of talent with the hundreds of weekend warriors, charging grommies, an iconic location and the record $60,000 prize purse, and we’re set for an exciting show.
It’s going to be a big week, so here’s what to look out for including the full race day schedules…
Note: Schedule/format subject to change. For more coverage check out…
– The official PPGs site
– Course maps
– Full schedule
– SUP the Mag on Facebook
THURSDAY: SUP AWARDS + QB PREVIEW SHOW
On Thursday night, the SUP Awards will take over Doheny to honour the best (and most popular) paddlers of the past 12 months.
But before that, SUP Racer will be hosting a special Facebook Live stream with the crew from Quickblade Paddles, including interviews with the stars of Team QB and a few sneaky predictions ahead of the big showdown.
We’ll also be debuting a special new feature during this year’s QB Preview Show: ‘Golden Buoy’ predictions!
I think one of the real highlights of SUP racing is seeing who can get the money shot by reaching the opening buoy turn (which we nicknamed the ‘Golden Buoy’ a few years back) in first place. Who’s going to steal the glory this year?
2:30pm: SUP Racer’s PPGs Preview Show with Team Quickblade
7:30pm: The SUP Awards @ Doheny
FRIDAY: PREVIEW & PREDICTIONS
Boss Man’s signature “Bold (and not so bold…) Predictions” will go out on Friday evening, where I try to accurately predict the overall top 10 for both men and women.
With virtually every single paddler in the world lining up on Saturday, I’m not even going to pretend I have any idea who’s going to win this event. But it wouldn’t be SUP Racer without a few predictions, so let’s have some fun and see how close we can get to the mark.
The elite guys all smiles before the start of last year’s Pacific Paddle Games distance race (photo: @supthemag)
SATURDAY: QUALIFYING DAY
Watch the LIVE WEBCAST on Facebook (via SUP the Mag’s page) with Dave Kalama, Beau Hodge, Dreu Murin and SUP Racer calling the action.
Saturday’s webcast starts at 1:45pm
11:30am: Open Division Beach Race Qualifiers
1:45pm: Pro Men’s Beach Race Quarter-Finals
– 4x heats of 20 guys with top 10 advancing to the semi-finals
– featuring the 48 men from round 1 + the 32 top seeds
3:45pm: Pro Women’s Beach Race Semi-Finals
– 2x heats of 16 women with top 8 advancing to the final
4:45pm: Open Division Beach Race Finals
Click here for the full schedule
SUNDAY: FINALS DAY!
Watch the LIVE WEBCAST on Facebook (via SUP the Mag’s page) with Dave Kalama, Beau Hodge, Dreu Murin and SUP Racer calling the action.
Sunday’s webcast will start about 12 noon
8:30am: 6-mile Distance Race
– mass participation race of approximately 400 with the pros, open paddlers and juniors all racing together; staggered start of 3 minutes between divisions
12:00pm: Pro Men’s Beach Race Semi-Finals
– 2x heats of 20 with top 10 going through to the final
1:00pm: Junior Beach Race Finals
2:00pm: Pro Women’s Beach Race FINAL
– 1x heat of 16 women. This is the big one!
2:30pm: Pro Men’s Beach Race FINAL
– 1x heat of 20 guys. The grand finale! It’s going to be intense…
– All the qualifiers will be 2x laps but final will be 3x laps
3:30pm: Team Relay
– up to 20x teams of 4 paddlers battling around a 4-lap course. Should be an entertaining end to the event.
4:30pm: Awards ceremony
Click here for the full schedule
Buckle up. It’s going to be a big week!
The Pro women charging off the line at last year’s Pacific Paddle Games (photo: @gregpanas/@supthemag)
