Thanks to everyone that came out to the first annual Midwest Stand Up Paddle Festival. We had approximately 130 participants and close to 70 racers enjoying the 3 mile rec course and 6 mile open courses. It was an afternoon of learn to SUP clinics, stroke clinics, SUP yoga, SUP body mechanics, how to choose a paddle, board design talks and more. We expected a very hot still day but were greeted with moderate SW breezes gusting over 22 mph at times. This made for challenging racing for both races but especially the rec race group which included many paddlers in their first race. The open course was especially challenging as the far mark was 2.6 miles upwind and 10 degrees west of the wind direction. This made for some challenging paddling upwind and downwind. Special thanks to the following companies for their participation and involvement in the event. Naish, Surftech, Quickblade, Hobie SUP, Bic Sport, Aquaglide, Werner Paddles, NSP SUP, SUP magazine, Stand Up Journal and more. Thank you for helping us raise several thousand dollars for the American Family Childrens Hospital in Madison!

We took a broader approach to our race classes for trophy purposes than strict WPA rules as we wanted to welcome participants to the race course regardless of what they wanted to paddle and which event they wanted to participate in. For the Midwest SUP race series we have also posted exact times and classes below so correct points can be awarded to those in the series. Those of you that had to leave this year before receiving your trophy please get in touch with us so we can send it to you.

We were so stoked to see so many new faces on the water. We hope this is just the beginning of the explosion of SUP on our local lakes. We thoroughly enjoyed putting on the event and learned so much about what we want to do next year....and what we don't want to do. We welcome your feedback about how we can improve for 2012!

Here are the trophy results of the races that took place. It was exciting to watch Professionals like Chuck Patterson and Jim Terrell take to our local waters. When Chuck received his first place trophy he said two things that stood out. One was that it was a great experience for all the folks form the coasts to see that Stand Up is taking off in the midwest. The other was that the course was very challenging. We were happy to hear this especially considering there were so many first timers and local racers taking part.

Elite Pro 14
1. Chuck Patterson 1:01:49
2. Jimmy Terrell 1:01:38
3. Karen Wren 1:07:49

Mens Open 14
1. Kevin Vangritis 1:09:11
2. Justin Dirico 1:18:17
3. Steve Hirn 1:23:00

Mens Elite Pro 12'6"
1. John Becker 1:10:16
2. Danny Mongno 1:10:30
3. David Boehne 1:11:51

Mens open 12'6" 6 mile race
1. Scott Pauli 1:20:26
2. Karl Eugster 1:32:59
3. Chance Howard 1:41:45

3 mile rec race women
1. Stachia Fey 45:37
2. Gina Seton 48:27
3. Kate Mittelstadt 57:05

3 mile rec race men
1. Bill Linmeyer 40:39
2. Chris Bank 41:23
3. Jim Blakeney 42:39

Here are the WPA points results:
Men 14'0"
1. Chuck Patterson 1,000
2. Jimmy Terrill 750
3. Darian Hildreth 550
4. Kevin Vangritis 400
5. Matt Lennert 325
6. Joe Bark 250
7. Justin Dirico 200
8. Derek Nordeen 150
9. Steve Hirn 125
10. Nick Kramarczuk 100

Men 12'6"
1. John Becker 1,000
2. Daniel Mongno 750
3. David Boehne 550
4. Michael Westenberger 400
5. Tony Dew 325
6. Rob Patton 250
7. Matt Campbell 200
8. Bill Hehemann 150
9. Scott Pauli 125
10. Matt Reaume 100

Men 12'2"
1. Jim Blakeney 1,000
2. Erich Richey 750
3. Jeff Rush 550
4. Jeff Fogarty 400

Women 14'
1. Karen Wrenn 1,000
2. Morgan Hoesterey 750

Women 12'6"
1. Hannah Hill 1,000
2. Mary Pedke 750

Women 12'2"
1. Gina Seton 1,000
2. Lee Karmarczuk 750

Thanks again to everyone that made it out to the event. See you next year!

The Paddleboard Specialists team
Gary, Jon, Joel, Dirk, Cris, Tony, Deb, Ali, Evan and Janet.