Paddleboard Festival Riding the Wave of Fastest-Growing Sport

"Stand" by: In just four days, the second-annual Paddleboard Race & Ocean Festival will take place.

This year's event promises to be even bigger than the inaugural edition, with an extensive history exhibit accompanying the fleet of races and competitions. The fest will also feature live music and special appearances by guests including Kathy Kohner-Zuckerman, after whom the famous Gidget character was modeled.

The fest, which is taking place in conjunction with a beach cleanup, will benefit the nonprofit organization and the it operates.

The races will run from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. They'll include traditional paddleboards and stand-up paddleboards—those races will involve about 100 competitors each—as well as dories and outrigger canoes. An awards ceremony will follow at 2:30 p.m.

Competitors will race in a 5.5-mile loop beginning at the pier, going north to Santa Monica Canyon, heading south all the way to the Venice border and returning north to the pier.

"The pier is a fantastic place to watch this kind of competition," Joel Brand, one of the event organizers, told Santa Monica Patch.

At least 200 competitors are expected, and they'll be coming from all over Southern California. One of them is Mickey Muñoz, the 70-year-old Santa Monica native who was one of the original pioneers of big-wave surfing.

Brand noted that while surfing contests typically involve only four or five athletes at a time, with paddleboard contests, "It's a lot more fun for a big group of people."

The paddleboard race will be part of the World Paddle Association's Championship Qualifying series, but Brand said the event is also intended to encourage novices to take up the sport. In addition to the race course, there'll be a 2-mile "fun paddle" route wrapping around the pier.

Brand said he'll be paddleboarding along with his wife, who's just learning how to do it this week.

"Everyone I've talked to has tried it or wants to try it," he said. "This is a great opportunity to come down and do so."

Brand added that paddleboarding is the fastest-growing sport in the U.S., although much of that growth is due to its rising popularity in lakes and rivers. He also noted the increasing number of paddleboarders in Santa Monica Bay.

"That's going to continue to grow," he said.

The dory-racing is a continuation of a tradition in Santa Monica that goes back at least 40 years. Lifeguards, who participate in the races, have aligned their annual competition with the pier's Paddleboard Race & Ocean Festival.

One of the biggest add-ons to this year's fest is a temporary, 2,000-square-foot "museum-for-a-day" revolving around paddleboarding, surfing and lifeguards. Jeff Ho, a member of the legendary Z-Boys Skate Team, will show off items from his surfing and skating collections. Esther Maire, winner of 1947's Pacific Coast Paddle Board Championship at the pier, will be at the museum with the board she used to win the race. A fully restored dory made by Pete Peterson, one of the most legendary paddleboarders of all time, will also be on display.

The museum is created in conjunction with the Surfing Heritage Museum and surfing-history authors. In addition to the display of artifacts, water-sport manufacturers will flaunt their wares.

"The event, on a larger level, is a celebration of all this rich history in Santa Monica that's been forgotten," Brand said. "We heard from people last year that they really wanted to see and feel more of the history. Santa Monica, in a lot of ways, has lost its ties to ocean sports."

[Go here to read more about the history of paddleboarding in Santa Monica, and go here to check out a massive gallery of historical photos.]

At 3 p.m., Los Angeles ska-reggae band the FuDogs—who have previously participated in the July 4 parade on Main St.—will play as part of a music program also involving traditional Hawaiian performances.

At least 60 volunteers are pitching in for the event. Sponsors include Honolua Surf Co.,  and ZJ Boarding House.