Posted on October 24 2016
The Red Bull Heavy Water event held in San Francisco on October 19th was one of the most competitive races on record. This invitation-only paddleboard race had a month-long waiting period. 40 top athletes from around the world congregated at the iconic Ocean beach to compete in the 7.5-mile stand-up paddling event.
Strong onshore winds and consistent 6-8 feet waves added increased levels of difficulty to the already arduous course that stretches from Ocean Beach to the Golden Gate Bridge.
The competitors had to navigate through almost impenetrable surf lines. They had to be very methodical in their approach while heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge.
In the neck-to-neck competition, Conner Baxter showed some great strength and surged ahead of Kai Lenny with spirited focus to finish the race with the winning time of 1:11:32.
Lenny finished second with a time of 1:12:15 while Zane Schweitzer stood third at 1:13:22. This win also made Baxter the world’s top-ranked player.
The top three paddlers for the 2016 Stand Up World Series are – Connor Baxter with 33,000 points, Casper Steinfath with 32,500 and Kai Lenny with 30,500 points.
Victory KoreDry sponsored jerseys for the prestigious Red Bull Heavy Water SUP, which is one of six long distance races in 2016. We would like to congratulate all winners and participants in the SUP race.