Doheny State Beach, Southern California – Sunday 1st August
There were all round impressive performances from Dream Team in the 9 Mile (14.4km) Distance Race a the 2017 Pacific Paddle Games, however it was the performances of Connor Baxter (2016 PPG Defending Overall Champion) and Michael Booth (2016 PPG Defending Distance Race Winner) in this years event that everyone will remember.
Italian Team Rider Leo Nika had an impressive start to lead the 50 man strong Elite race pack off the water start line, but it wasn’t long until former LD King Danny Ching showed signs of an impressive comeback after taking some time off with a newborn to surge to the front.
However Ching made a (can we call it ‘fatal’?) error after rounding the bottom buoy turn and chose the wrong line back to Doheny State Beach. Michael Booth (riding the 2018 Allstar 14 x 22.5 Carbon) then lead the 20+ rider train and was looking both strong and determined. Ching clawed back to find himself in 7th spot behind Booth & Baxter.
Baxter raced smart (racing the new 2018 Sprint 14 x 21.5 Carbon) by staying up in the front of the lead pack but never exerted himself too much by simply hanging in on the wave train. Danny made his move in closing miles but Connor Baxter countered Ching’s attached to move into the lead position for the first time with Boothy also within striking range. It had now become a 3 horse race with the leaders separating themselves from the rest of the pack. Excitement continued to build as the Baxter, Booth and Ching rounded the final buoy and final stretch before the sprint up the beach to the finish line.
King of the Bumps, Connor Baxter, sniffed out a nothing wave to maintain his pole position all the way with Michael Booth outmuscling Danny Ching in the dying seconds to take second position and Ching in third. See the full list of results from Pacific Paddle Games Day 2 Distance Race below and catch a reply of the action in the two live feeds right here…
Live on Day Two of SUPtheMag‘s #ppg2017 presented by Salt Life!
Part 1/2 – Boat Ride with Chris Parker (SUPRacer.com)
Part 2/2 – Exciting Drone Beach Finish
Mens Distance Race Full Results:
| Position | Athlete | Time | Points | Board |
| 1 | Connor Baxter | 49:36.6 | 1000 | Starboard |
| 2 | Michael Booth | 49:45.0 | 900 | Starboard |
| 3 | Danny Ching | 49:47.7 | 825 | |
| 4 | Matt Nottage | 49:57.1 | 750 | Starboard |
| 5 | Georges Cronsteadt | 49:59.1 | 700 | |
| 6 | Titouan Puyo | 50:05.6 | 650 | |
| 7 | Niuhiti Buillard | 50:08.3 | 600 | |
| 8 | Travis Grant | 50:12.0 | 550 | |
| 9 | Kelly Margetts | 50:19.1 | 500 | |
| 10 | Martin Vitry | 50:20.7 | 450 | |
| 11 | Leonard Nika | 50:32.4 | 425 | Starboard |
| 12 | Casper Steinfath | 50:34.5 | 400 | |
| 13 | Lincoln Dews | 50:46.5 | 375 | |
| 14 | James Casey | 50:58.2 | 350 | |
| 15 | Guilherme Dos Reis | 51:05.7 | 325 | |
| 16 | Arthur Arutkin | 51:18.7 | 300 | |
| 17 | Daniel Hasulyo | 51:23.3 | 275 | Starboard |
| 18 | Bruno Hasulyo | 51:30.5 | 250 | Starboard |
| 19 | Josh Riccio | 51:31.7 | 225 | |
| 20 | Jake Jensen | 51:32.4 | 200 | |
| 21 | Tamarua Cowan | 51:33.4 | 190 | |
| 22 | Auber Tom | 51:33.6 | 180 | |
| 23 | Vinnicius Martins | 51:34.2 | 170 | |
| 24 | Noa Hopper | 51:34.6 | 160 | |
| 25 | Enzo Bennett | 51:34.6 | 150 | |
| 26 | Martin Letourneur | 51:46.5 | 140 | |
| 27 | Kenny Kaneko | 51:47.5 | 130 | |
| 28 | Ty Judson | 51:56.6 | 120 | |
| 29 | Paolo Marconi | 51:59.9 | 110 | |
| 30 | Oliver Houghton | 52:01.5 | 100 | Starboard |
| 31 | Itzel Delgado | 52:04.0 | 95 | |
| 32 | Martino Rogai | 52:05.2 | 90 | Starboard |
| 33 | Mo Freitas | 52:08.2 | 85 | |
| 34 | Bullet Obra | 52:09.7 | 80 | |
| 35 | Claudio Nika | 52:24.3 | 75 | Starboard |
| 36 | Eri Tenorio | 52:49.4 | 70 | |
| 37 | Ludovic Teulade | 53:04.0 | 65 | |
| 38 | Chase Kosterlitz | 53:08.7 | 60 | |
| 39 | Gabriel Bachelet | 53:09.5 | 55 | |
| 40 | Kody Kerbox | 53:53.4 | 50 | |
| 41 | Tamas Buday | 53:56.3 | 49 | |
| 42 | Manatea Bopp Du Pont | 54:00.8 | 48 | |
| 43 | Gregory Closier | 54:23.4 | 47 | |
| 44 | Paul Jackson | 56:17.6 | 46 | |
| 45 | Dave Boehne | 56:47.0 | 45 | |
| 46 | Kieran Grant | 56:49.5 | 44 | |
| 47 | Jeremy Teulade | 57:30.5 | 43 | |
| 48 | Rodney Ellis | 58:14.0 | 42 | |
| 49 | Manolo Simoncelli | 58:34.2 | 41 | |
| 50 | Zach Rounsaville | 58:40.7 | 40 | |
| 51 | Jose Cirilo | 59:20.7 | 39 | |
| 52 | Belar Diaz | 01:09.3 | 38 | |
| 53 | Jeisson Tovar | 06:13.8 | 37 |
For more results, visit the PPG2017 results page here ->
Womens Distance Race Full Results:
| Position | Athlete | Time | Points | Board |
| 1 | Annabel Anderson | 58:29.4 | 1000 | |
| 2 | Fiona Wylde | 58:52.3 | 900 | |
| 3 | Olivia Piana | 58:58.5 | 825 | |
| 4 | Sonja Hoenscheid | 59:43.4 | 750 | |
| 5 | Candice Appleby | 59:49.6 | 700 | |
| 6 | Shae Foudy | 59:53.3 | 650 | |
| 7 | Terrene Black | 59:56.0 | 600 | |
| 8 | April Zilg | 00:06.8 | 550 | |
| 9 | Seychelle Hattingh | 00:18.0 | 500 | |
| 10 | Susak Molinero | 00:38.0 | 450 | |
| 11 | Laura Quetglas | 00:41.2 | 425 | |
| 12 | Lexi Alston | 02:28.0 | 400 | |
| 13 | Angela Jackson | 02:46.7 | 375 | |
| 14 | Jennifer Lee | 03:16.8 | 350 | |
| 15 | Shannon Bell | 03:25.5 | 325 | |
| 16 | Stephanie Shideler | 03:49.4 | 300 | |
| 17 | Genna Flinkman | 04:13.3 | 275 | |
| 18 | Hannah Hill | 04:20.0 | 250 | |
| 19 | Carter Graves | 04:22.5 | 225 | |
| 20 | Ozbolt Sylvana | 04:26.6 | 200 | |
| 21 | Kristy Morris | 04:58.8 | 190 | |
| 22 | Susanne Lier | 06:10.6 | 180 | |
| 23 | Vaimiti Maoni | 07:19.9 | 170 | |
| 24 | Mary Howser | 07:32.5 | 160 | |
| 25 | Chloe Walkerdene | 07:49.4 | 150 | |
| 26 | Alejandra Brito | 08:44.5 | 140 | |
| 27 | Stephanie Bodden | 09:40.1 | 130 | |
| 28 | Kiyomi Sheppard | 09:48.5 | 120 | |
| 29 | Puatea Ellis | 14:24.1 | 110 |
For more results, visit the PPG2017 results page here ->
