Was honored to have been invited back to compete with teammate Jamie Sterling in the 2013 Red Bull Qiantang Surfing Shoot Out with a combined purse of $25,000 USD. Unfortunately Jamie had to pull out last minute because of a BWWT event that was on standby in Peru. We passed our invite on to team LifeProof. I ended up making the long journey back to China and contributed as one of the judges and capturing GoPro media. Here's a little insight from 2013 Red Bull Qiantang Surfing Shoot Out competition held on the Qiantang river Sep 19th-21st in Hangzhou China.
1.5 million people stood along the river waiting patiently for the wave and a chance to see the surfers ride the Silver Dragon. With typhoon Usagi class 3 typhoon spinning clouds, rain showers and wind the surf conditions during the finals were to say the least very challenging. The athletes and crews rallied far above and beyond performing at an unexpectedly high level. With visibility under 70ft, poring cats and dogs the local authorities called the comp off before we could reach the starting point. Fortunately the squall passed and thankfully Mr. Wei allowed the contest to continue, though on a slightly shorter course due to the inability of the crews to gas up the skis and officials boats. None the less, the surfing was world class and our judging was spot on making the comp an overwhelming success. It came down to the last two sections with RVCA losing the lead to Ocean and Earth as Phil MacDonald snapped vertical turn after vertical turn off the top only to be answered by RVCA’s Kalani David who shredded the last section, regaining the lead before the wave died out in deep water. It was a very close final, the defending champs O & E made what I observed as a calculated error that gave team RVCA the winner opportunity.
3rd place Lifeproof Anastasia Ashley, Steve Newton ($5,000 USD)
4th place Fuel TV “The Crew” Mark Mathews, Richie Vaculik ($2,000 USD)
Photo Steele
Emperor Qiantang Photo GoPro with prototype camera mount developed by athletes.
First sign of the Tidal Bore River wave. Bridge #9
Chinese river barge blasting over the Silver Dragon river wave wile Matt Wybenga shoots video and Collin Harrington drives the Waverunner.
Photo Steele
Photo Steele
View from our hotel room overlooking the city of Hangzhou
Left to right. Bao (Wabsono) Nik Zanella, Glenn Brumage, Me (Reno Makani) Peter Townend and Artie Castro.
Photo Steele
Photo Steele
Left to right. Deck hand 李四, Artie Castro, Glenn Brumage, Peter Townend, Nik Zanella, Todd Roberts. Photo GoPro HERO3
Sunset birds eye view of Hangzhou. Photo GoPro with prototype camera mount developed by athletes.
Here's a GoPro shot of me from 2012. Jamie Sterling and I captured 2nd place. Here's a link to Jamie and I GoPro video from last year http://bit.ly/GoPro_SurfingChina See you in 2014!
Thanks Red Bull China
Thanks Wabsono and the entire team that made this years event a complete success.
Aloha Reno Makani
