http://sharkbaitsurfwax.com/paul_pence__sharkbaitsurfwax_team_rider.html

Paul

http://utopiaoptics.com/2pence.htm

Tricky conditions were the call for the double points rated season championship contest held in Ventura, CA on June 2. After some seriously close calls I made 2 finals and placed 4th in both divisions! I am stoked.

June 2 was the date of the final double points rated championship contest in Ventura, CA. The waves were chest to head high crossed up, sometimes tricky, point break. At the end of the day, I placed 4th which gave me enough points to take the season title for a second year in a row. I am stoked!!

Saturday, April 21st was the 7th contest of the CSF / Surfride California West Coast Series held at Avalanche Jetty, down in Ocean Beach, San Diego. The waves were head high to a couple of feet over head and pretty clean.  It was tricky conditions because the waves were pretty closed out for the most part except for some quick corners.  After a couple of preliminary rounds, I started feeling queazy, probably from the poor water quality (rained hard the days before), and ended up almost having to pass on the finals from feeling run down.  After a nap and some fruit, I mustered and rallied enough to take 1st place.  This puts me in a very enviable position with a massive

lead in the ratings.  I am very hopeful going into the double point rated Championship contest on June 2 in Ventura that I will be the last man standing at the end of the season.  have begun a stringent training regimen including diet montoring, stretching, increased cardio, strenght training and surf training.

With my 2nd place finish at Oceanside, I have widened my ratings lead by a healthy 1,100 points over my nearest competitor. This is a pretty enviable position to be in midseason. I am optimistic to broaden that lead further in Santa Cruz and hopefully make it a logistical impossibility to surpass me.

Saturday, Feb. 17, was the 5th contest of the Surfride Surfabout West season at the Oceanside Pier. The waves were anywhere from chest high to a foot overhead and pretty fun. I did pretty well in the preliminary rounds and had caught two high scoring waves in the semis when I tweaked my knee on a wave I ended right on the shore with 7 minutes to go. I hobbled over to the physical therapist for a quick adjustment, thinking I might be able to get back out there with enough time. I was really pumped to do well this contest and hold on to my ratings lead, but was feeling a little nervous about being out for a significant part of the heat. As it was, I still ended the heat 1st! As the day progressed, the tide drained to a negative for the finals, making for some tricky, pretty closed out conditions. I caught a couple of waves that had multiple maneuvers, so wasn’t too worried. At days end, I ended up taking 2nd place, which leaves me still rated 1st by a healthy margin of over 1,100 points. This is a pretty enviable position to be in mid season! Next stop is Santa Cruz, March 17.

Hoods, booties and gloves were the call for stop #4 of the Surfride Surfabout West series held at Morro Rock on Saturday, January 20. The water temp was very low 50s, rumored to be 49 at sunrise, and pretty fun, 5-7' peaky waves.

Early heats were ridiculously cold but during the Master's final, I decided to stake my claim on the more consistent and possibly more closed out mid / inside section. It was a risky move, but after my first wave, I knew it was going to pay off. I scored a high 7 straightaway and backed it up with several multimanuever backup scores also hovering in the 7s. The guys sitting outside were left with mushy, although much bigger surf that just wasn't going anywhere. There were several good rides, however, that almost enticed me outside.

There was a 20 minute lag between the Master's final and the start of the second division final, which left me really cold while waiting. With my previous success, I decided to give my inside run another go for this final as well. Only one other guy followed me inside for this final, with the other 4 going back out to the outside. I started off really solidly with a wave that I thought was even stronger than any I caught in the Master's final, riding it all the way to the dirt. The paddle back out, though, was murder with wave after wave of freezing temps on the head and I was hurting for energy. I sniffed out a second wave and gave it a solid hit and several pumps to a huge air section, but came unglued as I transitioned down the whitewater. I was almost certain they were going to count it, because I had it under control for a 2 count. The rest of the heat was spent on the paddle back out, watching the guys out the back get a couple of sets all the way through to the inside. I didn't get a backup wave that was worth anything for the rest of the heat.

As luck would have it, they didn't count the air and I took 5th, but my 1st wave was the highest scoring of the heat. The Master's final was tight, but I took 2nd. Both final placings are respectable. The good news is the 2nd place rocketed me to 2nd in the rankings halfway through the season and the 5th place gave me enough points to rocket me to 1st in that division!

Thanks to all of my sponsors: Freestyle Watches, Fuel Clothing, Utopia Optics, Flojos Sandals, Rockstar Energy Drinks, Boz Wetsuits, Himaya Sunscreen, Sharkbait Surfwax and Surfdrops. I appreciate all of the support this season and aim to represent you well!

Stormy surf and skies were the call for this contest. After a long day of preliminary rounds, I ended up on the winner's scaffolding in 2 divisions, again. Many really talented guys and pros fell early, making for an interesting turn in the ratings. That makes 5 finals and a semifinal in just 3 contests thus far this season.

A highlight of the day (besides making 2 finals) was having the Surftech rep ask me to do a mini-photo shoot. Though the waves were less than ideal, we were able to get a few shots with great visibility on all of the logos. I think the contest organizers are going to post the shots on their website as well because they wanted me to wear a bright yellow singlet for the shots.

I was representing all of my sponsors well and wanted to thank them all for their support: Fuel Clothing, Freestyle Watches, Flojos, Himaya Sunscreen, Boz Wetsuits, Utopia Optics, Rockstar Energy Drinks and SurfDrops.