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Team Hobie® competed their hearts out at the Pacific Paddle Games, the largest and most lucrative stand up paddleboard race meet of the year. The de facto championship of stand up paddleboard racing attracts the best of the best from across the globe, capping off the competition season.

The PPGs wrapped up on Sunday with the Men’s and Women’s Pro Distance race, followed by the challenging and hotly anticipated Men’s and Women’s Pro Technical Race finals. Hobie riders were in the mix right to the end.

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Hobie rider Bullet Obra of Hawaii springs up the beach in the Men's Pro Distance Race. He covered the 6-mile course in 50:07, for a strong 9th place finish against world-class competition. He said the downwind / upwind course played to his strengths, breaking up draft trains and wearing down racers who specialize only in speed.
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Lexi Alston, just 14 and already an elite paddler, lines up for the start of the Pro Womens' Technical race final. The three-lap course had paddlers repeatedly negotiating the surf. In short, it was tough.
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Lexi was in 9th as she paddled into the beach during the Pro Women's final, but was reeled in by two paddlers who caught a wave breaking farther out – an element of luck that is often out of control of the competitors in the chaos of the PPGs. She finished in 11th, a promising result for a paddler on her way up.
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Carolina native April Zilg rounds a buoy during the Pro Women's Technical final. She got off to a blistering start but fell off her board during the bump and grind of no-holds-barred racing. Never giving up, after dropping to 15th she battled back, finishing shortly behind her teammate Lexi in 13th place. "That was nuts," April said. "I think a lot in the women's field would call 'mulligan.'"
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Elite: In the PPGs, the results of the technical and distance races are combined, producing overall results that read like a world ranking. April was 8th overall. Lexi was 12th. "My weekend went well, it was just what I was looking for to see if my changes in training and nutrition were working. I'm very happy with my performance," April said. "It was definitely the highlight of my season, and I can't wait to get home and start planning out my next year."
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Bullet Obra of Hawaii and Martin Letourneur of France prep their Hobie race boards. Bullet's strong distance finish propelled him to 14th overall. "I learned a lot. I reached some goals," he said of his season. Martin said the PPGs were an incredible experience. He finished 24th overall. "I was happy to be in the pack," Martin said.
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