PaddleFest practice awaits weather conditions

Race organizers of the Marianas PaddleFest Series are hoping for better weather on Sunday so the third practice session at the Hyatt Regency Saipan’s beachside won’t be postponed.

Instructors of the Marianas PaddleFest Series help the kids get their balance while on top of the paddle board during last Sunday’s practice session at the Hyatt Regency Saipan’s beachside. (Jon Perez)

Dino Manning, one of the organizers of the second stand up paddling event, said the third practice session would most likely be cancelled.

“This Sunday will most likely be cancelled due to the weather forecast [of rain and wind] but we are keeping our fingers crossed so that we can proceed with the practice,” said Manning.

Manning added that last Oct. 11 there was a slight decrease of paddlers—youth and adults—who have been practicing since the first day on Oct. 4.

“We had about 12 to 15 paddlers last Sunday (Oct. 11). There was a decrease in youth paddlers, which I think may be due to the windy conditions we had. The previous Sunday we had a higher turnout mainly due to the number of youth paddlers,” said Manning.

After Oct. 18, two more practice sessions will be held on Oct. 25 and Nov. 1 before the actual race on Nov. 7 also at the Hyatt beachside. The practice sessions will be every 2pm to 4pm.

The race was originally set in the last weekend of August but was cancelled due to Typhoon Soudelor.

The race will be divided into the men’s, women’s, and youth triangle courses, and the mixed three-person relay. The youth division will have Under-12, U14, and U16 age groups while the open 17-over, and masters 50-over are for the adults.

All events include a running beach finish of approximately 40 to 50 meters while one member of the mixed team relay must either be a female or a U14 racer. All race events will take place inside the lagoon where spectators can watch all the action.

The Hyatt Regency Saipan, Windsurfing Saipan, and The OceanSoul Society joined hands in organizing the event. Triple J Enterprises, Tan Siu Lin Foundation, and KKMP RADIO 92.1 are the event partners.

Registration fees are $10 for youth (8 to 16 years old) and $20 for adults (17 and over). Deadline for registration is on Nov. 4.

For more information and registration visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/marianas-paddlefest-race-2-registration-18710063303 or register at Windsurfing Saipan located at Hyatt’s north side at the beachfront or email oceansoulunlimited@gmail.com or windspn@me.com. Updates will also be posted on the OceanSoul Society Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OceansoulUnlimited.