Friends of Virgin Islands National Park’s new paddleboard race is coming up soon and creating much buzz and excitement in the community.
Paddle the Park will build on the success of the popular Beach-to-Beach Power Swim over the last 10 years and the growing popularity of standup paddle boarding. The standup paddleboard race will be on Sunday, November 3, and will likely become an annual event.
The races will start and finish at the Maho Bay Pavilion and will consist of two concurrent courses. The Open course is about three miles and runs from Maho Bay to Whistling Cay and back. The Elite course is about five and a half miles and runs from Maho, around Whistling Cay, then around Cinnamon and back around Whistling Cay and finally back to Maho.
The race will start at 9 a.m. and finish between 11 a.m. and noon, at which time an awards ceremony and modest beach party at the Maho Bay Pavilion will be hosted.
Full information can be found at on Friends of VINP’s website at www.friendsvinp.org/paddle. Be sure to check out the narrated video maps of the race courses!
Phone and Online registration are now open. The fees are $60 for adults who register before November 1 and $30 for youth under age 18 who register before November 1. After November 1 the fee for adults is $80 and for youth the fee climbs to $50. There is no registration the day of the event.
Registration fees include event entry, race jersey (a water-friendly rash guard that must be worn during the race) goodie bag and a picnic lunch at awards ceremony.
Participants may register online at www.friendsvinp.org/paddle, by phone at (340) 779-4940 or in person at Friends of the Park store or office in Mongoose Junction or at Connections Cruz Bay or Coral Bay.
Friends thanked the race sponsors who are supporting park including Arawak Expeditions, VI Orthopedics, Freebird Creations, West Indies Windsurfing, Cruz Bay Watersports, St. John Physical Therapy, Property King, Rhumb Lines, Windsurf Adventures, BUZZ Radio, Ocean Potion and St. John Brewers.
All proceeds benefit Friends’ programs and projects that protect, preserve and educate within VINP. What better reason to go paddle boarding?