Here are some name you will recognise from the surfing and stand up paddle surfing : Gerry Lopez, Joel Tudor and Darrick Doerner.  All of them watermen and legends.  You many not have heard of Olaus McLeod but you will.  In April 2007 Olas paddled from Lands End to the Isles of Scilly and just to make it extra special he ran the Tresco Marathon while he was over there, then he tried to paddle back but the fickle weather defeated him. This week Olaus joined the surfing legends in New York.

If you were sitting in your office in NYC looking out of the window on Monday 13th August you would have seen a strange sight – a whole host of Stand Up Paddle Surfers, including the legends above, paddling in a race for 28 miles to raise awareness and money for Autism Speaks, Surfers Healing, NJCOSAC (which are all autism related charities and organisations) and Surfers Environmental Alliance.

A nice video of paddle around NYC  is available on the Autism Speaks website.

Organized by the Surfers’ Environmental Alliance (SEA), the paddle around the island of Manhattan was an invitation-only, 28-mile paddle that included between 30-40 participants. Participants stood-up paddleboards and traditional surfboards, paddling the route either individually or as relay teams.

The overall winner was Joel Tudor, but when it is all for charity, who cares who wins.