Santa Cruz Paddlefest

Here's some action, through the lens of Mark Boyd, of the HP Kayak Women, category presented by Monarch Flyway. In order: Devon Barker-Hicks, Amber Champion, and Melinda Moree.

The 2026 SCPF Steamer Lane HP Kayak Women podium, presented by Monarch Flyway, is:

1- Devon Barker-Hicks
2- Amber Champion
3- Melinda Moree

(Photos: Alisha Bube, Cait Dorr)

The SUP competition at the 35th annual SCPF was fiercely competitive. No matter the size and/or shape of the waves Mother Nature presented each day of the competition, the SUP surfers carved them up and showed impressive skills.

(Photos: Mark Boyd)

The Cowell Classic SUP Open and Women divisions, presented by Common Energy, top-performers at the 2026 Santa Cruz Paddlefest were:

SUP Open-
1- Sean Fender
2- Mike Hill
3- Dan Miller
4- Bryant Grigsby

SUP Women-
1- Brenda Jin
2- Kristin Thomas

(Photo: Alisha Bube)

For the first time ever, we had a SUP Longboard division at the Santa Cruz Paddlefest. The 2026 Cowell Classic SUP Longboard division was presented by Common Energy, and the top performing competitors were:

1- Jason Latham
2- Tim Larkin
3- Chuck Hendsch
4- Dane Howard

(Photos: Alisha Bube)

We had an awesome field of waveski adaptive athletes enter the 2026 SCPF Cowell Classic surf event. And here are your podiums:

Waveski Adaptive Open
1- Daniel Lombardo
2- Roy Tuscany
3- Chris Oberle

Waveski Adaptive Women
1- Alana Nichols
2- Lisa Franks
3- Alina Garbuzov
4- Hailey Kinter

(Photos: Alisha Bube and Cait Dorr)

These competitors really put on quite a show, even in challenging conditions. The 2026 Santa Cruz Paddlefest Cowell Classic Waveski Open podium is ... drumroll 🥁 ...

1- Devon Pearse
2- Chase Hutchings
3- James Kozuch
4- Paul Stoltz

(Photos: Alisha Bube)

Let's dive into the podiums from the 35th annual SCPF. First up, the Cowell’s Classic Kayak Open.

1- Jingning Zhang
2- Ben Waxman
3- Noah Brooks
4- Kyle Feldman

(Photos: )

While the waves were smaller than typical March Steamer Lane, they still showed up all competition long.

Here, you can see longtime Paddlefest competitor Matt Radis locked into a fun wave with intensity. He really had some standout performances in the water this year (1st Masters Open, 5th HP Open) and actually had the best wave of the competition locked in on day one until it was just beaten out in the finals on Sunday. He was also the consummate sportsman in the water, competing hard while also pushing his fellow competitors to shine.

We have to give a special thanks to the amazing photographers who capture the action at the Santa Cruz Paddlefest and generously share those images with us all. This awesome photo was captured by longtime Paddlefest photog Mark Boyd.

Our kayak inspection sticker this year was created in loving memory of Bettie Crandall. This was the first year her chair sat empty, but her spirit surrounded us all. For the last 35 years, Bettie has sat in her director's chair, cheering on her son Dan, as well as everyone else in the lineup. In the past she had also opened up her home to the international competitors in town for the Paddlefest, and built a strong family of surf kayakers. The Sunday night rib dinner was always a true honor to attend. After a fierce 3 days of competition, everyone would share stories, play guitar, sing “Hallelujah,“ and simply enjoy the friendships formed in the paddlesurf community around the Santa Cruz Paddlefest. Bettie also traveled around the world to not only support her son, but to be reunited with her surf kayaking family. There was no greater supporter than Bettie, and we felt that it was only fitting to honor her this year on every Steamer Lane competitor's boat and with flowers in her chair at the rail overlooking the competition.