The Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival is held at Steamer Lane, one of the best amphitheaters for a surfing competition anywhere in the world.

Conditions for the 28th annual event were mixed. Participants had to endure a fickle swell on Friday, wind and rain and almost un-surf-able waves on Saturday but for those lucky enough and skilled enough to make it through to the finals on Sunday were blessed with epic conditions with 10ft faces rolling through the Lane and offshore winds.

I was entered in both the Men’s High performance category and the Plastic Production category. I won the High Performance last year after 7 years of trying and I knew that I had not spent enough time in the new Valley Surf Kayaks Rush Mk3 to stand a realistic chance of doing well this year. So I had entered the Plastic Production category as well, partly to wave the flag for Jackson Kayak and hopefully show that whitewater kayaks do have a place in the line-up.

Gina was also entered in the Women's High performance category. This has always been a special event for us since it was here that we met back in 2006. It was so great to see Gina charging at The Lane again after having a few years off due to two kids and a shoulder replacement!

The Mk3 Rush is Valley's latest version of the kayak I helped them design back in 2005. The latest version is radically different in many respects: It has a new cockpit coaming - long overdue since the last one was a poor design with a large flat area and overhang that allowed water to penetrate under the spray skirt. But it is the hull that really changes the way this boat surfs. There is a single concave in the bow, leading to a double concave under the seat area, through to a significant amount of V in the tail. Now the truth is that I had not had the opportunity to really dial the boat in. As a result I was still unsure how it reacted to an aggressive bottom turn. I could tell it was fast - really fast actually. And I could break the tail loose if I threw it around. But it was the connection from bottom turn to top turn that I found so predictable and clean with the Rush Mk2 that I just couldn't get to grips with in the short time that I had been surfing the Mk3. As a result I found myself regretting selling my Mk2, especially when the surf got big on Sunday. Despite my lack of confidence with the boat, I surfed reasonably well in the quarter final and was disappointed to get a third with only two going through to the semis.

For the Plastic Production category I had a Rock Star and a Fun Runner with me and choosing which boat to use was not an easy decision for me. My rodeo skills are pretty limited so I chose the Fun Runner to give me speed down the line. In the end I was really pleased with the way it surfed and it enabled me to bring home the gold medal for Jackson Kayak!

I shot this video during the first heat on Friday when the waves were good but there were long lulls between sets.

Thanks to Valley Surf Kayaks, Jackson Kayak, Kokatat Watersports Wear, Snap Dragon Design, and Werner Paddles.