THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

VENTURE PADDLIN' BACK IN THE RACE BEACH BREAK: BOB HOGAN, 63, RETURNS TO THE CATALINA CLASSIC HE STARTED 40 YEARS AGO.

Wednesday, August 9, 1995

Byline:
Credit: JAENA THOMPSON: THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Forty years after he started it, Bob Hogan, 63, returns to contest the 32-mile Catalina Classic Beach Paddleboard Race.

Hogan's son Rob, a Mission Viejo resident, made his first crossing with the support crew by virtue of being carried across the channel from Catalina to Manhattan Beach by his 8 1/2-month pregnant mother, Carol. He'll miss this race; he'll be contesting an ironman triathlon in Canada. In Rob's place, his son Dan, 14, will be on the support crew. Dan Hogan will sail with his grandfather from the elder Hogan's home in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in the weeks before the Aug. 27 race.

"When I initially thought of a race between Catalina and Manhattan Beach, I went to a meeting of the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce and they thought it was a good idea," Bob Hogan said. "In that first year, the idea was so different at the time it got around 50,000 column inches in publicity. It was on the front page of The New York Times.

"At that time, it was one of these things that no one knew if it could be done, like the Ironman. Then it turned into a race."

Hogan was a Los Angeles County lifeguard when he originated the race. At the time, paddling, swimming, diving and surfing were among the water-based pursuits followed by watermen of the era. Everyone paddled. It was something to do.

Hogan's race concept called for escort boats to accompany racers using standard lifeguard-sized paddleboards. Original board dimensions were less than 14 feet in length and more than 45 pounds with hollow construction. More recently, the race has accommodated two divisions, for unlimited size boards and for boards under 12 feet.

"A few of us were racing at the time," Hogan said. "But there were no races this distance. The distance didn't seem like too big of a thing. Nobody thought of quitting."

About 20 competitors tested the channel that separates Catalina from the California mainland in that first Catalina Classic. Hogan had laid out a course that called for crossing the channel to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and turning north at a bell buoy at Redondo Beach before finishing at the Manhattan Beach Pier.

Race day dawned _ or didn't _ under a pea-soup fog. The four paddlers out front became separated from the pack and got lost. The paddler who would have won missed the buoy in Redondo and paddled directly to the pier, disqualifying himself. Hogan's escort pilot spied kelp and decided to turn left instead of right to avoid running aground.

"I ended up going to what is now Marina del Rey," Hogan said. "I overshot the finish by eight miles. I paddled 40 instead of 32."

Hogan finished second and third in the Catalina Classic in 1957 and 1958 then became absorbed in building a sailboat and didn't race again. He didn't win the Classic in four tries.

"I know the caliber of some of the people who are going to be in there," he said of this year's field. "I don't intend to win again."

Still a youthful competitor, surfer James Pribram of Laguna Beach already has tried his hand at running contests. Pribram, 24, coach of Laguna Beach High and Thurston Middle School surfing teams the past few years, put on a contest for Laguna Beach youngsters with help from his sponsor, Gotcha. The contest was free to its 18-and-under entrants.

"I don't think enough surfers give back to the youth of the community," Pribram said. "A lot of the pro athletes have the All-American boy image, but they're not. Whether they like it or not, kids look up to them. I think it's kind of selfish that they don't see that."

Pribram said he hopes to turn the contest into an annual event. For the first year, he was allowed a permit good for six hours. Next year, he might be allowed two days, he said.

Meantime, he tutors Laguna Beach youngsters in surfing. Wave observation, ocean danger and falling techniques are among his hour-long onshore instruction topics.

"I'm teaching three little 10-year-olds how to surf," he said. "I got them up on their first wave and you could see their confidence grow in a matter of seconds. It's refreshing to see their excitement when they stand up for the first time. I almost get more out of helping the kids than showing up at the Op Pro." Jaena Thompson is a Register staff writer. The Beach Break notebook regularly appears every Wednesday.