“The paddle in was amazing and we were surprised how many waves were actually caught. Almost everyone got a wave in what turned out to be an optimal paddle in day at the reef.”
– Contest director and Nelscott Reef founder John Forse.
(After conferring with big wave contest guru Gary Linden, and based on competitors feedback and spectator enthusiasm, Forse decided to integrate the paddle-in into future events.)
“It was insane. Those guys killed it out there. When you are tow surfing all day, it’s really spread out and you can come at it from any angle. tow surfing shows the angel, paddle surfing shrunk the playing field down to a takeoff area, you realize that’s a good wave to paddle. I’m not a big wave paddler, but the guys today put themselves in position to get pounded. There’s some big waves out there. They were doing it like a heat, full-on battling for positioning, strategizing. It’s pretty exciting. I saw Jamie Mitchell get pounded, ran into some bull kelp. That stuff can definitely take you out.”
– 2007 and 2008 co-champion Adam Replogle
“It was fantastic, it was long overdue, demonstrating that it could be paddled. It was really great to see the resurgence of the purity of paddling into big waves. They proved without a doubt that this is a paddle-able wave.”
– Jake Wormhoudt, who won the inaugural Nelscott contest in 2005 with brother Zach
2008 Paddle-In Contest final results:
1. Kealii Mamala (HAW)
2. Jamie Mitchell (AUS)
3. Shane Desmond (N.Cal)
4. Mike Parsons (S.Cal)
5. Gary Linden (S.Cal)
6. Justin Howard (Oregon)
7. Chad Jackson (C.Cal)
8. Zach Wormhoudt (N.Cal)
9. Steve Harnack (Oregon)
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