The InZane Life| September 2019: APP World Tour, Love in the Air and Foil Innovations

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ZANE EARNS 2ND PLACE Overall IN NY -

APP WORLD TOUR

Coming back to New York for our second visit on tour with the APP was special in many ways. The community here is so stoked to be hosting both the APP SUP Surf and Race competition along with the WSL Longboard world championships. We arrived in New York on August 25 in order to prepare and train for competition and we were pleasantly surprised to be welcomed back from so many in the community. This time around I decided to spend a little extra time in the area even after competition wrapped up with hopes that I could get into the WSL Longboard world championships as an alternate and as well to teach clinics and offer coaching to our community of hydrofoilers, surfers and stand up paddlers in the area of Long Island.

Between competing in 4 different divisions of the APP New York Open including sup surfing, technical sup racing, distance racing and longboard sup surfing divisions, I had my hands full! But this didn’t stop me from wanting to experience New York further and get involved with some community efforts! One of the biggest things that was an exciting surprise and as well an epic opportunity was the chance to get into the WSL longboard world championships as an alternate! Getting involved and following the WSL has been on my radar in recent years and I’m so grateful for the chance to compete here in New York after competition with the APP. Besides competition, we also have on our schedule while here on the East Coast to volunteer with Surfers Healing and stoke out a bunch of kids on surfing along with some eco-activations and beach cleanup’s with Parley, US Climate Strike and Matuse.

Kicking off competition for our trip in New York was the Sup Surf division and we had some fun waves between knee to waist high for the majority of the event with some moderate wind. I was feeling pumped up for this one and had a blast preparing leading up to the start of competition day, regardless of the conditions. Getting back in the competition mode is always exciting!

In round one I was up against Justin Holland from AUS and Kieran Grant from FL and moved on into round 3 with the win to start off my run! In round three I was up against Luiz Diniz from Brazil and again, Justin Holland after he made it through the repechage round 2. In this heat I placed 2nd behind Luiz, moving me into the quarterfinals where I met up with 2012 world champion Leco Salazar from BR. From here on the competition is thick in every heat. From round four on into the finals it’s man on man with only the winner moving forward. It was an exciting heat for me, and probably the most fun heat of my run in competition with my highest total point score of run at this event. I was stoked to move forward from this heat into the quarter finals where once again I met up with Luiz Diniz. It was an action packed heat with two goofy footers. We were battling it out, but in the end I lost out putting me into equal fifth place. Luiz went on to win this event! In the end it was a great event, we were lucky enough to get the waves we had here considering the location and I’m stoked on how my boards with Starboard are working!

We had a day break then moved right into the APP World Championship technical race right at Long Beach, the same location as our surf event. During our rest day I met up with Connor Baxter where we took it easy together stretching, foam rolling, and doing all kind of warm up exercises and recovery practices in a routine that Connor has developed.

On race day I was stoked to get back into competition with this type of technical race in the service zone. In my first heat I was up against current world champion, Michael Booth from Australia, an epic way to start off! Michael out paddled me, but luckily, there was a repechage round which I advanced through to get me back into the main bracket.

(Read More to the Right)

I Proposed and Kim said YES!

Whatever I write about this amazing proposal is nothing compared to the video (Thanks Uncle B - Brent Schlea). Take a look at the video on my Instagram (@zaniac1) on August 10, 2019.

When it was the right time to propose to the love of my life, I had a special plan. Kim (Follow her Instagram here @kimyapmaui) thought she was doing a bikini photo shoot for one of her sponsors. Little did she know I was about to drop a knee and ask her to ride this wave together for life! She said yes and I couldn’t be more grateful!

Kim and I decided to stay an extra week on the East Coast and celebrate a bit after being newly engaged to each other, and we’ve had the chance to experience not only the city that never sleeps in New York City, but also the beach where we competed in Long Beach, to the amazing nature reserves and sand dune‘s around Montauk and the Hamptons. Getting outside of the city was very refreshing and also eye-opening to see the natural beauty of New York!

And of course everything is more fun sharing it with Kim.

Believe and Create

Innovate & Inspire

We can change the world (for the better) with creativity and collaboration. CREATIVITY to think outside-the-box and be innovative, and COLLABORATION to share with one another our process in which we learn, adapt and come together.

One of my favorite aspects of my world travel schedule is engaging with the local community - from beach cleanups and clinics to speaking engagements for motivation, team building, business goals and more. Check out my SPEAKER PACKET and connect with my manager at Athelo Group for a booking.

Products of the Month: Starboard Innovations

SUP Surfing and Foiling

The new design 2020 Starboard Pro is here (featuring Zane Kekoa Schweitzer )! This is the board dedicated to high-performance SUP surfing. Check out the video!

"Performance shapes for serious riders seeking world-class waves"

See Product Page :

Locate a Dealer :

You are looking at a paddleboard that won ISA SUP Surf World Championships 3 years in a row.

The short outline makes it possible to ride a smaller board with more reactivity. Thinner rails give more control & response to generate more speed. The channelled tail gives bite and drives out of turns. All sizes feature diamond grooved traction pads with tail kick pad with the raised center ridge.

And there's MORE!

“Flight Mode Unlocked”

The 2020 Starboard Foil Surf is the model designed for advanced riders looking to elevate their surf foiling performance. Video HERE!

“Flight Mode Unlocked”

See product page :

Locate a Dealer :

The Foil Surf range was created and developed based on Clinton Filen’s extensive kitesurfing and surfing experience in Cape Town, South Africa. All the testing was performed with the support of Zane Schweitzer and the fine-tuning technologies were then finalized in cooperation with the SUP team in Bangkok. All boards have been tested with both AK and Starboard foils, varying the wing sizes and shape as well as different mast heights. This allowed us to see how the boards performed with different foils and surf conditions.

Credits: Videography by Mat5o Media "Matty Schweitzer" , Abraham Shouse and Georgia S Photography . Video edit by Georgia Schofield

NY APP World Tour continued

After five heats of competition in the technical course race, I finished off in equal 8th after my finish in the quarterfinals. I made a goal to place top 10 in the overall of this race and I was grateful to have the chance to get my heart rate up and race so many heats!

There was one lay day in between the two racing disciplines of the APP World Championship. Next up was the distance race around the Statue of Liberty! Coincidentally, the WSL longboard competition started on that lay day in between my two races! I arrived early to register for beach entry and got in as a third alternate and waited eagerly near the Beach Marshall in hopes I would make it in.

The waves were pretty junk, 1-2 ft and sloppy wind from hurricane Dorian approaching, but regardless the stoke was high on the beach with everyone coming together for the opening day of competition with the WSL. We had a bunch of friends in town from Hawaii for this event including Aaron and Nikka, Kelia Moniz and more. Fortunately I was able to borrow a board from Nikka, it wasn’t quite a classic nose rider, but I was stoked to have the aloha and support from our friend and wild card winner from Oahu!!

I ended up getting called in for heat number 3 of the day and got out into the water with open eyes and a humble approach for my first event with the WSL- I had some great competitors in my heat and was having a blast sharing some great in those rides with them. I held second place throughout the majority of the heat but then got overtaken and finished in 3rd out of 4 and finished my short-lived run at the New York classic. No matter what I’m thankful for the chance to have gotten in, meet the community here a part of these events and as well stoked to accumulate some points. I look forward to getting back into more WSL events for 2020 and beyond.

The distance race started the very next day and we were blessed with warm sunshine and minimal wind with a fairly smooth day for the Hudson River which is known to be rough with heavy current. Having the chance to paddle around the Statue of Liberty on a beautiful day like this was a great opportunity I did not want to miss. I didn’t have much training in flat water distance recently but I wanted to give it a good go and push hard to finish top 10 overall between technical and distance.

As always the race started off tight with everyone fighting for a front position in the train of racers. The current made the race technical which was fun and also challenging in some areas. Paddling around the backside of the Statue of Liberty for the majority of the race and then at the halfway point turning and getting a brief glimpse of eye contact through my Buoy Turn was a great moment I won’t forget!

I was able to start off in top 10 but fell back into top 13 and finished off the race there. I didn’t quite make the top 10 overall in the racing disciplines, but as always I was able to take away some experiences that will allow me to perform better next time and I’m walking away with some very unique experiences!

Fun times with WSL Longboard crew

Ocean Uprise

I feel honored to have been invited to work and share with an amazing group of creative thinkers from all over the world. All 30 of the ocean guardians pictured above are under 18. They were also invited to this Ocean Uprise Youth Summit out of respect for their traits as present day leaders and Eco warriors.

For 5 days we collaborated together to create waves in our own communities and around the world by exploring solutions for Climate Change, Indigenous Rights, Commercial Fishing and Single Use Plastic.

So grateful to be immersed in this community and have the opportunity to learn from each of these keiki and as well our panel of speakers, guests and heros including the following. You can follow them all on Instagram: @imuakino @jackjohnson @kimi_swimmy @gerglong @seashepherd @davehakkens @missemilypenn Nainoa Thompson and more.

Check out my Upcoming Schedule

Check out my upcoming schedule on my newly revised website. Much Mahalo to Mike and Ann at The Wholesum Agency for their hard work and generous sharing of time and talent. If you need creativity and technical excellence this is your team.

Whenever we travel for competition or really for any trip at that, it always makes it more special to connect with the community and find a way to contribute to the environment and people in one way or another.

While on the road recently, Kim and I found a number of local beach cleanups to join and as well put together one with some of the athletes from our competition. We also had a chance to connect with the crew and our good friends at Surfers Healing. Every year they tour through the East Coast around the same time as our competition here in New York and I’m stoked to join them for my fourth year here. Hundreds of kids from all over the states join for these awesome events where we share the stoke of surfing and see the healing effects of the ocean take affect in front of our eyes!

Many of these children have alternative abilities and it’s so heartwarming to see the transformation that the ocean and the sensation of riding a wave can do! I always love sharing days and waves at the beach with these guys and this amazing crew at surfers healing and was so grateful to be a part of this awesome event once again.

If you want private instruction or a clinic, just CONTACT me.

MERCHANDISE

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Zane Kekoa Schweitzer | aloha@zaneschweitzer.com | www.zaneschweitzer.com