stock paddleboard, remains a popular choice today. Shortly after, L.A, surfboard shaper Joe Bark and San Diego shaper Mike Eaton began production, and soon with Brian Szymanski's North County Paddleboards (NCP) became three of the largest U.S. paddleboard makers, eventually producing nearly half of the estimated 3–400 paddleboards made each year in the U.S. today. L.A. lifeguards Gibby Gibson and Buddy Bohn revived the Catalina Classic event in 1982 for a field of 10 competitors. Concurrently in Hawaii, the annual Independence Day Paddleboard Race from Sunset to Waimea was drawing a few hundred competitors, many using surfboards due to lack of proper paddleboards on the Islands. As paddlers began ordering boards from the Mainland, local surfboard shapers like Dennis Pang (now one of Hawaii's largest paddleboard makers) moved quickly to fill the local niche. On both fronts, paddleboarding has been consistently gaining momentum and popularity. In 1996 the sport of paddleboarding was making a comeback. Once the domain of only dedicated watermen and big wave riders in the 1950s and 60s, the sport found a new set of acolytes on the North Shore of Oahu and in Honolulu at the Outrigger Canoe Club. At that time Hawaii's top paddler was Dawson Jones. After completing the Catalina Classic, from Catalina Island to Manhattan Beach, Jones returned to Hawaii inspired to establish a race across the Ka’iwi Channel. In 1997, the race that is now known as the Paddleboard World Championships was born. Today the race sells out with both prone and stand up paddleboarders (SUP) from around the world who compete in solo and team divisions. Olympics Paddleboarding may be added to the Olympics and the Court of Arbitration for Sport will decide whether it is represented by the International Surfing Association or the International Canoe Federation. Equipment Paddleboards are divided by length into three classes: Stock, 14 Foot, and Unlimited. Stock boards are long, and best for paddlers around or less. Stock boards are easy to accelerate and fast in choppy water. But with their short waterline, they lack the calm water top speed of 14 feet or Unlimited boards. 14-foot class boards are arguably the best all-around board. At in length, they combine many of the best characteristics of stock boards with nearly the calm water speed of Unlimited boards. Only about half of all races have a 14-foot class. Unlimited boards are the fastest boards afloat. Their speed