MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series
Vanier Park V6V 2J2 Vancouver, BC, Canada

To the Big Chop community, Well, after 12 amazing seasons, the Big Chop Summer Paddle Series has come to an end. This is a very sad moment for us as we've had so many incredible moments over our 120 race history and we didn't want the fun to end. The Big Chop began in 2007 when Ryan Pogue and Bryan Tasaka met at the Gary Parsons' OceanMan race and somehow decided that we wanted to create a paddle series that was simply fun and inclusive. We 'borrowed' Bob Putnam's TNR concep...t and found a champion in Mark Kelly who brought MEC to the table as our title sponsor. In Big Chop's long run, we never had to cancel a race (although, there was one where we should have...), we served up thousands of hotdogs and cold cans of beer, and I'm sure we're responsible for a few relationship hookups (comment below if you were one of them!). We even saw paddle boards become 'a thing'! We are thankful for meeting so many awesome paddlers over the years and for the support we've received from our many generous sponsors, hard working volunteers, and fantastic racers. We would like to give extra thanks to the members of Vancouver Ocean Sports for hosting us, to the Fraser Riverkeeper for being our community partner, to the staff at MEC for coming out to every race and helping with the rentals and running the clinics, and to Jeannie, Chrissy, Bonnie and Kelli for your YEARS of being the backbone of the series. We wish you all the best and we will miss you all -- especially on those warm summer Thursday nights. Big Thanks! Bryan, George & Stu

Big thanks to Jon Benjamin Photography for not only coming out and racing, but for taking these great shots from the post-race festivities.

Photos from the final race of the MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series. Please feel free to share and tag your friends. Photos by Bryan Tasaka

if you want to paddle tonight, and need a rental, we MIGHT have one available. We're getting a few last minute cancellations. Please email [email protected].

So many prizes to be won at the final MEC Big Chop of the season! Thank you to our team of amazing sponsors for sending us so much great product!

CALL FOR HELP! The final race is a BIG one so we need a few more awesome people to help us with the event. if you would like to volunteer, we need help on the food and beer stations. Please DM or email [email protected]. All volunteers get a food ticket and are eligible for special volunteer prizing. I also need someone who's really good with Instagram. Someone who can do the STORY for the night. You get to ride on the boat and see the action up close. If you're interested, please DM the Big Chop on Instagram (that's the first test to see if you know how to use it and you're not just looking for a boat ride ;0).

Let's do the Sand Barge course for the final race of the season. It's simple and great for getting lots of photos of everyone. We'll open registration at 5:45pm as it will be a super busy night on registration, so please arrive early. See you soon!

The Mt Seymour Candy Cup returns for one final week. Race with your kid for a chance to win some great prizing from #mtseymour including a Seasons Pass!

The feast of all feasts is coming to the final MEC Big Chop of the season. Harry and Kathleen from WazSUP will be bringing in big trays of Indian food like butter chicken, chicken tandoori, samosas, naan, rice and more! Come hungry!

it was another night of great memories on the water for the 9th race of the MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series. Enjoy the photos and be sure to tag your friends so they can see themselves at action. ------------- Photos: Bryan Tasaka

The biggest Big Chop of the season is this Thursday and it’s going to be huge. The start line will be packed w paddlers, the prize table loaded, coolers filled with cold beer and a Indian feast for dinner. Come celebrate the end of season 12 with us! #letsparty ++++++ @mec @nrsweb #mecbigchop

Results are up from the MEC Big Chop #9. Go see how you did against your fellow paddlers.

It was quite the night for the MEC Big Chop Summer Paddle Series, presented by NRS, with out biggest turnout of the season -- over 125 paddlers! Stanley Park was the backdrop for this one and salmon were jumping everywhere. Big thanks to Hoyne Brewing Company for being our featured beer of the night and to Mt Seymour for sponsoring the Candy Cup. We have one more race to go (Aug 23) so mark your calendar.