We first met Hannah Ray J when the engineering firm I work for, Recreation Engineering and Planning, designed and built a park in Charles City, Iowa. Already a talented whitewater kayaker, this Iowa farm girl took to SUP quickly. We noticed her FB posts surfing a Badfish River Surfer and quickly reached out to her about joining our team. Hannah has quickly become the most technical female SUP river surfer out there. She is also a really cool example of what happens when you combine modification of historic low head dams in places like Iowa and river specific SUP designs like the River Surfer…surf Iowa moves from a joke to a reality. Of course, as you’ll see in the video below, from the Werner Paddles Vimeo page…it ain’t all about the board…Hannah’s got skills! Check her out on Instagram at @hannah_rayj and see for yourself. With whitewater parks in Iowa and Ohio coming online in the next year look for more of surf flyover country to start producing talent like Hannah. -Mike Harvey, Salida, CO