About Ingo & Ehiku 

Actor/waterman Ingo Rademacher is best know for his long running portrayal of “JAX” on ABC’s daytime drama "General Hospital" and his current run on "Dancing with the Stars"  He aims to offer an experience to fellow SUP enthusiasts that he lives and experiences everyday living here on the North Shore of Oahu.

Ingo is excited to run a series of camps this year, starting with the most popular camp around the 4th of July race. Ingo will share his  paddling and ocean knowledge, and there's always plenty of time to talk. 

His wife Ehiku also has an extensive paddling background, which started at age 12 when she was a canoe paddler and steersman on a six-man outrigger canoe team. Growing up in Hawaii, she is an avid surfer, free diver, and now SUP surfer and racer and YOLO team elite rider.  She's an intricate part of the camp, from teaching to co-ordinating the events. 

How Camp YOLOboard was born and some backgound and stories....

"I grew up in Australia and started paddling surf-skis and paddle boards when I was about 15 at the local surf lifesaving club. When I moved to Los Angles in 1994 I started training with Life guard champs Mike Newman and Craig Hummer, who quickly helped me take my paddling to the next level. For many years I competed In So-Cal and Hawaiian lifeguard competitions. In the late 90’s I became interested in long distance surf-ski races, and headed up to San Francisco to compete in the 15-mile long Alcatraz race.  In 2000 I completed in my first 32-mile long Molokai race, from the island of Molokai to Oahu (Honolulu). I placed 22nd in the ski at 4:20 hours, a time and place I hope to improve upon this year.

In 2006 I was introduced to the new sport of SUP stand up paddling. I was never much of a surfer, so the thought of using my paddling skills to surf was very appealing to me. Paddling in and out of the breaking surf, learning to turn around and spin the board fast to catch a wave, getting pounded and getting back up again... I didn’t even realize but I was learning a whole new set of skills for yet another  new sport, SUP racing.

After finishing my 16 year run on the TV show and before moving from California  to Hawaii full time, I had booked a movie some months out in Detroit, MI. My wife and I decided to head out to Rosemary Beach, FL on a road trip then drive to Detroit for the movie shoot. We arrived at my buddy D’s vacation house in FL which is near the YOLOboard headquarters. I had emailed the owner but he wasn’t to responsive on returning my emails about me wanting to Teach SUP while in FL. I needed a pair of surf shorts so I thought we’d just drop by the YOLO store anyway.  When I pulled up, I thought I was in the wrong place for sure... a warehouse? Can't be right. Anyone who's been there knows what I'm taling about.  Luckily there was a young chap outside packing a van in the  FL heat with YOLOboard plastered all over it, must be the right place, I thought.  Turns out that the guy was one of the owners... the one that never returned my emails, Jeff Archer. Anyone who knows Jeff guessed that already.  Anyway a “hello” turned into a 2-hour conversation, and a great friendship between me and Jeff, and the whole YOLO family was struck. Even our dogs became best of pals......rewind...nope, no dogs, but I was on a roll and it sounded good.

Ehiku and I would workout with Jeff every afternoon for almost 2 months straight, even going for a paddle in between lighting and rain storms if we had to. Those were some of the best times I have ever had.  Jeff might not be the best at returning emails, but man was he committed to our afternoon workouts. I started getting faster and winning some local races, always with Peanut on the front,  placing 2nd at a WPA race in GA. Soon I became a YOLO Elite rider and shortly after that, the Camp YOLO Hawaii idea was born. 

Thanks to Jeff and Mitzi Archer for their friendship and shared Vision."

-Ingo Rademacher