What is surprising is seeing a station wagon parked in front of this 40-year-old, single, championship athlete's driveway.

Surprising until you see the roof racks on top, the paddle stretched across the front and back seats and the bucket of clothes ready to get wet during any of the four days a week he paddles his surfsk. A surfski is similar to a "sit-on-top" kayak but longer and narrower.

Jensen said he's been paddling canoes, kayaks and surfskis his entire life. The sport has taken him from Wilson Lake in Wisconsin, where he grew up, to the waterways near Sunnyvale where he has lived for three years since moving to California eight years ago. He's raced through the Panama Canal, through rivers across the United States and even between islands in Hawaii.

And now, with the help of other paddlers, Jensen is trying to bring his sport into the mainstream.

"I think our sport is growing, we're working hard to promote it, and there's the demand of people who want to do these races, so we're working to supply it," Jensen said.

Jensen--who spends his days designing plastic pieces for medical equipment and other uses--is the course director for the Wave Chaser Paddle Series, an annual winter racing series that has almost tripled in size since its inception three years ago.

In addition to sitting on the executive board, Jensen is also one of the points leaders for the series. He regularly places in top spots in races against competitors from around the country.

The series is an offshoot of the Hui Wa'a--Hawaiian for "canoe club,"--Outrigger Canoe Club in Redwood City. Jensen and two other paddlers saw a need for a winter event to encourage year-round participation.

In the series' first year, there were less than 50 participants. Last year, the number rose to almost 100, and this year 167 paddlers participated in the most recent event--two days of races in Redwood City Feb. 19 and 20.

The races included a 10-mile course around Alcatraz and Angel islands for experts; a 6-mile short course and a 2-mile novice course for newer paddlers.

In the series that runs from October to March, Jensen is currently winning the surfski competition. He won it during the inaugural season and took second last year.

"The competition is getting really good; you have an Olympic training center near San Diego, so we're getting those guys coming up here," he said.

While the sport as a whole is in its infancy as far as public awareness and large-scale competitions in California, paddling has been a part of may cultures for generations. In the Midwest, canoe paddling is a way of life on rivers and lakes.

"When I started 20 years ago, it wasn't something I was planning on doing forever, but as long as it stays fun, I'll keep doing it," Jensen said. "It's good because it's lower impact than something like running, so it can be enjoyed by anyone from kids all the way up to someone who's 70 or 80 years old."

In Hawaii, Guam and other island nations, outrigger canoes--canoes with a support beam called an ama attached to the sides by iaku, which are connector bars that help keep the boat upright--are a part of the people's cultural history.

Jensen is currently training for a surfski race in Hawaii between the islands of Molokai and Oahu. He's paddled that distance before in six-man outrigger canoes, but never solo in what paddlers call "big water," with waves, wind and strong current. But Jensen is no stranger to hard paddles. He once spent 36 hours straight in a canoe with a team of paddlers, and covered 260 miles of water.

"The first 24 hours were kind of fun, but after that, I had a bit of a low period," Jensen said.

While canoes and kayaks were traditionally made of wood, hide, bone and other naturally occurring materials, today's craft materials include carbon fiber, epoxy, Kevlar, even glass, and the boats have gotten lighter, stronger and more durable.

A high-quality racing boat can cost as much as $3,000. Jensen said he owns no fewer than 15. Each boat is different and some are not even in the immediate area. He leaves canoes in Michigan and Wisconsin to use for races in the Midwest and on the East Coast. Eight of his boats are stacked in his garage and a few are in the canoe club's boathouse in Redwood City.

Some of his boats--like his orange-spotted yellow boat that he had custom painted to look like a piece of Wisconsin cheese--are from companies in nearby Sacramento. Jensen also has boats from Wisconsin, South Africa and New Zealand. To go with his 15 boats, he has more than 20 different paddles and each of them can cost almost $400.

At this stage in the sport's growth, there is little sponsorship help for competitions and equipment, except for things from local companies. Jensen said Wave Chaser is hoping to get some larger Silicon Valley companies involved to bring in money to really help the sport take off.

He thinks it could continue to grow in the area because of the pristine waterways, with the San Francisco and Monterey Bays so close and the numerous sloughs of the South Bay.

"It's just amazing that when I put in up in Redwood City, I'm just a few hundred yards off Highway 101, but I'm all by myself in the sloughs and channels," he said.

For more information on the Wave Chaser Paddle Series, or information on paddling, visit www.wavechaser.com.