Charlie Banfield is Kamanu Composites' representative for Northern California. He grew up in Daly City in Northern California and attended Jefferson High School where he was an athletic stand out. He attended Skyline college for two years where he prepared himself to wrestle in the Olympics. However, his hopes were shattered when the Olympics were cancelled. After that he refocused his life towards his family and career, but still was able to play football at a semi-professional level. In 1992, after being enthralled by watching a regatta in Kailua, he found a club in San Francisco that he could paddle for. He quickly began competing in OC-6, OC-1, and sprint Kayak races. Charlie has traveled around the world competing in sprint Kayaks and has received competition awards for US National Events and US World Master Games. He has also been repairing and restoring OC-1s and OC-6s since 1992. His wife Linda, and his two sons, Josh and Justin, are also competitive paddlers. Charlie first met John Puakea at the US National Time Trials in Seattle and has paddling John Puakea's canoes since 2002.