Well it was about 6 weeks ago when we left for Hawaii en-route to another Date with the Famous Molokai Channel. Me and my girlfriend Joss arrived with about 2 weeks to go before the big race. As soon as we touched down we were off to Maui for a 9 mile race on the Nth Shore of Maui.. The Maliko run as they call it is one of the best downwind runs you will find. The race was epic with really good winds and perfect swells.. Hopefully a sign of things to come for the big race.
We stayed in Maui for a few days for Cash Kalamas 1st B'day. They go big for 1st B'days in Hawaii. Once we had eaten our fair share we were on the plane back to Oahu where we met up with our training group who had all arrived and stoked to be in some warm weather. The lead up to Molokai was probably the most enjoyable one i have had.. Everyone was really relaxed and having fun and i think that came with the knoweldge of how many hrs we had put in training back home and we were really just fine tuning.. The lead up can be pretty crazy for me with Media and stuff and this year was no exception. On top of press conferences and early morning shows this year i had a reporter(Tim Struby) good guy from ESPN Magazine following me around for the lead up and also to Molokai for a story for the Magazine(who 10 million people happen to read). Good for paddling to get such mainstream media.
Back to the race! A bunch of us got to Molokai on the friday and bunkered down..If u have been to Molokai you will know theres not much to do.But lucky for us all i wanted to do was eat,rest and hydrate so its a nice little quiet time..The wind was blowing pretty much from the time we got there till we left on Sunday morning @ 7:30am. Which is GOOD.. And from the right direction... The race is always hard no matter what conditions you get. This year we had good wind but bad tide and a sth swell to make things interesting as we rounded China Walls into the finish Line.
The flag dropped right on 7:30am and like every year it was game on. Pretty much off the start we were catching little bumps and it just got better and better for the next 3 hrs.Lots of Fun. You could feel the tide but the bumps were too much fun to worry about it..That was until about 3hr 01 min into the race haha.. Yes the tide kicked our ass and the last 8 miles was brutal to say the least. I felt strong the whole way and had a awesome support crew on my escort boat. Eddie the Captain,Charlie,Justin and my awesome girl Joss... They guided me across perfect.
So as they say the rest is history. I got my 8th title which im stoked on and our training group had 4 guys in the Top 10. Dean 4th, Sean 7th and coach Mick 9th. Bianca was 2nd in the Womens and our mate Billy who was going solo on a SUP got food poisoning the night before the race and couldnt race. So all in all a pretty succesfull trip for everyone involved.
The next few days involved a bit of Drinking, shooting guns and drinking some more Mai Tais on a Yacht. Good times. Thanks to Steve,Penny Simie Boy,Shaq,Solly, for all the support and to Adrain @
La Hui Kai Paddleboards for the best boards. STOKED
