Maui Paddleboard Race 2014 – Greetings from Hurricane Wali

The long anticipated Maui Paddle Board Race almost fell victim to the remains of Hurrican Walli. Heavy rain and wind pounded Mauis shoreline all night long leaving the race in uncertainty as conditions and especially the viability were anything else than favorable. A break in the cloudy sky let the organizers to at least postpone the start of the race from 13.00 to 14.00 to give the wind a chance so somewhat groom a rather stormy sea.

At 13.30 Rodney Kilborn a.k.a Mr. Handsome gave the safety briefing to all racers. The start will be right in the bay itself as it was definitely impossible to do a start outside the bay. (As it is preferred by many paddlers.) Once out side the bay paddlers were greeted not only by smoking 20ks of wind but also by a solid ‘ground swell’ in the overhead range. It became clear to everybody that this will not be an average downwinder day but rather a matter of survival. With the winds coming from a more northerly direction as normal I felt it was essential to get further out and away from the shore.

Unfortunately the sea was very ‘confused’ most of the way down the coast. There were smaller windwaves going down the regular direction, large and longer waves coming out of the north east and a back wash from the shore running back into all of that. This was by far the most technical race I have ever paddled. It was extremely hard to stay on my feet not to speak of getting a decent glide. Once reaching the outer reefs past Baldwin Beachpark things got even more interesting: There were actually waves breaking that could have been easy caught on a short board. I dodged a bullet when one of the sets stood up right next to me, me unable to catch it and swiping me of my board. The wave took my board and dragged me on my leash. I was very lucky my leash held up the pressure, but now is definitely twice as long as before. The guy half a mile further down the coast was not as lucky, he sat on his board snapped in half looking for help. Lucky a jet ski with a photographer was nearby to assist him.

At this point I did not feel that I was in a race anymore, now it was all about not getting caught by a set and finishing the ‘race’ in one piece. I was never waas so happy to have it finally made into the harbor.

Enjoy some moments from a race we will be talking about for a while:

 

Top 25 SUP Unlimited
1. Kaeo Abbey 1:14:18
2. Armie Armstrong 1:14:54
3. Livio Menelau 1:15:13
4. Kody Kerbox 1:15:24
5. Vinnicius Martins 1:16:23
6. Mo Freitas 1:18:37
7. Scott Trudon 1:19:45
8. James Casey 1:20:53
9. Tomo Murabayashi 1:22:17
10. Gustavo Ratones 1:23:56
11. Amir Arbel 1:24:30
12. Franck Muller 1:25:02
13. Ironphil Gregory 1:25:42
14. Sonni Hönscheid 1:26:03
15. Andrea Moller 1:26:43
16. Ralph Sifford 1:29:50
17. Americo Pinheiro Jr 1:30:15
18. Braly Joy 1:31:03
19. Kosuke Matsuyama 1:31:45
20. Tim Wyers 1:32:17
21. Penelope Strickland 1:32:38
22. Christopher Parker 1:32:41
23. Kevin Shy 1:33:05
24. Kelsa Gabehart 1:36:03
25. Barbara Brazil 1:37:35

Top 25 14′ No Rudder
1. Travis Baptiste 1:15:35
2. Josh Riccio 1:19:04
3. Paul Jackson 1:19:15
4. Titouan Puyo 1:20:52
5. Bart De Zwart 1:28:09
6. Belar Diaz 1:28:16
7. Rj Whener 1:32:51
8. Yoshiaki Nagamatsu 1:33:21
9. Steve Walker 1:33:32
10. Antonio Chaer 1:34:01
11. Angela Jackson 1:34:17
12. Karla Gilbert 1:34:31
13. Martin Giroud 1:34:48
14. Meron Akman 1:36:27
15. Manca Notar 1:36:36
16. Roger Lasey 1:38:18
17. Candido Chutorianscy 1:38:25
18. Rob Walton 1:38:43
19. Fabiano Faria 1:38:59
20. Bojan Bernard 1:39:25
21. Sean Bicknell 1:39:42
22. David Oakley 1:42:58
23. Fabio Valongo 1:43:20
24. Warwick Gray 1:43:31
25. Mike Jucker 1:43:59

4 Guys on 12’6″
1. Frank Forbes 1:43:36
2. Bruce Baptiste 1:54:21
3. Kristy Morris 2:03:06
4. Alex Mawae 2:38:51

 

Winners from the past

2006

1. JAMIE MITCHELL – 1:12:40
2. DAVE KALAMA – 1:13:08
3. SCOTT TRUDON – 1:14:42

2007

1. DAVID KALAMA – 1:11:11
2. EKOLU KALAMA – 1:16:29
3. ALAN CADIZ – 1:18:26

2008

1. JAMIE MITCHELL – 01:03:57
2. JACKSON ENGLISH – 01:06:14
3. NATHAN HENDERSON – 01:06:27

2009

1. SCOTT TRUDON – 1:10:09
2. KAI BARTLETT – 1:10:17
3. JAMIE MITCHELL – 1:10:42

2010

1. DAVID KALAMA – 1:13:48
2. LIVIO MENELAU – 1:14:11
3. JAMIE MITCHELL – 1:17:16

2011

1. David Kalama – 1:09:29
2. Livio Menelau – 1:10:09
3. Jeremy Riggs – 1:13:01

2012

1. Kai Lenny – 1:11:21
2. David Kalama – 1:11:32
3. Dave Kissane – 1:13:17

2013

1. CONNOR BAXTER – 1:02:06
2. JEREMY RIGGS – 1:05:19
3. LIVIO MENELAU – 1:05:36