Molokai2Oahu Foil separate date from SUP

The writing was on the wall in 2023 when the the M2O returned for the first time since the pandemic lock down. While the M2O was absent for 3 years the Ocean Sports World has changed. Participation numbers already dwindled in 2019 as SUP lost its appeal in the wake of the rise of Foil Sports in Hawaii.

Now the race organizers of the M2O made the move to separate the date for the Foil race from the traditional paddle race. This was just announced via social media and in their newsletter. The race in 2023 made it clear, that running a channel crossing event where the foil division is finishing twice as fast as the top contenders in SUP and Prone Paddling is becoming a challenge.

As Kai Lenny mentioned in our interview in 2023, the race has become a sprint across the Kaiwi channel rather than an endurance race. These circumstances have changed the nature of the M2O, we saw the SUP and Prone start in the early morning while the foilers got to sleep in and leisurely show up at the beach by 9am and still making lunch over on Oahu. A move by the organizers to separate these division completely was a move to be expected and per the M2O news letter they will run the SUP Foil and Wing Foil Races a weekend prior to the SUP and Prone Date of the 28th of July.

Smart observers will notice that this is the same weekend as the Molokai Hololkai, Maui2Molokai Pailolo Channel Crossing. The the M2M is set how ever to Friday the 19th of July so there is a good chance that the foil racers just will continue to Oahu on Saturday or Sunday after the Maui2Molokai. At the moment this is only a speculation on our part, but we are in touch with all the organizers for more infos.

One really unfortunate part is that the organizers of the Gorge Paddle Challenge could not move their event back to their original dates in August as we are now having an overlap in races.

This is the PR-Release from the M2O Team:

Hau ‘oli Makahiki Hou!

We hope your year is off to a great start.  

The 25th Edition of the Moloka’i 2 O’ahu Paddleboard World Championships will take place on Sunday, July 28, 2024 and will feature the Prone and SUP divisions. Registration opens March 1st for these divisions.  TheFOIL RACE will be run on a separate day from the Prone and SUP race. The FOIL race will feature a limited field of both SUP Foil and Wing Foil and will be run the week prior to the July 28th race. More info on the race date, the course, and registration details will be announced early March.

The M2O VIRTUAL EDITION 5.0 will continue as athletes look to M2O for inspiration with registration opening in March.

We are excited to launch the 25th edition of M2O and thank all of our athletes, partners, and fans for the patience as we define the event’s next steps. We all witnessed an amazing return to racing in 2023 and look forward to harnessing the growth and excitement for the race together while recognizing our impact on Moloka’i and the continued healing and recovery of Maui.

The journey to Hawaii along with the adventure of arriving to Moloka’i to embrace the beauty and challenge of the channel is what defines our summers and pulls us back each year.  We look forward to being together again in July.

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This was the M2O 2023. If you like the content of the Stand Up Magazin please consider subscribing.