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A decade with Annabel Anderson

Annabel Anderson: SUP Racer declared her rightfully so Athlete of the decade. I know her as an outspoken women and asked her to write a piece for the 10th anniversary of the Stand Up Magazin. She wrote how she has seen the last 10 years of SUP and we published her essay in our spring issue this year. Now we have it original and uncut for you in her native language:

So much promise, so much potential….where is it and why is it stuck in limbo??

A lot can happen in a decade. A lot. 

A decade ago, if you told me what the past ten years would hold, I would tell you to ease off the CBD. Seriously, I would. 

It still blows my mind how a girl from the mountains, who had done quite the job of self-destructing her body in her late teens and early twenties, would find herself plonked in the middle of London in the depths of a worst-winter-in-30-years after being made redundant at the height of the Global Financial Crises in New Zealand would manage to get a board, teach herself to paddle and become the most winning athlete in a sport ten years later.

It still blows my mind how a girl from the mountains, who had done quite the job of self-destructing her body in her late teens and early twenties, would find herself plonked in the middle of London in the depths of a worst-winter-in-30-years after being made redundant at the height of the Global Financial Crises in New Zealand would manage to get a board, teach herself to paddle and become the most winning athlete in a sport ten years later. 

It’s hard to remember what SUP was like ten years ago, so it’s fitting that we take a short trip down memory lane. 

There’s much debate about who invented SUP, but it’s hard to argue about who made it popular. We have that big beefcake with sun bleached hair to thank for that one. Yes, I’m talking about Laird and his 12’ tandem long board that the took out on Maui with an outrigger paddle extended with a broom handle to propel himself into a wave. Who even was this, paddling into a wave already standing up? Next thing he is putting his board in at Maliko Gulch and catching the white water of the downwind swells whipped up by the ever-present trade winds of the North Shore. Yep, we have the ingenuity of Laird and the paddling and surfing culture of the Hawaiian’s to thank for this litany of fun that did a fine job of sweeping us (literally) into it’s fold. 

When I was asked to look back on the past decade as the “Female Athlete of the Decade” and not to hold back, here is my summary. Some of it will sound a little harsh and it is, because it needs to be and because I believe it can be so much more if we let go of the things that have gotten in the way. 

I started paddling because of the connection to the water. When I was thrust into city living straight after graduating university and finding myself dumped in the metropolis of Auckland, I found peace by finding the ocean and sailing on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf became my sanity in the cut and thrust of the city. Fast forward a few years, I found myself accidentally taking the “Kiwi OE” (that’s Overseas Experience for the uninitiated) due to falling victim of the GFC (*Great Financial Crisis) and knowing that if I didn’t take the leap to spread my wings then, another decade would pass and I would have wondered what might have been if I hadn’t gone and had an unknown adventure of sorts. 

That’s the short version of how I found myself in London and drawn to the god-awful murky tidal waters of the River Thames. 

Every day I would walk/bike/run beside it as I commuted around South West London. The river and its bridges became my landmarks and source of calm in the concrete jungle. I’d see rowers gliding up and down the water at the start and end of each day and wonder if I would be able to get one of those Stand Up Paddle Boards that I’d been using intermittently in Auckland to sweep my way across the waters of inner London. A crazy idea I know, but an idea none the less and when you don’t know a soul and you don’t care what people will think you’re more open to doing things you wouldn’t normally do if you were in your usual environment. 

Ten months after arriving in London and using all of my tax refund, I brought a board. Buying a board is one thing but working out where to store it was another especially when you live in terraced flats. In the beginning I tried stashing it under a hedge, but my building manager soon caught on. A multitude of ideas of where I could store a board would run through my head but it was not until I was running along the towpath one day that I gathered up the courage to stop outside the clubhouse of the London Rowing Club and ask if I could chat to someone. It turned out their head coach was an Australian and knew what stand up paddling was and that it was ok for me to put my board in the rowing shed. And just like that I became the ‘silver surfer’ (what the rowers referred to me as) on the river. 

Around the same time, I found out about a ‘little race’ in Hamburg, Germany. Tapping into the courage I found to knock on the rowing club shed that day, I got in touch with the organizer of the Jever World Cup to see if I could get an entry. I’d somehow heard that accommodation etc. was covered if you were invited to attend and just like that, I booked an EasyJet flight and winged my way to Hamburg. 

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PanAm Games SUP Results

The mens Tech. Race was dominated by Connor Baxter with a solid 35 seconds lead over Itzel Delgado. Followed by the South American Elite paddlers from various countries. The time gap from the third to the fourth place indicates that there is quite a difference in paddling abilities amongst these athletes. Sadly the PanAm games was hard to find to watch some live action as these events don’t use the commonly used streaming channels such as Facebook and Youtube, so we don’t know how the races went down exactly.

  1. BAXTER Connor – USA – 00:12:49,9
  2. DELGADO Itzel – PER – 00:13:25,2
  3. BASALDELLA Santino – ARG – 00:13:59,4
  4. LEÃO David – BRA – 00:15:19,2
  5. AVILA Ricardo – PUR – 00:15:51,8
  6. CAMACHO Carlo – CRC – 00:17:42,9
  7. DARBYSHIRE Mike – CAN – 00:19:53,9
  8. RODRIGUEZ Lukas – URU – 00:20:11,6
  9. PONCE José – CHI – 00:22:01,9

The womens race almost looked like a reunion from past days. We had Candice Appleby in there a BOP contender from the first days and Jenny Kalmbach who is one of the early M2O champions. Further in the back was Lina Augaitis, Lina was a super star paddler in her days and more often than not showed Candice Appleby and Annabel Anderson who is boss on the race course. The way we remember her, we are sure she was looking for a better result than is.

As a bit of a surprise comes Marie Carmen Riveras third place. Her last appearance was the ISA SUP World Championships in France where she did very well. Being this far behind the semi retired Jenny and Candice for sure was a bit of a surprise.

  1. APPLEBY Candice – USA – 00:15:24,9
  2. KALMBACH Jennifer – CRC – 00:15:47,8
  3. RIVERA Mariecarmen – PUR – 00:16:36,4
  4. FINER Sofia – MEX – 00:17:28,3
  5. GONZALEZ Juliana – ARG – 00:18:14,6
  6. RIBEIRO Lena – BRA – 00:18:43,5
  7. VECCO Giannisa – PER – 00:19:00,9
  8. BODDEN Stephanie – PAN – 00:19:56,0
  9. AUGAITIS Lina – CAN – 00:20:09,0
  10. PÉREZ Carla – CHI – 00:20:50,1

In SUP Surfing Zane Schweitzer from Maui is winning his final clear over the Brazilian Louiz Diniz in what appears to be a pretty clear hear. Zane posted an 8.5 and a 7.5 both in the excellent range. Diniz was not able to get up to the numbers like Zane posting a 5.5 and a 4.73.

In the women final we saw Izzi Gomez, competing under the Colombian flag, a well known name in the SUP world. She was up against Aline Adisaka from Brazil. The ladies final was a close call. Izzi had a nice wave with a 5.6 score and her second best wave was a disappointing 2.6. Aline was more consistent with her scoring but could not live up to Izzis 5.6. At the end Izzi won with a total of 7.93 to 7.04 for Aline.

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Molokai2Oahu History and Legacy

The Molokai2Oahu is opening up a new chapter this year. The biggest ocean race has been absent for 3 years and the SUP racing world has moved on from Downwind SUP racing. The pandemic accelerated the spread for foiling and the trend has reached the far corners of land locked Europe. Before we move on from competitive Downwind SUP Racing, lets look a it at the history and legacy of the Molokai2Oahu SUP Athletes that have created so many great memories for all of us who were involved during this special time.

— To lazy to read? Watch the interview with Andera Moller on the bottom of all the results —

The records date as far back as 2005 when SUP first appeared on the official results. We recognize some names, such a Todd Bradley, the founder of C4 Watermen, one of the first SUP brands and notably also a fore runner in the space of inflatables. Brian Keaulana is a pioneer waterman who is well known in the water safety and big wave community, same with Archie Kalepa who is a great pioneer of water sports. He later became a spokesperson for Olukai and helped organize the Olukai Ho’olaue’a. Andrea Moller was also part of the pioneers, to this day she is a well known water woman, she was the early queen of the channel and rose to fame with her accomplishments in big wave surfing. She will be back in the Kaiwi Channel this year marking it her 45th crossing.

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Lets look at some results and honor those who broke records and stood out in glorious time of Ocean SUP Racing.

2005

11Todd BradleyBrian Keaulana5:42:31
12Archie KalepaDave Parmenter5:45:35
52Andrea MollerMaria Souza6:56:33
74KevinHorgan   9:27:00

In 2006 the participation started to to grow and that gave rise to Ekolu Kalama. He was one of the very early SUP super stars. It would reach too far to go trough every name on this list but you recognize names here that are well known in the world of ocean sports.

2006

1David KalamaEkolu Kalama5:28:36TEAM
2Alan CadizScott Trudon5:59:27TEAM
3Todd BradleyBrian Keaulana6:14:43TEAM
4Archie KalepaDave Parmenter6:31:46TEAM
5Campbell FarrellSean Ordonez6:45:12TEAM
6Nolan Keaulana MartinJason Patterson6:50:48TEAM
7KevinHorgan7:23:14SOLO
8KamuelaAea7:25:39SOLO
9Andrea MollerMaria Souza7:30:04TEAM
10Emili JanchevisMichael Richardson8:00:53TEAM
11JackGillen8:08:13SOLO
12RielCustodio8:15:50SOLO

We are missing records from the year 2007/08/09 but it was not until 2010 when the Molokai2Oahu started to gain traction. We took the time and wrote down all the SUP Unlimited podiums since 2010 as well as the winners of the 14′ class. It is interesting to see who was part of the M2O since the beginning. Some people came and went and some stuck around over all theses years. There are stand-outs, such a Travis Grant who was the only one to ever paddle the Kaiwi Channel under 4 hours, he also holds the most titles. Sonni Honscheid is the only women who won the M2O three times in a row holding 6 podiums. Her first win was a big boost to her careers in which she won many titles .

Terrene Black holds the female channel record. Both records, Travis’ and Terrenes’ will probably stand forever. Connor Baxter was on the podium 7 times and won 3 of them. We remember the great battle between Kai Lenny and Travis Grant in 2015 and 2016. Kai also won the 14′ class in 2012 at a very young age. We remember the young Travis Babtiste who won the 14′ class from 2013 /14/15 then came the young gun Riggs Napoleon and after that it was Josh Riccio who dominated the 14′ class till the end.

We will always remember the legendary crossings and the accomplishments of all the outstanding athletes even if they are not mentioned in this article. There are simply too many stories to tell. If you are interested they are all archived on this web site.

Women top paddlers

2010

  1. Andrea Moller – 6:00:00
  2. Jenny Kalmbach – 6:09:50
  3. Candice Appleby – 6:34:01

No females (14′)

Men top paddlers

2010

  1. Dave Kalama – 4:54:15
  2. Ekolu Kalama – 5:03:13
  3. Scott Gamble – 5:06:15
  1. Andrew Logreco – 5:25:53 (14′)

2011

  1. Andrea Moller – 5:26:51
  2. Tailia Gangini – 5:30:57
  3. Annabel Anderson – 5:34:00
  1. Haile Harrison – 6:24:48 (14′)

2012

  1. Jenny Kalmbach – 5:28:18
  2. Morgan Hoesterey – 5:33:23
  3. Mariko Strickland – 5:34:33
  1. Rachel Bruntsch – 5:49:10 (14′)

2013

  1. Terrene Black – 5:40:40
  2. Jennifer Kalmbach – 5:45:22
  3. Sonni Hönscheid – 5:52:07
  1. Brigette Van Aswegen – 8:55:00 (14′)

2014

  1. Sonni Hönscheid – 5:12:38
  2. Jenny Kalmbach – 5:15:40
  3. Penelope Strickland – 5:27:12

No females (14″)

2015

  1. Sonni Hönscheid – 5:53:18
  2. Penelope Strickland – 5:59:45
  3. Jennifer Kalmbach – 6:08:21
  1. Annabel Anderson – 5:57:40 (14′)

2016

  1. Sonni Hönscheid – 5:01:40 (Most consecutive wins)
  2. Annabel Anderson – 5:17:26
  3. Terrene Black – 5:31:45

No females

2017

  1. Penelope Strickland – 4:52:32
  2. Terrene Black – 5:16:10
  3. Annabel Anderson – 5:16:49
  1. Siri Schubert – 7:10:02 (14′)

2018

  1. Terrene Black – 5:25:27
  2. Sonni Hönscheid – 5:32:36
  3. Penelope Strickland – 5:57:09
  1. Siri Schubert – 7:06:18 (14′)

2011

  1. Connor Baxter – 4:26:10
  2. Scott Gamble – 4:30:10
  3. Livio Menelau – 4:33:13
  1. Andrew Logreco -5:13:45 (14′)

2012

  1. Connor Baxter – 4:13:26
  2. Dave Kalama – 4:13:50
  3. Livio Menelau – 4:22:21
  1. Kai Lenny – 4:22:14 (14′)

2013

  1. Travis Grant – 4:50:17
  2. Scott Gamble – 5:00:53
  3. Connor Baxter – 5:02:02
  1. Travis Babtiste – 5:22:59 (14′)

2014

  1. Connor Baxter – 4:08:08
  2. Travis Grant – 4:09:15
  3. Scott Gamble – 4:19:57
  1. Travis Babtiste – 4:23:54 (14′)

2015

  1. Travis Grant – 4:59:39
  2. Kai Lenny – 5:15:59
  3. Lincoln Dews – 5:19:19
  1. Travis Babtiste – 5:26:47 (14′) (3 consecutive wins)

2016

  1. Kai Lenny – 4:07:41
  2. Travis Grant – 4:10:14
  3. Connor Baxter – 4:16:19
  1. Riggs Napoleon – 4:35:17 (14′)

2017

  1. Travis Grant – 3:59:52 (Record)
  2. Connor Baxter – 4:03:46
  3. Titouan Puyo – 4:14:05
  1. Josh Riccio – 4:36:45 (14′)

2018

  1. Travis Grant – 4:23:15 (Most wins – 4 – )
  2. Connor Baxter – 4:38:39 (Most podiums -7-)
  3. James Casey – 4:48:42
  1. Josh Riccio – 5:01:27 (14′)

2018 marked a turning point in downwind SUP, after Armie Armstrong was denied in 2017 to participate on a foil, the race organizers realized the trend was unstoppable and allowed SUP Foilig as its own division. There were 9 guys and 1 girl.

  1. Kai Lenny – 2:52:58
  2. Nathan Van Vuuren – 3:17:38
  3. Jeffrey Spencer – 3:34:08
  4. Bernd Roediger – 3:43:20
  5. Ryan Funk – 3:47:59
  6. Finn Spencer – 3:28:34
  7. Tomoyasu Murabayashi – 4:57:47
  8. Eric Terrien – 5:19:24
  9. Annie Reichert – 5:20:06
  10. Armie Armstrong – 6:34:36

Nathan Van Vuuren on a board we don’t see like this anymore.

2019

  1. Terrene Black – 4:34:09 (Record)
  2. Sonni Hönscheid – 4:55:38 (Most podiums -6-)
  3. Jennifer Lee – 5:40:16
  1. Mao Kamimura – 7:08:31 (14′)

2019

  1. James Casey – 4:03:20
  2. Michael Booth – 4:08:32
  3. Kenny Kaneko – 4:19:50
  1. Josh Riccio – 4:12:08 (14′) (3 consecutive wins)(14′ course record)

In 2019 it became clear: SUP Downwind racing on unlimited boards was being phase out. Terrene Black and James Casey were the last two big winners of the M2O on a SUP. Terrene set the record for the fastest female and James Casey paddled the 2nd best time ever behind Travis Grants record. The amount of people who started to take interest in SUP foiling was getting bigger and bigger. That year there were still only 12 SUP Foilers and Annie Reickert remained the only female to cross the channel in that category. The writing on the wall how ever was clear: SUP Foiling was the new thing and SUP moved to Europe.

  1. Kai Lenny – 2:29:38
  2. Jeffrey Spencer – 2:37:44
  3. Clement Colmas – 2:38:36
  4. Titouan Galea – 2:52:31
  5. Bernd Roedinger – 3:07:21
  6. Zane Schweitzer – 3:07:26
  7. Shuri Arkai – 3:16:29
  8. Alexandre Bicrel – 3:19:00
  9. Annie Reickert – 3:20:22
  10. Marcus Tardrew – 3:21:19
  11. Tomoyasu Murabayahi – 3:22:55
  12. Takuji Araki – 4:07:02

In 2019 Jeffrey Spencer was the first to round the corner at China Wall and only lost to Kai Lenny due to a fall on the final stretch. The stories surrounding the M2O in a post pandemic world will all be about SUP Foiling and the brand new addition of Downwind Wingfoiling.

Molokai2Oahu legacy with Andrea Moller

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Moloklai2Oahu Entry List Analized

As we discussed in the interview with Shannon Delaney, the M2O is entering a period where demographics and mainly race divisions are changing. The glory days of downwind open ocean SUP racing are pretty much over and we are entering the glory days of downwind SUP-Foiling and Wingfoiling.

This is why the entry list of this years M2O is of particular interest as we are all curios how the things have changed, who retunes to to the race and if so in what category are they starting. First and foremost we also have to point out that the race got sold out which is a very good sign over all. The interest in the M2O remains strong.

Lets look at the most anticipated category first: SUP Foil Solo.

There are 41 participants of which 3 are females. We are pretty stoked to see these three well know athletes competing. Starting with Annie Reickert, who was the first and only female to cross the Kaiwi Channel on foil back in 2018 and 2019. Now she is getting company from 2 very strong and experienced water women.

One of them is Andrea Moller who was the “queen of the Kaiwi channel” for many years. Andrea is also a decorated big wave surfer. The third women is Olivia Piana, who does not need any introduction, she has been around since the early days, winning many SUP titles. She later moved on to compete in wing foiling and now SUP Foiling. Interestingly enough, this will be her first time in the Kaiwi channel.

It would go beyond our capacity to go through all the 38 men, but we want to make note of some strong and long time athletes. (If we did forgot anyone please forgive us.)

  • Kai Lenny: Waterman super star and record holder in the channel, he will be the man to beat.
  • James Casey: Past winner in SUP and for sure one of the biggest competition for Kai.
  • Jeffrey Spencer: He almost won in 2019, he n was the first at China Wall ahead of Kai but fell short in the last stretch. We are sure he is returning to try to set his record straight.

From our perspective these 3 are the strongest contenders for the podium. However there are more notable SUP foilers, such as Slater Trout who was an early SUP Racer. Further more there is an array of Hawaiian young guns who are locally and internationally known in the foil community such as:

Jack Ho, a Honolulu local with many miles of downwind foiling under his belt, from Kauai we have Mateo Ell a strong contender and GWA participant. From Maui we have Kane De Wilde, who made himself a name with his custom adaptable foil stabilizers.

We also see 2 longtime participants returning to the channel with the likes of Armie Armstrong, famously know for ARMSTRONG Foils and pioneer in the SUP and Foil world. and Tomayasu Murabayashi a.k.a SUP Tomo, he crossed the channel multiple times on Foil and SUP for many years.

The brand new division is wing foiling.

Here we count only 13 participants with only 2 ladies but we are very excited to see Annabel Anderson back in Hawaii after so many years of retirement from the SUP sport. Now she is back with a wing and a foil. The second lady is Anna Kalabukhova from Honolulu who we are looking forward to meet for the first time. In the men category we have Zane Schweitzer the all time waterman from Maui. Next in line is Bobo Gallhager also from Maui and a very ambitious young waterman. He is only 13 years old but already did a crossing from the Big Island to Maui and is a master of many sports.

Another participant is Michi Schweiger, Naish product developer and longtime M2O contender. We also see Alex Aguerra founder of GoFoil crossing the channel and notably Finn Spencer the younger brother of Jeffrey Spencer.

Who is in the SUP division?

We are counting 22 entries with exactly 2 ladies. One of them is Morgan Hoesterey who is a longtime paddler and early day (2008) M2O participant and then she was back in 2016. She did multiple Ironmanas in Tahiti as well. The second women is Kiyomi Sheppard a recreational paddler from Oahu.

As short as the list is, we are actually excited to see a few known names who paddle for the first time in the channel and some returning ones. We are particularly stoked to see the 17 year old and rising star Shuri “Shrimpy” Araki coming to Hawaii to paddle the Kaiwi channel. He will be up against Josh Riccio in the Stock 14′ division who won the M2O last time in 2019. Further more we have Fred Bonnef from Tarifa, he is a well known European paddler, race organizer and author of the latest SUP Tricktionary.

In the unlimited class we have Mo Freitas returning into the channel. Mo was an early SUP contender during the Battle of the Paddle days. He had a small comeback at the APP Tour in Santa Monica in 2022. Coming over from Europe to paddle in the UL class we also have Tomaso Pampinella. He is always a strong contender in European races and same family as Cecilia Pampinella, a name we remember from the podium at many races.

The core class: Prone paddling

The class that is by far the largest, is the traditional prone paddle class. This class is the core of the M2O and draws the international prone paddlers to Hawaii year after year. It is in this clas,s that Jamie Mitchell got his fame from by winning the race 10 years in a row. That was a time before SUP and when SUP just got started. This class has regularly attracted athletes from the surfing world, such a legendry Tom Carrol in the years past and in the more recent history John John Florence. This year we spotted Courtney Conlogue a female WSL athlete. She will be paddling in a 3 people mixed team. It is nice to see that surf athletes, even when rarely, break out their comfort zone to participate in other ocean sports.

Conclusion

As we can see, the SUP division shrunk to a bare minimum lacking the participants and names to make this race relevant in the international SUP ranking. (We will see how the race will be ranked in the SUP World Ranking System.) For the SUP Athletes the M2O remains to be an epic experience, but for us as SUP media, the results will play a minor role. Sure, it will be exciting to see if Josh Riccio can beat his old time. Maybe we will see a small battle between him and Shrimpy. Regardless, the excitement and anticipation at China Wall to see who is the first coming around the corner wont be the same anymore.

On the other hand the growing division of SUP Foiling lacks the history as well as participants for it to already be a competitive sport. Even the numbers of SUP foilers are growing, we are still in a very early stage of experimentation. We will need a few more years and twice the participants before we even start to scratch the surface of the big potential this sport has. See our interview with Balz Muller and Steve Fleury, both flat water SUP pump foil pioneers in Switzerland.

We hope for SUP foiling to undergo the same development as SUP did, so it will eventually find a broader audience and participation.

It still is 4 month until we are at the start line, but we are already looking forward to be over on Molokai to see all the new and old faces from a community that has grown dear to us.

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Molokai2Oahu Interview with organizer

The M2O is back

It’s been 4 years since we had the last M2O. We all remember it very well, the winds were blowing and the conditions in the Kaiwi Channel were epic. That year was also the 2nd year the M2O management admitted SUP Foiling to the race. After the demand in 2018 it was clear downwind foiling is going to become the new thing.

In SUP James Casey beat Michael Booth by roughly 5 minutes, they were the only to racers in the age group of under 30 years in the unlimited division that counted 15 participants. Terrene Black won for the 2nd time that year ahead of Sonni Hönscheid who won the M2O 3 times. It was these two and Honolulu local Jennifer Lee who made the entirety of the SUP Unlimited Female participants. It is safe to say, the trend of a declining demand in SUP as a competitive ocean sport was well under way.

In the meanwhile, foiling started to catch on. In 2018 there were 10 participants with Annie Reickert making history as the first woman to cross the Kaiwi channel on foil. Kai Lenny was clearly the fastest and best downwind foiler at the time finishing in 2:52:58.

In 2019 the demand for foiling had a slight uptick as we counted 13 participants. Annie was still the only girl, but we saw more international participation in this division. Kai Lenny beat his time from the year before with a time of 2:29:38 beating Jeffrey Spencer who was first at China Wall only on the inside by roughly 8 minutes. It was a nail biter.

Nobody at the time had the remotest idea of what is going to come and that this race was the last for some years to come. The pandemic changed our sport in many ways: SUP became a flat-water sport and in Hawaii foiling and wing foiling started to explode like SUP did in 2008. The foil trend quickly caught on in Europe and the rest of the world faster than experts would have predicted. The lock down added fuel to this fire as people were buying up inventory looking for a new hobby.

M2O classic: Annabel Anderson 2017. It was a different world back then.

Now the M2O is back, facing a new world, a world of wing and foil crazy people and world where the SUP sport has moved to Europe. Now we are all excited to have one of the most iconic and prestigious paddle races back this year. It was time to catch up with Shannon Delaney Executive Director of the Race and longtime organizer of the race. We are all wondering how the M2O team is adjusting to this new world.

Aloha Shannon, thank you very much for your time. It feels like a lifetime ago since we had the last M2O. July 2019 we crossed the Kaiwi Channel last time that’s almost 4 years ago.

SD: Crazy to think that we are finally on a pathway back to the channel and back to Moloka’i for our 24th annual race.   The athletes and the community are ready for the M2O and we are thrilled to be able to once again, crown new world champions.

You and your team must be very excited to be finally back, but first tell us a bit about how the M2O team managed through the pandemic. What were your initial thoughts when your realized there will be no race for the foreseeable future?

Shannon Delaney on the left /
Right: Nani Dalene, 1st women foiler , bluewater 2022

SD: The first year was expected with the pandemic and with so many other events and communities affected.   Felt good to get the virtual up and running and celebrate what we love.   Once we shifted to 2021, we had hoped that we could return but the pandemic was still in full force and affecting the  communities in Hawaii and of course globally.   It was really a challenge to stay optimistic with no pathway to return in 2022.  We are so grateful for the support with the Virtual and then our 22 mile Bluewater Classic race in Oahu last summer.   Felt so good to see everyone again!

Virtual racing became a big thing because of the pandemic, tell us a bit about the overwhelming response from the community when you launched the virtual M2O?

SD:  That first summer in 2020 it was great to shift into celebration mode with the virtual racing.  Everyone was hungry to connect and be part of something.   It was an amazing outpour with over 1800 virtual athletes with over 65% from outside of the US and Hawaii.   We learned a lot.  We didn’t have any experience in shipping or fulfillment.   Custom forms and some shipments getting lost from the impact of the pandemic. In hindsight it was crazy.  But overall, it was amazing to connect with a larger audience and we were honored to realize that impact and inspiration this event has for so many.   And to think that the virtual racing would be a significant part of our race for the last 3 summers.   We will have a virtual race again this summer due to demand.

Annie Reickert first women SUP Foil M2O 2018

We said it, four years is a long time, and the SUP Sport has pretty much completed its transformation from a competitive ocean downwind surf sport to a flat-water canoe sport. We saw the writing on the wall back 2019 with the success of SUP foiling and the decline in SUP participation. How are you guys adjusting in 2023?

SD:  In 1997 the race launched with the prone paddleboarders with the inclusion of SUP in 2007.   SUP has been an important addition of the race that also aligned with the exponential growth of the sport in the mainstream.   The race was able to attract some additional sponsors and more athletes, which is always a good thing.   As SUP aligns with so many different styles of racing and vision of the Olympic, doing a long 32-mile channel race can be disruptive and a hard race to recover from. We anticipated the SUP decline after 2018.   We also saw in Hawaii, with consistent downwind conditions, FOIL was a natural next step for our SUP athletes.   I think a final thought would be that it’s been great to see so many of the M2O athletes go back and forth between divisions – they really have helped to define what is next.   I think of Kai who has done prone, SUP (Stock and UL), and now FOIL.   James Casey and Andrea Moller have also seamlessly navigated both SUP and FOIL.   

In 2019 the FOIL crossing was fast.  The prone division is the root of our race historically, so the event will always manage wave starts so that prone finishes first.  In 2019 we lucked out with top prone, SUP, and FOIL finishing in that order within minutes of each other.  

We had 13 foilers back in 2019 since then many people mastered the downwind foiling, we may see an explosion in that division. Now we heard that you are also allowing wings, a non-paddling division in a traditional paddle race. Can you elaborate on that?

SD:  in 2022, we were able to produce a 22-mile coastal race on O’ahu.   The race was well supported by the FOIL community, including Wing.  Again, we recognized quite a bit of cross over with our long time M2O athletes.   When we looked at our return in 2023 it made sense to not rule out the FOIL divisions. In a perfect world we would be able to have the FOIL crossing under the banner of M2O on a separate day.   But with the first goal being to get back to in person racing,  we will let this summer define what is next.   A few athletes have mentioned they would do both FOIL and SUP if we shift FOIL to a separate day.   The Prone and SUP divisions are bucket list endurance events.  The FOIL, although technical, is more of a joy ride. So, we certainly don’t want to cannibalize our event, but we do need to stay in touch with our audience.  The event will never take Prone or SUP entry allocations and give to FOIL.  The FOIL is an addition.  We still  have a lot to learn about the sport, but we all agree that the Kaiwi is an amazing backdrop for FOIL and would be great to be part of the future.   The prone and SUP channel crossing at M2O lends so much credibility to this opportunity.  

It is great to see that the M2O is adapting to the trend. How are you feeling about the fact that foiling and only be done when the conditions are right. Or in other words: How do you deal with the risk, even if it is small, that the channel might not be suitable for foiling on race day?

SD: That is part of the education process for us as we engage with FOIL and the FOIL athletes.   The channel has quite a bit of energy and the FOIL athletes to date have harnessed it well in 2018 & 2019.  Once we have the entries, we might modify the finish outside of Portlock, as the final 2 miles are upwind.  If conditions are not favorable, I would imagine a few might shift to SUP or it will deter athletes.   Again, we would like to evolve with this new athlete.    

The same risk of course applies to participants, and we know how people are, they mostly wait until the last minute to sign up when they are certain the conditions will be good. Are you concerned about that?

SD:  Our event sells out every year with between 160-185 entries.   With our return to 2023, and the FOIL on the same day as the main race we might not have the entries to accommodate the last minute  FOIL athletes.  March 5th is the end of the registration window for guaranteed entry in the 2023 race.   It’s an opportunity for the FOIL community to align with the M2O.  So like I said, it’s their opportunity just as much as ours to create and grow this division.   

Thank you very much Shannon we will keep a close eye on the sign up list and hope to see you in the Channel in July.

SD: thanks as always for the support and the enthusiasm for the race.   We are all so excited to get back the channel.   Mahalo.

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A decade with Connor Baxter

No one has dominated the SUP sport like Connor Baxter. He was a teenager at the very beginning of the sport, back when SUP was practically all downwind racing and surfing. Connor was born into the Maui windsurfing scene just like Zane Schweitzer and Kai Lenny. The three of them practically grew up together hand in hand. Just like Annabel Anderson, Connor was declared SUP athlete of the decade by SUPracer. How has Connor experienced the last ten years? What memories have remained and what lessons has he learned? I asked Connor if he would like to write something for the Stand Up Magazin and since we all have to stay more or less at home, he spontaneously said “yes” and wrote down how he experienced the last decade of SUP.

Connors memories

Maui2Molokai 2013 (Photo: Karen Baxter)

The past ten years have been a whirlwind! If someone had told me at the age of fourteen that in ten years I would win multiple world titles, travel the world, meet so many amazing people, marry the love of my life and become a father – I would have laughed! I feel like I’ve lived a lifetime in such a short period of time…all because I fell in love with the ocean when I was young.

Growing up on Maui was one of the biggest reasons I ended up competing at the level I’m at today. Maui’s ocean conditions are constantly changing and because of this an incredible group of athletes live here. I was fortunate enough to have guys like Laird Hamliton, Dave Kalama, Robby Naish, and others as role models to look up to. I’m also extremely fortunate to have very talented friends and competitors like Zane Schweizter and Kai Lenny. We were always pushing each other and trying to one up each other everyday, which has made us into the athletes we are today. Zane is honestly the most humble, positive, and craziest kid I know! Our parents competed at the same events back in the day for windsurfing, and when we met, we instantly became best friends! We even share the same birthday, making us practically brothers! When we were just eleven and twelve years old, Zane and I were traveling the world for windsurfing, mainly to Japan, Europe and all across the USA. We had so many good times winning events, surfing river waves in the middle of cities, paddling alongside icebergs in Patagonia, and surfing man-made waves in the desert in Abu Dhabi. Along with the good times of course came some not so great times. Once we actually got stuck in Puerto Rico’s airport because of a storm. We were unaccompanied minors and Zane and I tried to break out of the room where we were being held. A few days later the storm finally passed and Zane and I were able to fly to Bonaire to compete in the windsurfing event. To this day Zane and I continue to travel, compete, and train together. It’s been a life long friendship that I am extremely grateful for.

When I first started paddling, I was mainly just going downwind chasing guys like Dave Kalama, Mark Raaphorst, Ekolu Kalama, and Livio Menelau. I was that kid chasing the older guys every day and learning from the best.

Watching and chasing them got me where I am today. My real addiction to paddling started when I was fourteen and got a taste of a victory at the Maui-to-Molokai event back in 2009. Winning this race showed me what I was truly capable of and gave me a new hunger to start taking on this new water sport. From there it was all a blur…event after event, trip after trip, and of course lots of losses and victories along the way.

left to right: Dave Kalama – Livio Menelau – Mark Raaphorst – Ekolu Kalama – Connor Baxter (Photo: Karen Baxter)

After that iconic shot of me on the podium with Ekulo and Dave beside me, things really started to take off! Events started to pop up around the world, and that’s when life on the road and competing almost every weekend began. The first big event I traveled for outside of Hawaii, was the infamous BOP in Southern California in 2009. This was a huge turning point for our sport and started a new style of racing which is actually my favorite – surf racing! That second annual BOP at Dana Point was the most exciting and entertaining event I’ve ever been to. The surf was pumping and we had a six mile course in and out of the surf with a beach run to finish off each lap. The beaches were packed with spectators and competitors, and every major SUP brand had a tent. That year I got absolutely smoked and ended up finishing 19th, but that only added fuel to my fire. Later that year in July, I crossed the Kiwi Channel for the first time and set a new record as the youngest stand up paddler to cross the channel. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, but with the support of my family I was able to do it in six hours and fifty-six minutes and finished in 89th place. That year was a year of learning and defeat. It was also the year of the birth of a future champion. After being in the atmosphere of competing on such big stages with hundreds of paddlers from around the world, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

At the first 11 City Tour ever, Zane and I went to see what it was all about, as well as to test our physical/mental strength. To be honest, all I remember from that event were the hot meals after paddling five hours every day, the free massages, and that crazy Dutch guy (Bart De Zwart). I went into that event thinking I was going to win it and quickly learned I had a lot more work to do. Going home after that event, I started to paddle with Bart more on flatter days at Kahului Harbor, instead of just going on downwinders. Bart had me meet him every morning at the harbor to do laps in the flat water. I remember getting dropped off by my mom, training for an hour or more, and then jumping on the Maui bus to go home and do some online homework. Paddling with Bart De Zwart was one of the biggest turning points in my career and a huge factor in some of my successes early on. Also just to make it clean once and for all…I learned the infamous “choke stroke” from Bart! On some of those crazy windy Maui mornings, I saw Bart choking down on his paddle to lower his wind resistance. Back then the recommended paddle height was a double shaka over your head. I was using longer paddles when I was fourteen then I am today at twenty-five. The choke stroke always felt natural to me and has won me some of my biggest victories.

SUP Showdown 2014 (Photo: Mike Jucker) left to right: Danny Ching, Kai Lenny, Connor Baxter, local beauty

Two years later, I won my first Molokai-to-Oahu. Then shortly after that I won the Battle of the Paddle in the famous battle with Jamie Mitchell and Danny Ching. The competition got harder and more serious, so I kept on adapting, training, traveling, competing. The birth of the racing side of the Stand Up World Series started in 2012 in Fiji. This was a crazy event with a small group of elite athletes and where the rivalry really started heating up between Kai and I. Kai would win an event and then I would win an event. This back and forth went on for the next five years. The Stand Up World Series was the place to be, with some of the bigger prize purses and all of the top paddlers. From my first event, till today I have supported the tour through the ups and downs. These past few years after the switch to APP things have really been going in the right direction and its been incredible to compete in events in huge cities around the world like New York, London, Osaka and Paris – all putting SUP on a bigger stage.

Of course along the way, as with any new sport there has been the Paddletics (paddling politics). Two federations have decided they should own the sport and should be the governing body. At the end of the day both federations have their points and I understand both sides, but the athletes are the ones suffering from this nonsense. At the end of the day, the ISA has been there from the beginning and organizing some of the most amazing events.

They also put SUP on the biggest platform the sport has ever seen, the Pan American Games. The racing styles ISA uses are exciting, up to date and challenging. The ICF on the other hand is newer to sport of SUP. They have only had a few World Championship events that showcased their traditional style of racing; sprints, marathon, and they even added in a technical race. That event was ran very well, and they treated the athletes at the top level.

Left Connor wins the Olukai on Maui several times his finish line crossing becomes legendary. (2016 Photo: Karin Jucker)

With the competition only rising at all events, athletes are beginning to focus more on one discipline. Things have definitely heated up over the past twelve years and the pressure to preform has only gotten more intense for me. Personally, I’ve felt this pressure at every event I compete in, from the two hundred-meter sprints to fifty-four kilometer distance races, just because I’ve won these different types of races in the past. This has definitely caught up to me in the past two years, making the motivation and the drive to win feel overwhelming at times. It wasn’t until I was back on the start line of a surf race or even a downwinder that the drive to win was back. Events where you have to just “grind it out” have never been fun for me, so I lost all motivation. I kept asking myself “why am I doing this?” at the start line. Whereas at events like the Pan American Games, ICF Worlds two-hundred-meter sprint and the APP technical sprints in Paris, I was jumping up and down because I couldn’t wait to race. Shifting focus and choosing the events I truly want to compete in has brought out a new excitement that I haven’t had since the early days of racing. This was my plan for 2020 season, but unfortunately everything has changed with the current state of the world. With the coronavirus and becoming a father, this year has been one the craziest but also most fulfilling times ever. Winning a race is cool but watching your son grow up, laugh and smile is like no other feeling in the world. This time home has really reminded me of what’s important and what I still want to achieve.

Lost Mills 2015: Is Rami Zur getting a beer shower? (Photo: Mike Jucker)

Looking forward to next year, I want to focus on the APP tour and also grow the sport back here at home in Hawaii with a downwind series. On top of that…it would be amazing to see this court case between the ICF and the ISA resolved! Stand Up Paddling is one of the few sports that brings the fresh water and salt water together and I know we have something so different and exciting that it belongs in the Olympics. Most importantly, I want to be the best father I can be for my son Trestle and take him along to all my events just like my dad did with me as a child.