It feels great to be in Hawaii after a couple of awesome trips to Thailand to the Starboard factory where I got to work on a new design for an SUP wave board and then France where I competed in the 2nd leg of the Stand Up World Tour wave event at La Torche.  I love traveling the world, but I was excited to get home and into the warm water of Hawaii.  But I only had a day to organize my racing equipment and get a running start into the stand up paddling racing season.   But, this year many elite racers had a big dilemma.  Which race do we attend???  Due to a scheduling glitch two of our favorite races were scheduled on the same weekend.  The Battle of the Paddle and the Olukai Ho'olaulea were running at the exact same time so it was a tough choice for everyone.  But my choice was made for me, when my mom shipped over the wrong board for the Battle of the Paddle, while I was in France.  So in a moment I decided to compete in the Olukai on Saturday, missing the Elite Race of the Battle of the Paddle but then get over there the next day to compete in the BOP's  Hawaii Kai Race and the Team Relay Race.  Many of my friends opted for the same choice rather than choosing one race or the other, we competed in both.

 My plan was simple:  Organize my equipment, train for 3 days, compete in the Olukai Ho'olaule'a Maliko to Kanaha 8 mile downwind run on Maui Saturday, then rush to the airport after the race and fly straight to Oahu so that I could compete the next day at the Battle of the Paddle Day 2.  

The Olukai race was amazing, and really felt like a big event.  There were media crews, videographers, photographers, helicopters, and a couple hundred racers all in the Olukai yellow jerseys.  There were over This event show cased  just how much the sports has grown especially since it seemed like more than 30 of the competitors were women!  Luckily, the conditions were perfect, it was sunny, blowing about 15 knots, with a nice little wind swell the entire time.   We were all able to get some great glides and the windy conditions on our back helped to push us along down the coast making this a record breaking race.  Many  top racers including last year's defending champion Livio Menelau. Mark Rhaaporst, Ekolu Kalama, Kai Bartlett, Jeremy Riggs and Campbell Farrell were there. The race started at Maliko gulch and ran 8 miles down the north shore of Maui down to Kanaha beach where we finished with a 300 meter run through the finish line!  In the elite race Kai Bartlett finished first in a tight race between he and Livio Menelau who finished 2nd, both breaking last years course record.  Livio said he tried to catch Kai since Kai fell a few times on the course but Kai was just too fast.  Ekolu Kalama finished 3rd, Mark Rhaaporst 4th, Jeremy Riggs 5th, and I got 6th.  There was great food at the finish line and awesome entertainment including Ekolu Kalama jamming on stage.  And since Livio and  I both made the podium of the Olukai and the awards presentation was held so late we almost didn't make our flight to the Battle of the Paddle.  But making the podium is never bad even if it makes you late, especially since we had our prize money in our pockets and our new Olukai slippers on our feet!  

After a great nights sleep on Oahu I then got to see how much the Hawaii Battle of the Paddle had also grown.  The Hawaii Kai Race had over 200 competitors as well.  This promised to be another fast race, since the winds stuck around and the swells continued to push us downwind.  But the Hawaii Kai is 13 miles and a lot can happen in 13 miles.  This event had the who's who in racing there and ready to paddle their hearts out!  Danny Ching was hungry for a victory since he finished 2nd place in the Elite Race to his training partner Travis Grant.  And my team mate, Connor Baxter has been training hard all year for this event and he wanted a win here too!  The Unlimited division would prove to be the fastest, with Danny Ching in first, Travis Grant in second, and right behind them 16 year old Connor Baxter and Bart De Zwart my other Starboard team mate.  I raced in the 12'6", but since my mom sent over the wrong board, I was competing on the Starboard Ace which is an incredibly fast board but designed for flat water racing in lakes and rivers not the ocean and the swells of Hawaii.   But I wanted to be a part of the infamous Battle of the Paddle and I was competing no matter what!  I was impressed with the Ace and even though I wasn't on the board I had been training on,  I was able to make good time and finish 25th overall in a fleet of the best in the world, and 1st in the 12'6" 18 & under class.  

The Battle of the Paddle includes everyone, there were kids, women, men, professional athletes and grandpas!!!  My 13 year old  friend Riggs Napolean raced the Hawaii Kai event with his father Aaron and his grandfather Nappy who is over 70 years old.  Even the owner of Rainbow Sandals Sparky Longley and co founder of the Battle Gerry Lopez raced and killed it too!  After paddling for 13 miles we had to run through the gates in the sand to the finish.  The most inspirational award was given to Brennan Rose who is my training partner on Maui and only been racing for a few years.  He loves the sport, trains hard and has a great attitude.  Only 2 miles into the 13 mile race his paddle snapped in two just about 12" from the handle.  Rather than quitting, Brennan raced the rest of the race with a shorter, broken paddle without a handle.  He got a big cheer from the spectators when he got to the beach!!!  He deserved the award and won a Battle Paddle.  

After a short break the Team Relay began.  This is the same course as the Elite Race but each team consists of three men and one woman team mate.  It is always a jumble of racers, with organizers scrambling to figure out who is on what team...  but it a great race in the surf, through the buoys, riding the waves into the beach, running through the gates in the sand, and passing of to your team mate.  Since racing is an individual sport, everyone loves the team race because you are racing with your friends.  From the beginning the Starboard Team was confidant we had the best team.  It consisted of Connor Baxter who has been on fire all year, Bart De Zwert who is one of the fastest racers and trains with Connor all the time, I was on the team, and then our girl team member is Gillean Gibree who finished 5th at the Dana Point Battle of the Paddle and knows how to maneuver the boards in the waves.  I was the lead person, and finished my first leg in second place right behind the C4 team.  I passed of to  Bart De Zwert, who was feeling pretty good with his 4th place finish in the Hawaii Kai run but now wanted a victory.  He passed of the Gillian Gibree who proved to us that we chose the right girl for the job, and she passed of to Connor Baxter.  We stayed in second place until the final leg of the 8 leg race.  At that point Connor knew that the anchor of the C4 team was a girl and within reach.  He paddle faster than I have ever seen and looked like he had an engine on the back of the board.  He passed her at the last buoy!!!  We were all screaming on the beach, it was so fun to be a part of a great team, my good friends, and come home with a victory at the Battle of the Paddle.

The Olukai on Saturday then the Waikiki Battle of the Paddle on Sunday, and now I am off to the third stop of the Stand Up World Tour in Tahiti today!   I have literately been living a dream!