June 2009 - Pacific Paddler

Kaiwi Channel Relay
The water felt like a magnet, it was
sticky, smooth and glassy. Those were some
of the things paddlers were saying after
their relay race from Molokai to Oahu.
This year 90 canoes with 196 paddlers
raced under a scorching sun. The number
of paddlers entered this year was down by
about 100. Some think it was the economy,
and some think that it was the less than
ideal conditions in which to race across the
Kaiwi Channel. Whatever the reason, those
that did enter came away with bragging
rights of having competed in one of the
hardest races in their lives.
It was very flat, very dry, the biggest
thing that came by were the boat wakes
as paddlers made changes," said race
director Walter Guild. "Strategically any
time a boat moved anywhere and you had
a chance to ride a wake—you had to jump
on it to stay competitive." Walter said that
as long as it wasn't your own escort boat
creating the bumps it was OK. "Go for it,"
he said. The only advantage that the 'Molo
Solo' had over this race was the headwind.
"Thank god today was a relay because
guys could get off their boat and cool
down," he said noting that if these conditions
were at the solo race, there would
have been paddlers getting dangerously
overheated.
Second place finisher, Danny Ching
who partnered up with Mael Carey said
everybody went South and then about
an hour into the race, "the current just
started sucking North, so we just followed
it." When they took a detour moving
closer to 'the Wall'. They were about
a minute behind Kai Bartlett and Mike
Judd and hoping to overtake on them.
"Unfortunately," said Danny, "they came
in to." 'The Wall', a stretch of cliffs on the
East side of Oahu, did provide an advantage.
"There were nice little one-to-two foot
waves. It was the best part of the race. It
almost felt like surfing and was good fun
until we got dumped into Hawaii Kai and
flat water, Danny said. "Watching Kai
and Mike was just inspiring, they go way
harder than most people." Danny and Mael
finished a little over two minutes behind Kai
and Mike in 5:32:13.
Mike Judd who finished the race for the
'dynamic duo' said it was one of the best
paddling experiences he has ever had.
"Just paddling with Kai. Even though the
pacificpaddler.com June ‘09 23
photo by Ropati