HONOLULU — Australian paddleboarding phenomenon Jamie Mitchell, 30, continues to reign supreme after posting his sixth consecutive win of the 32-mile Quiksilveredition Moloka‘i to O‘ahu Paddleboard Race in a record time of 4:48:23 today. Mitchell shared the winners dais with
HONOLULU — Australian paddleboarding phenomenon Jamie Mitchell, 30, continues to reign supreme after posting his sixth consecutive win of the 32-mile Quiksilveredition Moloka‘i to O‘ahu Paddleboard Race in a record time of 4:48:23 today.
Mitchell shared the winners dais with fellow Australian Shakira Westdorp, 22, who took first place in the women’s division with a time of 5:59:52.
Kauai’s Kevin Horgan posted a narrow win in the stand-up paddleboard division, presented by C4 Waterman (6:20:59).
O‘ahu’s Keoni Watson won the 12-foot stockboard division (5:39:48). Conditions were excellent for the race, offering 15- to 20-knot easterlies and open ocean swells of four to six feet. The Quiksilveredition Moloka‘i to O‘ahu Paddleboard Race is considered the world championship for long distance paddlers.
From the 7:30 a.m. race start on Moloka‘i, Mitchell’s physical conditioning was evident as he opened up an immediate lead over his closest rivals Bruce Taylor (Australia) and Brian Rocheleau (Hawai‘i).
While Taylor did the best job of keeping Mitchell in his sights, any hopes of a win vanished into the distance with Mitchell.
Mitchell surged along with the swells in rhythm with his waterproof iPod, Taylor rode the rollercoaster of mental highs and lows as the battle became one with himself. The two were singing very different songs by the completion of the race.
Mitchell stepped to shore in record time.
No other competitor touched down on O‘ahu looking as relaxed and pain-free.
“I felt the best I’ve ever felt in that race,” said Mitchell, in relase. “I didn’t feel fatigued at all. I trained the hardest I’ve ever trained the past three to four months for this race, so it’s real satisfying to know that the hard work paid off. Conditions and fitness played a big part.”
Second-place Taylor made his first solo crossing of the channel, having competed two years ago in a team.
“It’s a totally different race, a totally different channel when you’re on your own out there the whole way,” he said in a release. “I’ve got to admit it was terrible. The best part was that end bit. Just the fulfillment of a personal goal. Mentally, the ups and downs, just trying to get through those bad bits — it’s such a rollercoaster ride. I came all the way from Australia for this and I’m not going to go home without finishing it — that’s all I said to myself, a thousand times over.
The top Hawaiian solo finisher for the men was third-place Brian Rocheleau with a time of 5:19:52.
“I saw Jamie and Bruce go out and I kind of fell in behind them,” said Rocheleau, 31, in a release. “I didn’t see them. I couldn’t go at their pace. I started to make ground on Bruce the last quarter, but he was going too fast.”
Rookie Shakira Westdorp, was perhaps the most impressive today, keeping her cool on a maiden voyage across the Moloka‘i Channel that included a broken rudder that she fixed mid-crossing. Westdorp finished ahead of five-time and defending champion Kanesa Duncan (O‘ahu). Duncan finished a little more than five minutes behind Westdorp with a time of 6:05:05. Once the relief of reaching O‘ahu subsided, tears turned to jubilation as the young Queenslander vowed to do the race “forever”.
“It was a lot of fun, I got a lot of runners, but I never felt like I was going to get there — never-ending,” said Westdorp. “It’s way rougher, way more runners, way bigger swell — everything magnified by about 10 (compared to Australia). The furthest I’ve paddled in training was about five and a half hours. I was prepared for the worst and it wasn’t as bad as everyone said it was going to be. It was so much fun.”
The C4 Waterman stand-up division turned out to be an incredibly close race — just 13 seconds the difference between winner Kevin Horgan and second-placed Vitor Marcal (Oahu). Having lead almost 31 miles of the 32 mile race, Marcal was overtaken on the home turn into Maunaloa Bay as the pair hit the infamous home-stretch headwind. It was in that final mile that Horgan accelerated to pass his disbelieving rival.
“It was like trying to run up a sand hill,” Horgan said of the home stretch. “But that’s where my endurance really kicked in. Earlier this summer I did a four-day, 175-mile paddle from New York City to Newport Rhode Island. That was the perfect training.”
Two years ago, Horgan was the only solo stand-up paddler in this race and unofficially finished first and last after 10 hours of paddling; unofficial as he was outside the eight-hour official cut-off time.
“I just chopped off four hours,” said Horgan. “Waterman can, that’s my motto. That finish was unbelievable. It was so fun. I rode so many waves, it was a blast. Vitor paddled an amazing race. I think I was just better in the headwind.”
For results, see the Scoreboard above.
