Ok, so I’ve well and truly failed at trying to keep this blog going. Especially considering I’ve been on a sabbatical / extended leave since the 1st of May (in my defence I actually had to work a good chunk of May and June - but that’s a separate story). Having said that, I’m not convinced anyone really missed them with the current tendency to want to consume easy content on Instagram / Youtube and AI convenience (none of this was written using AI)…. But, I still have a few months off, so I’ll endeavour to write a few more blogs and see if I can get into a rhythm. To restart, what better way to do so than to write about my Hawaii race season (for those interested, you can find my previous years recaps for 2024 and 2025)
So what is the Hawaii race season? There’s a good post on the Armstrong instagram about the races and Edo also talks about them in his most recent Generic Foiling Podcast. But I’ll summarise again. The Hawaiian race season is made up of 5 races in the month of July - culminating with Molokai to Oahu (also referred to as M2O). The premier event in the calendar and the World Championships of downwind foiling. The first two events are the Voyager x Wetfeet race and Paddle Imua. In order to be eligible to take part in the Koa Kai Triple Crown (more on that later) you need to race in either one of the Voyager x Wetfeet race or Paddle Imua. But before I go on, I want to touch on each of the races:
- Voyager x Wetfeet (Oahu - First weekend of July): The course for this race is the classic AD’s run which is about 18km (there is a shorter course option to do a HK run instead, starting at China Walls for about a 12km run). Renowned for its hectic backwash, the last couple years have seen firing conditions with extremely challenging conditions. I always have a friends weekend away in this weekend, so am never able to make it over to Hawaii in time for this race.
- Paddle Imua (Maui - second weekend of July): The main thing about this event is community and raising money and awareness for Camp Imua. The Imua family foundation does amazing work, and thanks to them we have this race. The Paddle Imua course is a short sprint (12km). Starting at the Maliko Gulch, but instead of going to the Harbour, you cut in across the reef and have to pump your way through the lagoon for 1-2km depending on your line to finish at Kanaha Beach Park. So how did my race go? Excuses first - I always fly in just before this race, so always size up on my foil to make the pump a bit more agreeable (to account for jet lag / being tired). So anyways, I had a mediocre start, a little wobble then missed a bump. So I was a bit off the pace from the go, but managed to make up decent ground on the outside of the reef in the first 10km. Due to having a slightly bigger foil I couldn’t push crazy fast (no where near the top 20 who were all well under sub 2:00/km splits all the way). I caught a set wave through the keyhole at the reef which helped push me up a few spots and pumped past a fair few folk through the lagoon. Unfortunately a mistimed paddle pump 10-20m from the beach had me down and that 10-20m paddle in had me watching 5-10 people pump past me onto the beach.
Ok, so that's the first two races….Now we get into the Koa Kai Triple Crown. These are the 3 races in the third weekend of July. 3 races, spread across 4 days. Each with its own points multiplier for the overall Koa Kai Triple Crown.
Maui to Molokai (M2M, points multiplier: x 2, distance: 40 ish km):
M2M races from the western corner of Maui to Kaunakakai harbour about halfway along the south coast of Molokai. It's the first channel crossing of the weekend, crossing the Pailolo channel using the wind bumps and swell generated by the typically North-East / East -North - East trade winds.
M2M always sets the tone for the weekend. The Pailolo often delivers, even on a light forecast (I did a light wind practice earlier in the week and it was still firing). In previous years we’ve always arrived at DT fleming (start point) to see a fairly glassy start, with the anticipation that the wind would pick up. But this year we arrived to whitecaps and pumping wind out at the start, so safe to say everyone was frothing. After the checkin, loading of the luggage boats (I should probably do a separate post on Hawaii logistics for first timers) and the Pule, the long paddle out (it is loooong) commenced. I considered getting my parawing out, but I was pretty content to keep it light and dry in its Kaohi leash dry bag on my back (I had it with me to be consistent and used to it for M2O as I would have it with me since I was going unescorted), so sucked up the paddle out (nice little warm up…). Out at the start line, there was a nice wind swell rolling through and plenty bumps, which bode well for the start (so I thought….). When the gun went, I decided that I would just go for a forced race start, muscling myself up regardless on a new small foil I didn’t really have that dialled in. I nearly pulled it off, but in the process I cooked myself. After this came the classic dick around - rest, fall in, get mad etc. An eternity passed (7min) and I composed myself and popped up (I should have just been more patient and then I would have been up in a minute). It wasn’t even that hard, I just rushed it on the gun. Once up I tried to tap into the swells running into the channel as much as I could to close the gap on those ahead of me. This paid off and I think I clawed my way up from the back of the pack to the middle. In previous years I’ve always made the mistake of coming in too early and getting ‘trapped’ in the tight stacked slow bumps of the Kamalo run on the inside so this year I did a practice run to get comfortable with the line. The ideal line is to tap into the outside / channel bumps which move faster (in the direction of Lanai) without travelling too many extra kms and cut in late to the finish so that when you come in you’re only traversing short bumps which is faster than having to go straight on this. I probably went a touch wide, but even with this and my late start, I finished the run pretty much 10min faster than last year without coming down. So execution wise I’m happy with my run and also know theres lots to improve on still!
Kamalo run (points multiplier: x 1, distance: 16km):
This year the Kamalo run was added ot the Koa Kai, with Sunday (previously being the M2O day) becoming a rest day and M2O being shifted to Monday. Conditions wise, it was the same as M2M, it was bombing. Unlike M2M where we had current against us I think the later start meant we had current going the other way. Almost like M2M, it was a pretty long paddle out to the channel (see photo below) but once out there it was firing. I think there’s plenty of social media content out there (especially on Jack Ho’s channels) of how good it was! I personally was a bit gutted it was a race as this run really lends itself to surf foils with the shorter more stacked bumps. For this race I used it as a test run for a different slightly bigger foil as a test for M2O and was pretty happy with it. I got a decent start and felt out the foil through the run finishing somewhere in the mid pack again. Given the short nature of the race and the shorter more stacked bumps, it was all about hunting gaps or the best up and overs, but quite often I also felt locked into the bumps whilst I waited for an opening. Given the proximity to M2M and M2O coming up, this wasn't an all out push for me but I did end up having a nice little battle with Kurt, a young Code rider from West Oz who got me back after I came past him in M2M.
Molokai to Oahu (M2O, points multiplier: x 3, distance: 60 ish km).
The big one! M2O crosses from the North west corner of Molokai (I'lio point) to Kaimana Beach on Oahu, crossing the Kaiwi channel, also known as the channel of bones. Unlike the Pailolo channel, the Kaiwi has 'many faces' and the conditions change as you cross the channel with currents and shifting winds (even glassy sections in the past). It's truly one of the harder things I've done, and a challenge that seems to draw us back year after year.
In the week before there was already a suspicion that the forecast would be light, and also a bit too North (in previous years we have had quite favourable easterly winds). North winds mean a lot of quartering to the right, something thats pretty doable when there are bumps. What wasn’t expected would be how light the wind was. The morning of the race it was pretty cloudy and the wind was pretty absent as a couple of rain showers passed through killing the wind. I felt pretty stressed as an unescorted foiler thinking I had to lock my foil choice in early, but thankfully was able to grab a bigger foil out of my bag before I went to the luggage boat to take with me to the start on a friend's escort boat…man that was a good call. At the start line I immediately decided to switch foils. Firstly because it was light, but secondly because I knew this foil much better. Actually the light part didn’t bother me too much, I knew this foil well, could flatwater start it pretty fine and had actually done fairly comparable runs at home ... .albeit not as long. After a bit of a delayed start, we were on our way. I was in the 2nd wave as an unescorted foiler (one of 30) with the top seeded riders. I popped up pretty quick and ran with the swells more south for a bit before settling into a rhythm and starting to cut north. However I hadn’t cut north enough before the escort boats were “released” to find their foilers. This meant that some of the escort boats for the top riders ahead of me screamed past me on both the south side of me and the north side. Since I hadn’t cut north enough off the start (or stayed south enough), this meant I was stuck with wakes coming from both sides foiling into a nice extended choppy mess. This led to my first fall. I waited a bit for the water to calm down before popping up again, this wasn’t too hard with the foil I had chosen and I was on my way. I figured I was maybe working a bit too hard so focused on flying as high as possible which led to two breaches and falls, but I was back up reasonably quick again after a quick breather. I had one more little run in with a boat wake which had me off foil for a bit longer. At this point I decided to take a slightly longer rest (I was about 10km in I think). I looked back and the clouds around Molokai had cleared and it looked like the wind was slowly picking up. A few foilers passed me, but by this point I’d decided that the rest of the run was more about completion than racing (I think at this point I was sitting somewhere around 30th-40th place). I popped up here and got into a really nice rhythm, quartering north and picking the swells every now and again running to the south to catch my breath. I followed my planned line a little too well and quartered a little too north foiling into the messier bumps around ADs. Unfortunately a lapse of concentration led to a fall here. I hadn’t really seen any foilers for the majority of my crossing so figured I was sort of ‘detached’ from those ahead and those behind me. Given the shocker I had here in my first M2O I decided to crack a gel, have a breather before going to get going again. Ironically I stood up and started to paddle slowly being patient for a bump in the mess and popped up without working too hard. Now comes the dumb part - I figured to save my legs I’d do a couple extra paddle pumps to get up to speed. Something I never do. I clipped my foil, somehow the paddle got jammed and I fell against my paddle giving me a dead leg (I think the Americans call it a charlie horse?). First thought as an unescorted foiler was “shit, did I just snap my paddle and am I going to have to call one of the safety boats”, but thankfully my paddle was in one piece. I sat there for a bit and massaged my leg, enjoyed the view and then got going again. After the slog that was crossing the channel, I must say that last pop up, then foiling past China Walls must be one of the most satisfying feelings of race month. Cruising down the familiar HK run, I was mulling over whether to go on the inside (normally the better option) along the reef using the (massive) south swells to make it to the finish or to try just ride the smaller wind chop as far as I could since I was on a bigger foil. Looking ahead of me I didn’t really see anyone ahead heading to the inside. Before I popped up I didn’t really see anyone behind me. The only person I could see was Tomo slightly ahead of me to the south. Knowing this, with tired legs and a bigger foil I decided to opt out of the inside line as I didn't want to get blown up by a set wave and have a yard sale on the reef, so I went about tentatively feeling which wind bumps I could sit on, chipping away at the gap with Tomo. Eventually I caught up with Tomo and passed him as he had to cut out to stay on foil with the side offshore wind in his back and I saw him come off foil. From here I decided to make as much ground as I could pumping straight towards the finish line, despite the headwind to maximise my buffer with Tomo, accepting I’d have to paddle the last part on my belly. This turned out to only be 200m or so, but I’d made enough ground to be able to do it at a reasonable pace without having to paddle like a maniac. I was stoked to cross the line, stoked with the execution (other than the dumb dead leg) and despite this being my slowest M2O (probably my best placed), it’s definitely the most rewarding. Overall I came 45th which I'm happy with. But I think, as with a lot of the other riders. I was just happy to finish. It was a tough day out there and as many of the local crew say, the Kaiwi always tests you. Hats off to everyone who even lined up at the start and gave it a crack!
Reflecting on this years race season theres a few things that stand out to me.
- Despite some newer race foils. Having trained the previous 4-5 months on bigger versions in the lower energy bumps at home, on the same board I raced meant I felt the most comfortable I’ve ever felt on my gear.
- This year I spent more time on physical prep. Not purely beasting it in the gym, but some targeted focus on things like aerobic capacity, power output and also just looking after my body (I’m getting old) which meant physically I felt great
- I need to learn to go fast. The thing that definitely holds me back is my line choice. Ironically I can pretty much go the same speeds on all my race foils. But I’m glad that that’s the limiter as now that I have smaller race foils, I can work change my “vision” and try and learn some faster lines in attempt to reduce the gap to the top guys
- In general the fleet has gotten a lot faster. But speaking of the top guys. It’s amazing to see how they have doubled down. They are fitter, stronger, faster and leveraging the amazing gear that the foil brands are putting out. It's so inspiring to see what's possible and motivates me to want to improve myself, despite not having a chance at being competitive overall.
- It’s cool to see things like the Downwind Foil World tour motivating some of riders to challenge themselves on a global series (obviously a tour ranking is reflective of participation as well as performance), but also the rolling ranking put out by Matt from DWfoil.com so that anyone can see where they stand. Matt’s ranking works using weighting and “who you beat” methodology like ELO in chess to create a points ranking based on all events rather than a tour. So it is a cool indicator of “form”. Both have their place I think and it will be interesting to see how both grow. Ultimately I think a tour is a great way for all the best riders to race head to head on a global scale and stimulate growth in the sport as more events aspire to “level up” and a good reflection of the growth of the sport will be if the Tour rankings eventually begin to converge and align with the DWfoil.com ranking as the tour grows and as more riders attend more events!
- Lastly, I think with the growth and buzz around parawinging (which the majority of us SUP foilers love doing by the way), its great to see that DW SUP foiling is still growing and progressing and how stoked we all are about downwind foiling in general, regardless of how you get on foil!
I love racing for the community, the personal challenge and am so grateful to the brands that support me, my awesome girlfriend who puts up with it all, all the foilers who come to these events, the event organizers and the amazing local community who's hospitality is next level. Hanging out and catching up with friends from around the world whilst getting to enjoy some of the best downwinding in the world is a unique experience that I wouldn't trade for anything! For those coming to race in October in France, I look forward to seeing you again and safe travels!
As always, feel free to let me know what you think or ask questions, let me know if you’d like to see certain blog topics (I think Hawaii logistics might be a good one) and I’ll do my best to write another blog soon.