Maui Delivers - Naish Race

[Admin]

It is unlikely I would be able to relate how exciting and fun the Mailiko to Kahului race was yesterday. 

200 plus paddlers going for broke in what I consider to be one of the most beautiful stretches of ocean anywhere, in good sized seas, driven by a steady 25 MPH wind that no one forecast to happen. 

Tons of long glides and the wind even helped us into the harbor.  To much new gear to really take in.  Being on the water with the best of the best was very cool.

Note:  Dave Kalama and Jamie Mitchell (Dave won standup at 1:06 Holy Shite and Jamie won Prone as always) were driving two nights before the event, and their rack, holding both of their race boards, tore off of the vehicle, buckling both of the boards.  That whole night was spent rebuilding them.

[noworrieshawaii]

So cool the wind picked up for you guys... Would have been a long race without. Watched the finish from my deck.

Cant imagine making it in a little over an hour. Dave is amazing.

[stoneaxe]

Glad to hear you had such a great time Randy. I'm very jealous. Sounds like a blast.

[noworrieshawaii]

So how did the start work?

I remember when I used to race windsurfers and we would do long distance and course races with mass water starts... talk about chaos... everyone stealing each others wind, collisions, over earlies...  what fun... We used to race upwind to Hookipia from Kanaha, then back down.... yehaww... Men, women, all divisions at one time... and that was back when there were tons of racers...

[Admin]

So how did the start work?

The start was so fun.  Men, women, kids, all age groups.  Stand up launched all together.

Prone guys left 15 minutes ahead. 

For Stand Up, we were told to start moving out from the gulch as the prone guys were started.  The idea was to create a line that stretched between two jet skis (a few hundred yards outside of the gulch).  Of course, with wind and seas, it is impossible to keep a perfect line, but that is the nature of the game. 

I followed Dave and Alan Cadiz out to the line to where they both sat down (we had to stay seated until the horn blew).  I am sure they knew the perfect spot to be, but when I stalled there and turned around, the sight of that huge horde paddling up on us, made me think, "best spot or not, I don't want to get tangled up in that", and I kept going out to sea.  Slater, me and Michi Schweiger were at the far outside ski.  The organizers did a great job keeping us as lined up as possible.  A horn sounded the start.  I completely missed it  but got up pretty quick when I saw Michi moving and I started going.

[Big Island Mike]

Cool.  That is THE race of the year, too bad so many of the oahu guy boycott, it could be the the world champoinship for solo racing. Are the results up yet?  Please give us a play by play of your run. 

[Admin]

Please give us a play by play of your run. 

Hey Mike,

First off, we wish that you could have joined us, but next year for sure.

Here is my new downwinder's eye view of the event. 

After the start (see below) there were glides to be had right off.  We were all catching swell and the group was moving pretty much as a pack.  It was at max tide when we launched, so things were a bit washy, and we all got to watch plenty of wipeouts through Ho'okipa, with some collisions and a bunch of angling.  I held it together through that stretch but did some seriously ugly body english to stay running.  For me that is the section where I am most likely to swim, so I was happy to just hold it together and cover some territory. 

The wind and swell was decidely North-East (which pushes side-on towards shore).  My idea was to stay out to sea, even if it meant missing some glides.  I don't mind working hard at that when I am fresh, but having to come back upwind at the end to make the harbor when I am already tired is more than I wanted to think about.  Bonus: it was awesome out there!  Nice rides, no crowd.  Looking back on it, I am not sure if a little tighter line would have been faster.  I think it would, as that is where the best were, but I was stoked. 

I should tell you that I did not stick to one part of my plan.  I was sure that I was not in condition to sprint at the begining and still have anything left at the end, so I planned to pace myself.  Well, that was right out.  As soon as everyone started to go, and go hard, I did too (and it must have been some of the ugliest paddling I have ever done).  Add to that the boosted level of adrenaline and the rush of being in a race, and I was burning more than I should have, and I knew it, but I was helpless to stop myself. 

By the time we rounded Ho'okipa our outside group was starting to settle in and move pretty well.  The swell was getting even better there, and the glides gave us a little time to breathe and settle down.  Slater was about 50 feet ahead of me and to the inside.  He was riding swell more towards shore and was getting a bit far in for my thinking, and I thought that might have been a mistake.  It didin't turn out that way.  This was the feel good part of the race.  My board was feeling great, we were moving away from the pack, and all seemed well.  The leading group was insanely impressive.  By this time they were already tiny specs off in the distance - just that quick.

That awesome time lasted through Kanaha, and damn do I wish the race had ended right there  .  The wind lightened up just a bit, seemed to turn even more onshore, and the lamest things started happening to my muscles and my breathing.  Oh crap!  Can I seriously be out of juice at 7 miles?  Slater started to walk on me, and some of the folks that I had made ground on during the Baldwin to Sprecks love-fest, started to pass me back by.  Nooooooo!  Well, after a few moments of dispair, I convinced my body to start pushing again (but it was stilll pretty feeble). 

Around the treatment center, Rick Arango edged past me.  That really irked me, but it was the best thing that could have happened.  I was back.  He had pulled about 200 feet ahead and I really wanted to get those feet back.  One swell and glide would bring me closer, and then he would catch one and he was out there again - all the way into the harbor.  Well once inside, we all went for broke.  There was a big crowd at the finish, and I wanted to finish as strong as I could.  I made up some ground in there, but never quite caught Rick.  He told me after the finish that he had seen me out of the corner of his eye, and just put his head down and paddled like hell.  That right there is what it is about to me.  Those little micro battles within a competition that mean nothing to anyone except those involved, and add all of the fun into the paddling you do when its not race day.

My end was embarrassing and a bit sad.  I had misunderstood the instuctions to be that the timer was at the shoreline, but in fact it was up on the bluff.  So, I stopped right there and started walking up to the true finish line.  Unfortunately, I blocked the gal behind me for quite a while, and also slowed her recorded time    My bad, and apologies.

All in all, this was an outstanding event.  It was my first stand up race, and I learned a lot.  I have been kind of buzzed from it still all day today, and have been thinking about how I might improve myself for next year.  Better conditioning is #1 on my list.

Yeeeeeeeeoooooowwwww!

[DavidJohn]

Did anyone take pictures?

How did the new Naish Glide boards go in the under 12' class..Did you notice anyone using one?

DJ

[capobeachboy]

They have the full results up on http://www.pacificsportevents.com/Results.htm

[Admin]

1   DAVID KALAMA   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:06:55   
2   SCOTT TRUDON   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:15:12   
3   BUZZY KERBOX   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:17:42   
4   MARK RAAPHORST   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:18:37   
5   CAMPBELL FARRELL   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:19:03   
6   JEREMY RIGGS   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:19:14   
7   ALAN CADIZ   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:19:20   
8   EDMUND PESTANA   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:22:05   
9   ADAM REEVES   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:23:01   
10   ANDREA MOLLER   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:24:07   
11   JACK GILLEN   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:24:27   
12   LIVIO MENELAU   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:24:48   
13   MICHI SCHWEIGER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:25:54   
14   NABIL VOGELE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:26:13   
15   JACK DYSON   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:27:47   
16   SLATER TROUT   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:28:00   
17   DANIEL KEREPA   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:28:03   
18   EYAL SHELEF   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:30:02   
19   BLAKE MCELHENY   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:30:26   
20   JANUS PADILLA   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:30:42   
21   IGOR KRTOLICA   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:30:48   
22   RICHARD FOSTER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:31:26   
23   DANE WARD   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:31:43   
24   RICK ARANGO   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:31:52   
25   RANDY STROME   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:32:11   
26   DEVIN BLISH   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:32:12   
27   ROGER CROUSE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:32:13   
28   KEVIN SEID   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:32:52   
29   PHIL IRON   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:32:55   
30   YVES BONWENS   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:33:45   
31   JEFF CHANGE   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:34:13   
32   FRANK FORBES   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:35:34   
33   KENT APO   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:36:15   
34   EDDIE OGATA   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:36:20   
35   MARK JACKSON   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:36:41   
36   LEE MONROE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:38:12   
37   TANNER TROUT   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:38:33   
38   MARK WINSLOW   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:38:38   
39   NEIL TURPIN   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:38:42   
40   GRAHAM MONROE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:38:58   
41   TIARE LAWRENCE   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:39:18   
42   JENNIFER KOKI   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:40:48   
43   JULIA MANCUSO   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:41:08   
44   JIM MARTINDALE   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:41:31   
45   THERESA FELGATE   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:43:40   
46   MAKANI WILLIAMS   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:44:24   
47   JAMES WARDLAW   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:44:28   
48   WILLIAM LAVINIO   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:44:30   
49   SHAWN COULLAHAM   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:44:35   
50   JENN KONOHIA   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:44:47   
51   GAYLE MIYAGUCHI   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:45:00   
52   DUDLEY SMITH   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:45:13   
53   NIC VANDERLEE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:45:38   
54   LARRY RISLEY   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:45:54   
55   RANDY ROYSE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:45:56   
56   MICHELLE CROMPTON   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:46:03   
57   JOHN CHIU   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:46:20   
58   DANNY KEEVIL   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:46:57   
59   ANNE MARIE REICHMAN   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:47:35   
60   DEAN CHRISTENER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:47:55   
61   LANI GOMES   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:48:15   
62   CHANTALLE STROME   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:48:54   
63   MATTHEW MURASKO   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:48:57   
64   ART TAKABAYASHI   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:49:27   
65   ULLI WALGER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:49:42   
66   RYAN STEWART   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:49:51   
67   JOHN SMALLEY   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:50:20   
68   RACHEL TAYLOR   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:50:24   
69   SAM PAE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:51:27   
70   NITSAN SOLOMONOV   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:51:39   
71   GABRIEL LUCY   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:51:41   
72   BRYAN ALTHAM   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:51:41   
73   REBECCA JAKEWAY   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:52:20   
74   SAM BOCKIUS   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:52:31   
75   OREN MASSERMAN   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:53:42   
76   CADY CADIZ   Women Over13'Stand-Up   1:54:00   
77   HAROLD IGGY   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:54:10   
78   RICK COOPER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:54:27   
79   BERND ROEDIGER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:54:36   
80   JAMIL NEWIRTH   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:54:50   
81   JEFF WHEATLEY   Men Over 13'Stand-Up   1:54:52   
82   HEATHER JEPPESEN   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:54:59   
83   JORDAN ARRUDA   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:55:19   
84   JUSTIN ARRUDA   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:55:22   
85   ANDY CHURCH   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:56:00   
86   DONNIE MCGEAN   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:56:40   
87   BEN DAVIS   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:56:48   
88   LATHAM THULIN   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:58:29   
89   DERKICK ARRUDA   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:58:40   
90   SAMANTHA CAMPBELL   Women Over13'Stand-Up   2:00:54   
91   LAURA LAPA   Women Over13'Stand-Up   2:01:18   
92   MIKE NASH   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   2:02:54   
93   BLAKE HILL   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   2:05:00   
94   SHARON LOOK   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:05:24   
95   MARJ TAKABAYASHI   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:06:29   
96   BRENDA SMITH   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:07:37   
97   JULIE ARIAS   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:08:46   
98   JESSICA BLANK   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:09:17   
99   JOE CARO   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   2:09:20   
100   SARINA ERSTAD   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:10:00   
101   JANA KOZLO   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:10:43   
102   WES ANDERSON   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   2:11:49   
103   RICHARD CRUSE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   2:12:44   
104   JESSICA KONZE   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:14:13   
105   TATIANA HOWARD   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:15:31   
106   SANDIE CROWDER   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:15:32   
107   DEJA HOWARD   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:16:57   
108   DEBBIE FLOREANI   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:17:46   
109   SARAH NELSON   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:21:07   
110   JENNA HAUGAARD   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:33:59   
111   PEGGY KING   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:34:29   
112   MEGHAN DUNN   Women 13'Stand-Up   2:36:03   
113   BODHI BEADLE   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   2:37:51   

[Chan]

I am not certain, but I believe these two raced stock Naish boards:
   MICHI SCHWEIGER   Men 13' NR Stand-Up   1:25:54   
  ANNE MARIE REICHMAN   Women 13'Stand-Up   1:47:35   

[noworrieshawaii]

Hey Chan.... you did us Maui girls proud... good job..   

Times look pretty close for a lot of finishers.. Good racing.

[Big Island Mike]

Gangini called me today and gave me the famous "you MISSED it" that was enough to set me in a self-pitty mode for the next several hours.     Thanks John!   On a better note, told me how they had been praying since Wed. for wind, MVP= God, once again...   

Sounds like a good run you had. I remember learning to be on the line for the start as it is real hard to break thru the crowd with everyone zig-zagging the first bit, you HAVE to get ahead of it.    It's amazing how fast things can change with a few connections.  Good Job!!!

[StandUpPaddleSurf.net]

Are there standard 'classes' for sup races these days?  i.e. 12' and under, 14' and under, etc

[stoneaxe]

Awesome job Randy and Chan. Any good video out yet?

How much does weight figure into speed? I know you've commented that light is the way to go for boards Randy but if I was to get into racing is my size a big detriment? Not that I have any illusions of competing at high levels but if I'm going to do it I might as well go all in. If I worked at it I could possibly get down to 230 but after that its all bone and muscle.

I'll have to start training for next years Cape Cod Bay Challenge now...