Maui, Hawaii, May 1, 2016 – The conditions were pretty darn good at this years 8th Annual Olukai Ho‘olaule‘a downwind race. A moderate northwest swell pulsed through the open ocean and the dependable easterly trade winds blew past the paddlers as they made their way from Maliko Gulch to Kanaha Beach Park—an 8-mile stretch along Maui’s Northern coastline. Team Naish took top spots in the 14-foot class with their Javelin Maliko 14’0” LE racing boards, finishing in top spots in the 14-foot class. Kai Lenny had the fastest time with Bernd Roediger finishing closely behind him in second. Kody Kerbox finished in the top five and Ethan Koopmans in the top ten. In the open women’s division Mariko Strickland had the second fastest time and Annie Reickert won the 19-and-under division–an outstanding performance.
This year the race started inside Maliko Gulch instead of outside the bay like in previous years. With over 300 people entered in the race, the start was broken up into four categories: The intermediate women would start the race, with the intermediate men following five minutes later. The elite women would then start, with the elite men following last. Ethan Koopmans explains, “By the time the elite men started there were already a couple hundred people ahead, and you had to dodge and weave around them. It also made it pretty hard to keep track of people in front of you; you’d ended up loosing them in the chaos!”
Overall the event was a success, the trades weren’t blowing as strong as the previous days but it still made for an excellent day of downwind paddling. In addition to the on-par conditions, the team performed stronger than ever. Their Javelin Maliko 14’0” LE has proven once again to be one of the fastest racing boards amidst a large pool of competition.
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