PA’A Kaiwi Solo OC-1 World Championship Race

The PA’A Kaiwi Solo OC-1 World Championships were held on Sunday, April 19. The 32-mile race crosses the Kaiwi Channel, starting at Kaluakoi, Molokai and finishing in Hawaii Kai, Oahu.

In the men’s division, Luke Evslin finished 8th in 5:33:57 and Kelly Foster finished 15th in 5:44:07. On the women’s side, Jaimie Kinard finished 3rd in 6:31:30.

This year’s race was exceptionally challenging as paddlers faced constant headwinds throughout the day. The winning times were the slowest in the 15-year history of the current course.

Prior to the race, Jaimie described the PA’A Kaiwi Solo in “World Series of OC-1 Races.”

The 32-mile solo crossing of the Ka’iwi Channel is not for the faint of heart. Last year’s times ranged from three and a half hours to almost six hours.

PA’A’s world championship event is a chance to race the best of the best in the most challenging of waters and catch up with paddling cronies from across the island chain and around the world. Checking out the list of participants at www.paahawaii.com, there are paddlers from every major Hawaiian island, Japan, Canada, California, France, New Zealand, and Australia.

You can also read about Jaimie’s post-race interviews with “Three Solo First-Timers” as they describe their experience and why they decided to race.

Luke and Kelly are not only active competitors in OC paddling, but also run Kamanu Composites, an outrigger canoe manufacturing business. Kamanu has also been active in the OC community as a supportive race sponsor during the OC-1 season and the Kaiwi race.

Here’s a video of the 2009 PA’A Kaiwi Solo.

2009 PA’A Kaiwi Solo from Marta Czajkowska on Vimeo.