Posted on February 10, 2015 by Marc Miller
Another year, another great event at the 18th Annual HanoHano Huki Challenge hosted in Mission Bay, San Diego. The Ocean Challenge is put on by the HanoHano Outrigger Canoe Club and attracted over 400 paddlers competing in a 5 or 9 mile course through mission Bay. This was the first major paddling race of the year and we had beautiful 80 degree weather and exceptional conditions for racing.
As this day landed on a big swell we had a couple of our riders head to Baja for epic waves. Despite the fact that we were shy a couple racers, we still had some strong paddlers and a great presence that day. Both of our riders were part of the HanoHano Club and raced SUPs in the short course then battled it out with outriggers for the 9 mile course.
Ikaika: Ikaika is traditionally an outrigger paddler but has recently been competing and training on a stand up paddle board. He is a strong paddler with an aim at succeeding in competitive racing. Ikaika paddled our 12’6 Carbon Fiber Race Board and placed 6th in his division with a time of 1:03:14. Look out for Ikaika as he is going to start participating in more SUP races in the future.
Jeremy: Jeremy approached us a couple months ago with a high interest in competing stand up paddle boards and like Ikaika he started with outriggers. Jeremy is a tall and strong paddler who wants to continue to succeed. He rode our stock 12’6 prototype race board and finished with a time of 1:06:30.
The HanHano prides themselves on the fact that they have the largest and most decorated raffle in all the paddle events. They receive donations from all the sponsors with a grand prize of a brand New Huki OC-1 valued at $5,000. Another one of the larger prizes was our 10’10 Glider All Water SUP which went to a worthy person. Tole won the Glider AW and it couldn’t have gone to a better person; Tole has been sharing a paddle board with his friend for a while and was ecstatic to finally have his own paddle board.
There were a lot of paddle boards on the water that day, but nothing bigger than our 15 ft. Megalodon SUP. The Megalodon allows all ages to come enjoy the luxury of a group paddle or just have fun on the water with some friends. This board could be a great work out to get you ready for the next race or a way to bring friends and family together. So many activities to be had on this super-sized paddle board.
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