HUKI V2-X finishes first overall at the 2010 Kaiwi Channel Relay Molokai to Oahu.
Congratulations Raven Aipa, Bill Pratt, Carlton Helm, and Evan Rhodes for their overall victory with a time of 5:32:30! The first time an OC-2 has finished ahead of all OC-1's
Personal accounts from Evan:
We're stoked with our result first overall to the finish line at 5:32.30. We were ahead of Jimmy Austin by at least 100 yards but the results have us finishing at the same time.
I believe this is the first time a 2 man canoe has ever won the Molokai to Oahu Relay outright first to the beach!
The conditions ranged from flat to choppy in a "sucking" (dropping tide) making for surf that was difficult to catch and stay on.
We had a good start taking an early lead. At about 15 minutes, Manny Kulukuluanui paddled up and passed us. We made a change when Jimmy Austin and Manny switched and we stayed with Jimmy and Manny for the next 70 minutes. Jimmy opened up a 50 yard lead at about 90 minutes and kept it until Portlock Point when we were hit by a heavy rain squall making visibility extremely poor. We couldn't even see Oahu anymore and made a huge course mistake (look at the GPS photo attached). That course mistake would make the end of the race competitive and interesting.
At Black point we all the leaders converged and we were in 4th place. All the teams were racing hard, and the first 4 positions were tight. We managed to work back into second place at the Diamond Head Lighthouse and passed Jimmy and Manny about 5 minutes later in front of the Outrigger Canoe Club. We had your boat flying in the flat water across Waikiki and put about 100 yards on Jimmy to finish first overall.
Thank you so much for letting us race your boat. We had a great time, and now, everyone here knows about the HUKI 2 man.
We'd love to race your boat in the future, so if one becomes available please let me know.
Aloha, Evan
