The 2008 Molokai -- my 16th -- has come and gone. While the event continues to grow, attracting more quality participants from around the world, personally it was disappointing.  When I arrived two weeks before the race the wind was howling, perfect conditions for what I hoped would be my 12th win. Though the wind dropped to about 8 knots on race day, Marshall Rosa, my escort boat driver, came up to Herman and I roughly 2 hr and 40 min. into the race to say that not only we were on the correct line, but that we also had a slight lead. From there, however, it was downhill on a banana peel as I had no strength and felt so flat that all I was trying to do was get to the finish. Looking back, I'm scratching my head to figure out what went wrong as typically I get stronger as the race goes on. Just goes to show you how hard this race is to win more than once. So congratulations to repeat champion Lewis Laughlin of Tahiti, who becomes just the fourth man to win this coveted title twice.

 

I did make some school boy errors before the race. I can't believe that at my age and experience I am still making these mistakes. Never too old to learn!!!! First, shortly before the race, I discovered that I had something stuck in my drinking tube extension. As a result I had to change the extension minutes before the race on the start line, which made my juice tube too short and a nightmare to use during the race.  

 

All my preparation went well up to the race, and I have to thank every one who helped out, especially my wife Clare and Herman's lovely girlfriend Micheala Pazdera. You have to have seconds in Hawaii otherwise a two hour paddle ends up being an all day affair.  It was fun having a strong Epic team in Hawaii. We had our Epic main men in Charles Brand, Greg Barton and myself; Epic Australia in full force with Tony King, Dave Kelynack, Jacqui Williams and Perth connection Richard Eadie. Epic Hong Kong with Rene Appel and Jon Dingle; Epic Dubai in Andrew Dunstan, Epic California Kenny Howell. Epic Hawaii: the team of Go Bananas and Mark Sandvold, Zsolt and Gib made the stay worth while from a logistical, social and information side. Freya Hoffmeister from Epic Germany showed her grit in finishing the race in an 18X, giving a hint of the style she’ll use to paddle an Epic 18X sea kayak around Australia. And, oh yeah, Epic New York, represented by reef-wrecker Joe Glickman.

 

Two days after the race I flew to Tokyo. I am writing this email from my car traveling around Nagoya in Japan. I am spreading the Epic word around the world again and will be doing clinics and also doing the Japanese Surf Ski Champs on Sunday the 25th of May. Then I'm off to China to the Epic factory and onto a clinic in Hong Kong, as well as helping with the Dragon Run race. 

 

Japan is a fascinating place and I can see similarities with China. In both paces I can't read or say anything. I never know what I'm eating either, but both places have the most amazing hospitality. Japan is so clean and efficient where as China has a long way to go. They both have starting blocks for toilets!!!  I was picked up at the airport by Hidekazu Kameyama, Ben and Hero. The other two names are nick names as there is no way I could get their full names. I arrived late at night then went straight to a Japanese style barbecue. 

 

The drink and driving rules are so strict in Japan that if they are driving they don't touch a drop of alcohol. Being a team player I had to drink their share!!!! The barbecue was in the middle of the table and you had to barbecue the meat yourself. They changed the grill about 3 times while we ate. After catching up on emails it was off to bed at midnight, I had started the day in Hawaii at 2.30am that same day!  The main reason for me coming to Japan is the Japan surfski Championships on the 25th of May. It is going to be between Shinmaiko and Utsumi, a distance of 27km. The organizers are very enthusiastic and I can see that it could be a good stop after the Molokai if we can get the logistics right. 

After a long day running around Nagoya and seeing the sights of Japan, I managed to get to bed at 2.00m after having a chat to my family in South Africa. I had to speak to my son who leaves for the national trails and marathon championships in Johannesburg. Also, congrats to Luke for finishing 11th overall -- the top junior -- at the last Men's Health race in Durban. Luke will be paddling an Epic Legacy K2 ML with his partner Jonathan Jacobs. The two junior teams that get selected will go the World Marathon Championships in September in Czech.

 

I am going to try and do a blog every second day for the next two weeks while I travel the world. Please send feed back to info@epickayaks.com so that I can hone my blog to your liking.  

 

- Oscar