Why We Love Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge (And You Should Too)!

Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge is a fantastic way to have fun and race with family and friends from all over the world! This year there were over 600 participants from North America and as far away as Hawaii, Peru, & Australia. Some paddlers I haven’t seen since the last Hanohano. It’s like we are all coming out of hibernation for The Race! Hanohano has many pros, first timers, and everything in between.  This event brings together everyone in the paddle community-SUP, Prone, Outrigger, and surfski. It's great for beginner to elite racers. 
Feels like family!

Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge is a great race for beginners.  For $25 dollars you get a t-shirt and a whole bunch of new friends! It’s a flat water course-no surf & no sharks. It's a roughly 4.5-5.0 mile race. You don’t even need to own a race board. You can race it on any size SUP board or watercraft of your choice. If you are on a smaller board or just doing it for fun, it will take you a little longer. You just have to keep paddling! Oh and don’t be surprised from all the encouragement on the water from paddlers you don’t even know!

The weather and conditions in January are usually awesome! This year the race temperatures were a bit cooler than usual, but it was a perfect day for racing. We had lot’s of sunshine and little to no wind. The tide was going out, so we had a little push at the beginning of the race. This is my 5th year doing this race, and I have to say it was the cleanest race start yet. A little bumpy, but nothing compared to past years.                                                                                         
​One little mishap happened at this years race! The lead paddlers took us around Government Island which added an extra 1/2 a mile to our race. WAIT WHAT, what are we doing going around this island! I didn’t go to the race meeting-did they change it! What is going on! Note to self-don’t miss the race meetings! So since the majority of us went the wrong way should we all be disqualified-something to ponder!

AWESOME AWARDS & RAFFLE PRIZES-Almost everyone is a winner! There are so many age divisions that the majority of participants get the coveted beer glass. This year the glasses were designed by local artist ArtSea, Inc. www.artseainc.com. There are some amazing raffle prizes at Hanohano with this years grand prize being an Outrigger 2 (OC-2) designed and made by Jude Turczynski of HUKI Outrigger and Surfskis at http://www.huki.com/

So here’s to 2018 and may everyone have an amazing race season!

For further reading about the Hanohano Huki Ocean Challenge 2018 check out the article by STANDUP JOURNAL.