Elite women elevate field for 32-mile race

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

•	Quiksilveredition Moloka'i to O'ahu Paddleboard Race What: 32-mile paddleboard race across the Kaiwi Channel Where: Start at Kaluako'i, Moloka'i; finish at Maunalua Bay, O'ahu When: 7:30 a.m. tomorrow; first finishers expected around 1 p.m. Who: Close to 100 competitors from around the world

For the first time in the seven-year history of the race, there is real competition among women.

The 32-mile race across the Kaiwi Channel is considered the world championship of long-distance paddleboarding, and the four women in the field are testament to it.

Kanesa Duncan, a graduate student at the University of Hawai'i, is the women's record-holder of the race. Hayley Bateup is an Australian national champion; Jane Cairns from California is a four-time United States champ; Stephanie Barneix from France is the European champ.

"For the first time, we can truly say that this will be a world championship race for the women, too," said race director Mike Takahashi.

Consider this: in the six previous years of the race, only four women competing solo have completed the course.

Duncan, who was the only female entry in 2001 and '02, is the only woman to have completed the race twice. Last year, she set the women's course record of 7 hours, 8 minutes, 5 seconds.

"If there is an advantage for me, it's that I've finished the race before and I love being in the (Kaiwi) Channel," said Duncan, 27. "If you know you're going to be out there for seven hours, you have to enjoy it to forget about the pain."

Duncan could be in even more pain tomorrow. She dislocated her shoulder during a canoe race in May and said she is not at 100 percent.

"On the one hand, I want to race against the other girls and do well," she said. "But on the other hand, I just want to finish because of my shoulder."

In any case, Bateup may be the woman to beat.

In the 8 1/2-mile Hennessey's International Paddleboard Championship on O'ahu's North Shore last week, Bateup beat all the other women by five minutes.

"First, I'm coming here to make it across the channel," said Bateup, 23, a lifeguard in Queensland, Gold Coast. "But I also enter every race looking to win."

Like Bateup, Barneix and Cairns are entering the Moloka'i race for the first time.

"For many years, I have heard about this race and I always wanted to try it," Barneix said. "We are just starting to have circuits for paddleboarding in Europe, so it is still growing."

Cairns said she is often the only woman to enter long-distance paddleboard races in California.

"I think it's very big to have four women, and all four are strong and represent different areas of the world," she said. "I think this is only going to help the sport grow."

In the open men's division, Australians are once again the favorites. Australians took the top four places last year, and three of those four are entered again.

Defending champion Jamie Mitchell has been training on O'ahu's North Shore for the past six weeks, and has won five races in that time. In the past year and a half, he has won all six of the major paddleboard races held around the world.

"It's never easy having the target on your back," said Mitchell, 26, a lifeguard in Burleigh Heads, Queensland. "But it also keeps me focused and working hard."

He and fellow Australian Jackson English are considered the top two contenders, even though Mitchell said he believes otherwise.

"You can't discount anyone in this race," he said. "This is the one race where you can take the wrong course, or get caught in a bad current, and all of a sudden you're an hour off pace."

Mick Dibetta, winner of the inaugural Moloka'i race in 1997 and the course record holder (5:22:48), and Hayden Smith are considered the other top Australian entries.

Top contenders from Hawai'i include Brian Rocheleau, Guy Pere and Chris Owens.

NOTES: Competitors can enter either the unlimited division or stock division. In the unlimited division, competitors can use paddleboards of any length. In the stock division, all competitors must use identical 12-foot boards. ... There is also a team division, with two paddlers alternating throughout the course. ... Paddleboards are streamlined surfboards designed to ride ocean swells. The boards are powered only by arm strokes. ... Hawai'i's Buddy Sheppard, 56, is the oldest competitor in the field. Last year, he became the oldest to complete the race.