Molokai to Oahu World Paddleboard Championships

In 1996 the sport of paddleboarding was making a comeback. Once the domain of only the most hardcore of watermen and big wave riders in the 50’s and 60’s, the sport found a new set of acolytes on the North Shore of Oahu and in Honolulu at the Outrigger Canoe Club. At that time Hawaii’s top paddler was Dawson Jones. After completing the 32-mile Catalina Classic, from Manhattan Beach to the island of Catalina, Jones returned to Hawaii inspired to establish a race across the Ka’iwi Channel. He called on his trusted training partners, Garrett Macamara and Mike Takahashi, to discuss the possibility of starting a paddleboard race between the islands of Molokai and Oahu. The men agreed Jones had hit on a great idea, and a year later, Molokai-2-Oahu was born.