HONOLULU (KHON2) — There were plenty of highlights in this year’s Molokai Hoe World Championship. It was a beautiful morning at Hale o Lono as more than 100 crews — double the number from last year — started their 41-mile journey towards Oahu.
Dozens of Molokai residents set up camp at Hale o Lono and waited for the sun to rise as crews arrived Sunday morning, Oct. 12.
This year, there were twice as many teams overall and twice as many junior teams, Maui teams and crews from French Polynesia.
For the first time, 15-year-olds were able to compete in the Molokai Hoe. This year was also the first time Molokai had a junior team in the race.
Keahiakahoe Juniors Coach, Whitney Peapeaalalo, said, “This is all their first crossing in the Molokai Hoe.” The team ranged from 15 to 19 years old.
Keahiakahoe Junior Crew member, Kaikala Emanuello, said, “It allows us, as the older mentors, they learn from us and take that with them when they’re 19 and keep the cycle going.”
There were four koa canoes this year, three from Oahu and a new koa from Hana, Maui.
“It was a canoe built by a man from Tahiti in 2000. We went up to the mountains of Kalepa, which is on the south side of Hana and brought down two logs for two canoes. One was for Hana and the other was for the Kihei Canoe Club. It was built in Hana, it’s been a longtime vision for it to be paddled across the Kaiwi Channel,” James Freudenberg from Hana Canoe Club.
French Polynesia won big today with Team OPT coming in first, just a few minutes ahead of 13-time champions Shell Va’a. The Tahitian teams came in first through fourth. Maui’s Wailea Canoe Club was the first to cross the finish line for Hawaii, placing fifth overall.
Keaukaha and the Tahititan team EDT were neck and neck nearly the entire race; at the very end, EDT was flipped by a wave, giving Keaukaha the lead and sixth place overall.