The OluKai Ho'olaule'a stand-up paddleboarding race. Photo / Bryce Johnson
The OluKai Ho'olaule'a stand-up paddleboarding race. Photo / Bryce Johnson
Georgina Bond meets the open ocean as she paddles Maui's Maliko Run.
Intense trade winds might put holidaymakers off Maui's rugged northern beaches over the summer months. But on the water it's a mecca for ocean-sport lovers; the cranking winds producing some of the best conditions for a one-way, downwind stand-up paddleboard (SUP) run with the wind at your back, gliding on the open-ocean swells.
The holy grail of downwinding is Maui's Maliko Run — a 12.8km stretch eastwards from the Maliko Gulch to Kahului Harbour — which draws SUP enthusiasts from around the world for big-ocean adventures.
The Maliko downwinding tradition is celebrated each year at the OluKai Ho'olaule'a open-ocean race, where I lined up alongside more than 300 stand-up paddlers to experience the Maliko magic carpet.
It did not disappoint. I did the course with 50km/h wind gusts and consistent waist-high downwind waves delivering race conditions described as some of the most epic ever seen.
The OluKai Ho'olaule'a stand-up paddleboarding race. Photo / Bryce Johnson
The race starts at the Maliko Gulch, a protected inlet 4km east of Paia. Crammed into the mouth of the gulch, we sat bobbing on our boards waiting for the starting gun. On the blast, hundreds of paddles started thrashing the water furiously as we made our way out to meet the open ocean and, with it, the wind.
Maliko first-timers (me) are warned to stay deep to avoid surf breaks near the reefs and being pushed by the swell into the huge jagged rocks on the shoreline.
This means paddling side-on to the wind for some minutes (I did this on my knees) to get out wide, before hooking in to the northeasterly to glide to the finish at Kanaha Beach Park.
It didn't pay to look back at the wild water surging towards me. The adrenaline rush kicked in and I kept my eyes on the nose of the board, concentrating hard to stay on the conveyor-belt swells.
The staggered start sent the novice class off first, but it wasn't long before the elite paddlers were flying past me, reading the swells with skill to keep their sleek 5m boards on the plane the whole time.
Even though the OluKai counts towards the SUP Racer World Rankings, it attracts recreational paddlers of all ages and there were plenty of downwind novices, like me, giving it a go.
Before the race started, the race director invited all participants to link hands for a Hawaiian blessing (pule) and to sing a traditional Hawaiian song. The OluKai is not just a race, but a celebration of paddling, the ocean and a lifestyle, he said. Out on the course, with hundreds of paddlers scattered in the windy mess around me, I certainly felt the freedom of the open water was something to celebrate.
The ocean swells did most of the work and my confidence grew as I was lifted and swept past popular windsurfing beaches, sugar cane fields and a Hawaiian green sea turtles or two; Haleakala and the western Maui mountains in the distance. This coastline is the spiritual home of downwinding and Hawaiian surf history, where I'm told surfing legend Laird Hamilton developed stand-up paddling and Buzzy Kerbox developed tow-in surfing.
After 12km we approach Kahului Harbour, careful to navigate the channel in the reef through to the quieter, turquoise waters of the Kanaha Beach Park lagoon.
Volunteers wait to grab our boards as we leap off for the 200m sprint up the beach to the finishing chute.
Off the water, OluKai celebrations continued with a traditional Hawaiian luau, entertainment and prizegiving, making the festival more than a great race, but a great community to be a part of too.
For my first downwind race, I'd dipped my toe in one of the most spirited competitions and most dynamic paddling conditions there are.
