Paddle Imua 2015 Presented by Bluesmiths: Wind, Sun and 200 Stoked Paddlers
Bluesmiths' Loch Eggers lines up at Maliko Gulch
The 4th annual Paddle Imua Ohana Festival is a wrap. 200 Paddlers from multiple disciplines gathered yesterday at the legendary Maliko Gulch to compete in a downwind run to the Hawaiian Canoe Club at Kahului to benefit the island’s children with special needs.
Jeremy Riggs
Sonni Hönscheid
The conditions for this year’s downwinder saw epic winds of 20+ knots generating solid wind swell combined with a late season north swell that provided endless opportunities to catch those long glides all the way to Kahului Harbor where flower leis and a cheering, enthusiastic crowd awaited all participants.
Congratulations to all of the competitors and a very special congratulations to Bluesmiths ambassadors Andrea Moeller who took top podium in the Women’s Unlimited SUP class and Sonni Hoenscheid in a close second with Devin Blish in third.
Bluesmiths' Jeremy Riggs & Waterman Dave Kalama battle it out
On the Men’s side it was once again pioneering waterman Dave Kalama who was a class of his own with Bluesmiths’ Jeremy Riggs in second and Livio Menelau in third.
In the 14 foot no rudder Stand-up class we saw local boy Travis Baptiste killing it coming in side-by-side with Jeremy Riggs. Naish’s kody Kerbox took second in that class and Robert Teriitehau in third.
The OC-1 category saw Felipe Gomes taking top honors and Kingi Gilbert sprinting through the finish in second separated by just a split second to Ryan Murphy in third. In the mixed OC-2 discipline it was the team of Kristin Doughety/Lee Moyers who came in just a minute ahead of team Wendy Giblin/Michael Giblin. The Surfksi’s saw Michael Owens flying in ahead of Eric Rohozinski.
The full results of the race are available here: RESULTS HERE
We’ll be posting a full event write-up soon, with photos and stories but just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to the competitors and EVERYONE involved in this event: the crew at Imua Family Services, the organizing committee, the co-chairs, the volunteers, the Hawaiian Canoe Club and ALL the sponsors.
Mahalo and Aloha
The Bluesmiths Crew
Photos: Franck Bertuot and Julia Schweiger
