My 2014 M2O Exploits
Well it's the 15th March, time to register for the 2014 M2O. So I've got on the lap-top around 6:30AM Australian time (which is 10:30AM Hawaiian time) to register my 3 Man SUP Team. Registration for the M2O 32 punishing miles opened at 8:00AM Hawaiian time - "talk about first in best dressed" - M2O sold out within 3 hours. I found out later that there were so many hardcore paddlers that never got in, yes they were spewing and that they were put on the standby list. I'm thinking at least I got my 3 man SUP team in "stoked", because the following week I was off to Salani Surf Resort, salanisurfresort.com/index.php Samoa for 9 weeks. What a magic place Samoa is "Yes Please Mr Wizard." About 3 weeks after I got home from Samoa I get an email from my Maui team mates to say that they're pulling out of the M2O race as they're having too much fun lazing around in bed with all the Philippine'o girls. "Lucky buggers" but it just shattered me - I'm thinking WTF, what am I going to do now, looks like I'll have to harden up and go solo. So I emailed around and got good mate (the man behind the SIC boards - the fastest boards on the Planet) legend Mark Raaphorst with Chris Pagdilao. Chris is a big wave waterman - SUP's and paddle surfs 20ft+ waves and has his own Physiotherapist business - I was so stoked. I had a great feeling about our Australian/Hawaiian team. I guaranteed myself we'd have to be in one of the top three finishers, there was nineteen 3 man SUP Teams which is a great depth for long distance racing so a good challenge was on.
I have to train anyway to stay fit, due to my job as a Lifeguard, but long distance paddling is a different "kettle of fish". It doesn't matter how fit you are but can you paddle 43-52 kilometre's like the M2M or M2O without any dramas while trying to be competitive, staying up with the elite paddlers. So I figured I'd better start putting in some big yards, haven't done a Brunswick Heads to Currumbin Alley run since 2010 for when I was training for the M20 solo, I was on my 17'6'' SIC Bullet (magic board). When training for Molokai 2 Oahu I'd always paddled from Brunswick Heads to Currumbin Alley 50 kilometres at least once a week for like 10 weeks, as it's a great endurance training run. It gives you all the conditions you'd expect the Ka'iwi channel to throw at you. Depending on conditions the Brunswick to Currumbin Alley run would take me anywhere between 4hr 15m to 5hr 30m my average was 4hr 40m. I'd like to thank good mate Mick Howard for driving the jet-ski while I'd paddle from Brunswick Heads to Currumbin Alley as my support boat. I met Mick way back in 1981 in Bali I just got off the plane in Denpasar, (fully fly-blown maggot'ed drunk as a skunk) we've been tight ever since.
Phil and Mick Yang Yang Bali 1981
Phil and Mick Brunswick boat ramp 2014
Getting a lift out through Brunswick Heads
Brunswick Heads to Currumbin Alley Downwind Training for M2O
It's the 1st July and I've landed back on Maui (stoked), got picked up at Kahului airport by good friend Peggy King. Then it was straight to the Maui Seaside Hotel to drop my gear off, then catch a ride on the Maliko shuttle bus owned by Kelly Moore (Moore Water Time)moorewatertimemaui.com/ In 4 weeks I clocked up over 40 Maliko runs.
The Maliko Shuttle Bus is THE BEST shuttle service ever! Who needs a hire car. You have to book well in advance or you miss out on a seat. Plus it's great value for money with every lift being as entertaining as the last, you just look forward to that lift on the bus. This one Shuttle Bus Run I was talking with Larry, we're having a very in-depth conversation, as we're talking I'm thinking Larry doesn't even recognize me. I was growing the thickest beard (after shaving for like 35 years everyday), it was time to have a break from the razor for like 12 months and see how thick I could grow a beard. I was looking extremely feral after 11 months Grizzly Adams, already. Anyway the next day I ran into Larry again on the Shuttle Bus, as we are talking Larry says "is iRONPHIL coming back to Maui this year" in a split second the bus erupts with laughter, with guys like Dave Kalama, Kai Lenny, Jeremy Riggs saying to Larry "you're talking to him," it was too funny.
Maliko is the best place on the planet when it comes to Downwind Paddling it's a 15 kilometre run from outside the Gulch to the tip of the Kahului harbour break-wall. When conditions are good you can do the run in 60 minutes that's a 4 minute k unless you're someone like Dave Kalama or Jeremy Riggs those guys will do the run in like 53 minutes that's 3 1/2 minute k, mate that's super human fast, flying. The Maliko run is the full obstacle course with green sea turtles everywhere, with some turtles being mutant size like as big as the bonnet of your car, plus remember Maliko is a caf'e for Timmy the tiger shark. This one day in 2012 I borrowed Scot Trudon's SIC f16 and did a Maliko run with a few of the Maui weapons, Maliko was perfect this day one of the best days I've ever witnessed with 25+ knots of east winds and a good 4ft of east swell. Pumping 10/10 Maliko Conditions with an endless conveyor belt of swell. The f16 is the board of choice when all the Downwind elements come together there's no other board that comes close for it's maneuverability and surfing the troughs. I was on this huge ocean swell surfing this runner, gliding for bulk having the biggest smile on my face "this is bulk fun" when all of a sudden I've run over this big 8ft+ tiger shark I s##t myself "Help Me Please Mr Wizard" this tiger must have seen me coming, only because she went just under the surface getting ready to dive.
I borrowed the 16ft super light SIC Standamaran off Mark Raaphorst for a Maliko run. I was frothing like a little grommet with ADHD that's had a glass of red Cottee's cordial. The weather maps were reading for the day light winds. For Maliko this is gold "Yes Please Mr Wizard" which is a good thing as the Standamaran likes wind 15 knots or lighter with small seas. The Standamaran felt strange, very tippy but very stable! Made my legs feel like jelly but I was severally hungover anyway, paddling out through the gulch. It took me about 2k's to get the hang of it. It was hard not going into surf stance. It's a real different stance technique feeling, you needed a very good strong core strength, especially when the nose would pearl through the swells but would release with ease "it felt funny surfing in a balance stance." But the glide you would get was truly amazing on the slightest bump. The Standamaran would just take off and glide, you didn't even have to paddle hard at all to get the Standamaran moving. I was lucky the swell was small, on 2ft swells you would bury the nose of the Standamaran very deeply but the nose would glide out with ease. I was even keeping up with guys on the Bullet. The last 5k's coming into Kahului Harbour conditions got a bit brutal for the Standamaran to handle with wind gusts of 20+ knots. When I made it into the harbour the wind was now 25+ knots, guys on Bullets where struggling with the head wind the Standamaran just glided straight through it. It was a very fun and challenging paddle. If you like paddling into the wind the STANDAMARAN is the SUP for you.
The Pai'lolo Channel Crossing M2M is THE BEST long distance race on the planet. In 2010/12 Pai'lolo had THE BEST Downwind conditions I've ever seen for a Downwind race. There were only 25 of us at the starting line in 2010 with conditions looking really good. The wind was on your back - 25 knots, good 4 feet of ocean swell. You could see the corduroy lines of chop up ahead, then all of a sudden you're in this big trough & the trough turns into a nice glassy bit of ocean. I guess you're so far down in the trough you're out of the wind & you're just surfing this ocean swell for BULK. Like you're in the trough standing as far back as you could get on the board - just surfing from rail to rail, maybe giving a stroke of your paddle every 10 or so seconds just to stay down in the trough.
This years Pai'lolo 2014 Channel Crossing had a record breaking 76 competitors lining up. Conditions for this years race was very ordinary with small choppy seas, no real big ocean swells with a reverse current the whole way - making the run Brutal with a lot of just paddle power. I would rate this years Pai'lolo Channel Crossing 2/10 (looked like the East Coast of Australia's conditions on a good day though).
There were many paddle battles along the way, with myself and Andrea Moller catching the same runner (Andrea is a weapon of a sheila - paddle surfs 40ft JAWS just for fun). Even winning the biggest wave ever surfed by a female award, I take my hat off to her - what a gun. I tell ya what, they breed the sheilas hard core over there on Maui.
Had a great paddle battle with young James Casey, neck and neck the whole way till the last 3 kilometres. Big congratulations to Devin Blish who won the women's unlimited (Devin is one of THE Fastest women on Maui). Myself, Alex Matero and Gustavo Olivera my Brazilian mates where on a mission to do a good time, take a different line than last year and we had some all time paddle battles as always along the way. We were all way outside the Kamalo Buoy by about 2 kilometres which is the best line to take. I had some major falls out there, I just had to sit on my board at one stage for like 2 minutes adjusting everything, even fixing my GPS watch as I nearly lost it off my wrist on a fall, Gustavo paddled past me asking if I was OK, I yelled out "all good mate just keep going." I was hoping to beat my best time of 3 hours 35 minutes but that wasn't going to be the case. I ended up doing a time of 3 hours 48 minutes getting a second place finish in the over 50's which I was more than happy with. Well done to good mate Ralph Stifford, winning the over 50's - beating me by less than a minute and well done to Kathy Shipman who was paddling Jeremy Riggs old board. This sheila is a weapon of a paddler and a very talented surfer and can butterfly as fast as a fish in the pool, finishing only 4 minutes behind me (Kathy is another fast female on Maui - both Devin, Kathy and Andrea have smashed a lot of guys egos "Yes Please Mr Wizard" that's Gold). I reckon if you were to make love to any of the girls here on Maui you'd better make love to them like a mink and not like a lion or I'd hate to be in your shoes. It was great to see Australia's Karla Gilbert paddling the Pai'lolo Channel for the first time. This sheila is one of the best Iron-Women Australia has ever produced. Karla Gilbert is the Elle Macpherson of Australian Women Water Sports in my books, mate. One Lady I'm so stoked and very happy for is good friend Peggy King, I believe Peggy is the oldest female competitor to ever enter this race. Peggy was on a mission to do the Pai'lolo Channel in under 5 hours. Peggy smashed her 5 hour goal with ease - well done Peggy. Congratulations to Connor Baxter, Kai Lenny and the Legendary Dave Kalama for coming in first, second and third, mate these blokes are weapons. How good would it be to Paddle as fast as those guys. I'm so stoked for Connor Baxter winning for the fifth year in a row, with fierce competition every year "No Shallow Victories Ever In This Race." Connor's fastest time ever for a Pai'lolo Channel Crossing is 2 hours 55 minutes, that's super human fast. Hope Connor can keep going and make it 10/10 like World Paddleboard champion Jamie Mitchell. Thank you Rodney Kilborn for putting on this great event You Handsome Bugga you. Looking forward to returning in 2015 for another Pai'lolo Channel Crossing.
After the M2M race Mark Raaphorst invited everyone for a BBQ at his place with so much great food with BYO. It was a who's who from team SIC all in one place, truly a great vibe, an entertaining, talkative night. I also got to meet Boss Man Christopher Parker from SUPracer who was doing a story on SIC Downwind month in Hawaii. I even ran out of beer drinking a full carton of Coronas, there's 18 stubbies to a carton in America not like our 24 stubbies to a carton in Australia.
The night before the Adventure Sports Paddleboard Race, Maui was hit by an intense Tropical Depression, this was big NEWS on the TV the night before the race. That night along with the following day there was severe carnage on Maui with power poles down, roads closed, severe flooding, trees down, no power and dangerous rough seas. Again the beauty about staying at the Maui Seaside Hotel is they have a generator, so it was like nothing happened - what storm!
tropical Depression One-C strengthened into Tropical Storm Wali, the first named system in the Central Pacific this hurricane season. Wali formed southeast of the Hawaiian islands earlier today, and the National Weather Service issued an advisory saying heavy rains and potential flooding are anticipated over the islands. At 12 p.m. HST on Thursday, July 17, the National Weather Service said the center of Tropical Storm Wali was located at coordinates 12.8 N and 140.8 W and was: 1055 miles ESE of Hilo; 1115 miles ESE of Kailua-Kona; 1075 miles ESE of South Point; 1175 miles ESE of Kahului, Maui; 1220 miles ESE of Kaunakakai; 1195 miles ESE of Lana?i City; 1265 miles ESE of Honolulu; 1370 miles ESE of Lihue; and 1415 miles ESE of Ni?ihau. According to the NEWS, Wali was moving toward the northwest near 9 mph, and the motion is expected to continue for the next couple of days. As of 12 p.m. on Thursday July 17, there were no tropical cyclone watches or warnings in effect. The agency says maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph with higher gusts. The tropical storm force winds extend outward from the center of the system up to 90 miles, the agency reports. The NWS forecasts some additional strengthening over the next 24 hours, followed by weakening. The National Weather Service forecast calls for deep tropical moisture spreading across the state from the east, bringing humid conditions and the potential for heavy rainfall Saturday night through Monday. The morning of the Adventure Sports Paddleboard Race no competitor knew IF the race was going to be ON or OFF, rumours were going around with YES then a NO as the answer, but by 12:30PM we heard it was on for a 2:00PM start. There was only 99 of us at the starting line, there's usually around 220 starters as this race is THE BEST race on the planet. But most of the locals didn't show due to the ugly brown water and stormy conditions. To me it was like conditions at home when a good Strong South Easter hits. It was a mass start in the Gulch making it very hard to get a clean getaway, there was this guy on a Naish paddling next to me, he's then fallen on top of me - that made me fall on top of the next person and so on like the domino effect. There was like 10 of us that ate it from the guy on the Naish. I was trying not to laugh as I was gasping for air paddling as hard as I could to get away from the carnage, once I got out of the Gulch the fun began - catching some fun big ocean swells.
Armie Armstrong on a bomb
I could see good mate Amir Arbe, (Mark Raaphorst's right hand man) way outside so I thought I'd stick with him as I didn't want to get caught by a rouge ocean swell hitting the inside reef. We were way out catching some big ocean swells Amir is an excellent paddler so I was stoked to keep up with Amir all the way and I noticed Amir wasn't wearing a legrope. We were so far out if anything went down we most probably wouldn't have got found. I could see Ralph Stifford way on the inside around Baldwin reef but I was already on a mission to beat Ralph as Ralph got me at the M2M race, I was very happy beating Ralph to the finish line. It's a 16 kilometre race my GPS said I paddled 17.4 Kilometres. One person I earned great respect for that day paddling in those conditions is a person I've met many times on Namotu Island, Fiji. No cameras allowed on Namotu Island when they come to party, this person is not a Millionaire but a Billionaire owns Google. I was invited to a private party after the race but didn't make it. "They say the Billionaires are more happier than the Millionaires." It was dangerous conditions to hold a Downwind Paddle Race that day, when you hear even very experienced paddlers snapping their SUPs in half, or losing their SUPs due to snapping the legrope, truly some paddlers should not have been out there even though they had a GO, but when you fly halfway around the world I'm glad Adventure Sports ran the famous Maliko race.
It's Thursday the 24th around 4:00PM, three days out from the Molokai 2 Oahu race. Good friend Jaecey
talked me into going for a drive to Hana, so I've said "OK I'm in" and off we go. I've heard over the years it's a great scenic tour. On the road to Hana I was feeling happy because I'd done two Maliko runs already that day - (Maliko Always Comes First), They're right when people say it's a great scenic tour. The famed Highway twists and turns for 84 kilometres along the coast, negotiating some 600 curves and passing over 54 one lane bridges. Just about every bend in the road had picture perfect post card waterfalls; mate beautiful. It's such a dangerous road on the road to Hana with just two single lanes and 200ft+ cliffs just outside the guard-railing. With cars up your arse (locals) blowing their horn to make you drive faster. With every bend in the road having a crucifix! I said to Jaecey "f@#@#'em make them just go around." It reminded me of Bulli Pass in Wollongong, NSW. Back in the 70's that road claimed many a life. After about a four hour drive, "are we there yet", we finally arrive in Hana. Mate it's just a one horse town "WTF" what do you do in Hana for fun? I'm thinking IF LA's TV psychiatrist Dr Phil was in town he'd be interviewing the Hana locals telling them "you can't go out dancing with your aunties and having sex with ya sister" Jaecey and I hung in Hana for like five minutes then it was time to go, we found a food market because I need a drink by now. It was no use buying a carton of beer as I had no way of keeping it cold, so I went for the bottle of Red wine. I couldn't believe my eyes as the food market had World Class Australian Shiraz in the middle of f@#@#en nowhere - so I bought three bottles. The drive back to Kahului in the dark was frightening, with no FM radio and again the local's cars up your arse blowing their horn wanting you to drive faster around those dangerous bends in the road with 200ft+ cliff faces; no thanks, they would overtake you like maniacs, Twilight Zone Stuff. When all of a sudden Jaecey lights up some Maui-Whew - mate the last time I had some Hoochie-Cooch was way back in my early twenties when I smoked a lot of weed. So I said to Jaecey "it's bad enough smoking when driving, but Jaecey you can't drink and drive" From my early days way back in the mid 70's early 80's smoking Hoochie-Cooch I'd heard about this Maui-Whew Weed - how good it was so I had to try some. So Jaecey let me have more than a few puffs, my lungs were burning, I felt like Puff the Magic Dragon with his green skin and red eyes. The last time I did the draw back was back in my mid 20's when I smoked Winfield Reds 16 milligrams - what a moron, filthy habit.
(By no means am I a Druggo, I'm into a healthy living lifestyle but personally I do like the taste of a home made Hash Cookie Biscuit that gives you a mellow buzz I'd be no good going for a holiday in Amsterdam I'd be like the Sesame Streets Cookie Monster and OD in the first day going from one cookie caf'e to the next). 
We got back to Kahului around midnight - all three bottles of red were finished and the Maui-Whew was all gone, so Jaecey and I found a side street pub and went on to have whisky shots till like 4:00AM. I was a shot duck so I asked the Maui Seaside reception could I please have a 1:00PM check out. I then phoned good mate Mark Raaphorst who's on my Molokai 2 Oahu 3 man team, just to confirm I'll see ya on Molokai after the brief conversation I could tell by the tone of his voice Mark Raaphorst was very pissed off that I'd had such a big session just 2 days out from the start of the race. All I could think of to say, as any other fair-dinkum Australian bloke would say was "She'll Be Right Mate I won't let you down" I checked out of the Maui Seaside (the staff at the Maui Seaside are the best ever) and went for lunch with the best view of Maliko at Mama's Fish House, Paia. Maliko was all time while I was having lunch with the sun hot, strong 25+ knots of east wind and a good 3ft of east swell 10/10. It brought a tear to my eye knowing I was leaving Maui catching the 4:30PM flight back to Oahu. I was dropping gear off at good mate Blair's place before flying onto Molokai. I couldn't see anybody out there enjoying Maliko perfection.
Saturday 26th the 8:00AM flight to Molokai was full of International M2O paddlers. Had some great conversations along the way with veterans and first time paddlers. Got greeted at the airport by Claire Mawae, jumped in the 20 seater bus had a quick stop off at the food market for supplies then it was on the way to Claire's place.
It was first in best dressed so I went for the lounge, Mark Raaphorst got the blow up mattress in the lounge room, there were people bunked up everywhere - even in tents in the back yard. But it's the next best place to stay if you miss out on booking a room at the Kaluakoi Villas. After the M2O pre race dinner
it was time to try and get some sleep, it was like 2:00AM by the time I finally got to sleep. I guess my adrenaline and excitement was running overtime. Now it's 4:00AM alarms are going off, hopefully I'm good to go on only two hours sleep. Mark Raaphorst was lying on the floor boards as all the air leaked out of the air-bed, too funny. The kitchen was just KAOS people everywhere like the Brady Bunch times ten. I looked at Gavin Hill laughing as we were climbing over one another just to get from one end of the kitchen to the other while making our breakfasts. Gavin Hill is one of the best Paddleboard coaches Australian Surf Life Saving has ever produced and a legend of a bloke. Gavin Hill coaches Northcliff Surf Club one of the strongest Surf Club in Australia. I teamed up with Gavin Hill and Council Lifeguard Luke Ingwersen (Luke represents Australia in Water Polo) for some Downwind paddles in the lead up to M2O.
We've arrived at the Kaluakoi Villas 5:30AM for those of you that have never organised your M2O adventure - it's the most stressfull race on the planet to organise. The race starts at 7:30AM no matter what, so you need to be on the beach by 6:00AM so you can find your support boat, (there's like 150 boats in the bay - good luck) get your gear on the boat and get yourself to the starting line on time It's like Freeway 5 during LA's peak hour WTF just draining your energy. Plus try and make the M2O Beach Ceremony as well for your photo album. Doing a 3 Man Team mellows out all the stress "Yes Please Mr Wizard" Mark found the support boat, Chris got all the gear on the boat, all I had to do was make sure the beer was on ice for the finish line celebration. Mark got the boat captain to put in the straight line co-ordinates from Kaluakoi Villas to China Walls. Mark was keen to start, Chris was second change over and I was third change over, which I was stoked with because that meant I got to watch the M2O start for a good 50 minutes. What an entertaining awesome sight with a front row seat. Just before the start a call came over the radio from the battleship USS Warship 5 "saying they are training in this area of the Ka'iwi channel and don't want to blow any of your competitors out of the water," classic. About 3/4 into the race another call comes over the 2way that a prone paddleboarder has pulled out of the race due to a large shark that attacked his paddleboard (how frightening). One M2O race many years ago a cameraman was filming parts of the race, while leaving the camera running when getting back on the boat, a few days later he's editing his camera footage at home only to view a very large tiger shark swim past him while climbing back onto the boat. It always goes through your head while you're floundering around for like 5 minutes in the ocean during your Teams change over - remember it's a caf'e for tigers just off the Molokai coast.
Mark Raaphorst
Chris Pagdilao
Phil Gregory
I don't know what's harder going SOLO or a 3 MAN TEAM. With SOLO you've done the training, you get so focused so you can compete at a fast steady pace so you can do a personal best time. With TEAMS you only have to be half as fit but you paddle at 110% because you don't want to let your TEAM MATES down. So I know TEAMS are more brutal than going SOLO, but TEAMS are way more fun than SOLO. I nearly drowned with my first change over as I went as hard as I could 110+% for 20 min (
that felt like 40 min) my arse was hanging out from sucking (
gasping) in the oxygen because my body was so lactated from paddling hard. During the change over I nearly drowned from the choppy seas while wading in the ocean gasping for air waiting for the support boat to come pick me up. By the third change over my body (
like a Diesel Motor) was all warmed up and firing on all eight cylinders, ready to go. Now I understand the beauty of having O positive Blood. I'd like to thank my TEAM MATES Mark Raaphorst (is the man, the myth, the legend, creator of the SIC Bullet) and Chris Pagdilao (is a big wave charger, Chris don't surf unless it's 20ft+ works as one of Maui's best Physiotherapists). I don't want to sound ignorant or up myself but I knew my TEAM was going to be in the top 3 finishers. I was hoping we were going to smash the 5 hour mark but that didn't happen. I'd also like to thank all the other nineteen 3 MAN SUP TEAMS for giving us great competition it was
BULK FUN. There was even a few girls in some of those 3 MAN SUP TEAMS. Never ever take any pity on or under estimate any of those water women sheilas they are weapons and have smashed many a guys egos. Until the next Molokai 2 Oahu Race - happy training and I'll see you all again next year.
1st Wyatt Jones, Hunter Eggers, Lock Eggers 4:59:55
2nd Mark Raaphorst, Chris Pagdilao, Phil Gregory 5:04:51
3rd Alfred Van Gieson, Noland Keaulana, Jennifer W. Lee 5:08:54
4th Kalani Vierra, Kawika Carvaiho, Kimo Miranda 5:12:29
5th Brian Szymanski, Matt Friedman, Victor Lopez 5:16:02
6th Jon Lui-Kwan, Aron Lui-Kwan, Don Lui-Kwan 5:17:23
7th Stephen Pugh, Igor Krtolica, John Walsh 5:22:49
8th Heather Jeppesen, Beau Oliveira, Jan Tillmann 5:25:31
9th Ed D'Ascoli, Pomal Ho'opili, Leroy Pao 5:30:34
10th Robert Araujo, Sam Pae, Kanekawaiola 5:35:54
11th Walter Machado, Alex Cachuala, Denis Massey 5:37:28
12th Axel Lux, Sempere Michelpierre, Landry Tranier 5:47:04
13th Curt Smith, Robert Balouskus, Randy Viveiros 5:53:20
14th Sean Poynter, Matty Schweitzer, Steve Sjuggerud 5:59:16
15th Ivan Trent, Jeff Fink, Mike Sammis 6:26:40
16th Kanakol Noau, John Correa, Angela Correa-Pei 6:41:20
17th Kelly Krohne, Bam Kenji, Ken Sullivan 6:42:25
18th Greg Welch, David Darbyshire, jessica Marcotte 6:51:02
19th Paul O'Neile, Drew Brown, John Shimooka 7:00:29
This is a Low Budget I mean No Budget LOW PRESSURE PRODUCTION PRESENTATION filmed on location with a very poor quality JVC Everio Camera.
Congratulations to Sonni H?nscheid on winning the M20 race. Sonni is a weapon of a female paddler I believe Sonni has not even reached her full Downwind racing potential yet, Sonni just keeps getting stronger and stronger every year. I'll say good luck to any female wanting to challenge Sonni in any Hawaiian Downwind race in 2015. Sonni has got everything going for her this sheilas is an all rounder, surfs a short board, longboard, Windsurfs, Kite surfs, SUP surfs and paddles Unlimited SUP's. With Sonni's attractive looks and great personality Sonni could make easy money being a Gluteus Maximus Model for REEF or even be on the cover of a Cleo magazine making millions putting super models like Naomi Campbell to shame. If you've ever seen any of Sonni's paintings she is a brilliant artist too.
Sonni H?nscheid
Sonni H?nscheid Artist
REEF MODEL
After the M2O race I stay at Blair Thorndike's and Lisa's house at Diamond Head for a week surfing, over the years Blair and I have become very close mates. Blair's lived on Oahu all his life - even hung out with President Obama in his high school days as they both went to the same state school. The beauty about going surfing with Blair is he knows all the secret spots. Blairs at bit of a pool shark and so was I in my youth (
as a grommet my mum bought me a 9 by 3ft 6" pool table. I played on that pool table all day if I wasn't riding my skateboard or surfing. When I grew up and started going out I'd always go to the Cricketers Arms in Bar Beach Newcastle and play pool for beers. For one dollar I'd end up with 10 free schooners of beer before I'd loose a game, then it was time for the Delany Hotel for some dancing and romancing; fun times) So every year Blair takes me to The Hill Pool Pub it's a dive of a place but the atmosphere is GOLD, Blair loves to entertain his Aussie mate by playing AC/DC on the juke-box while we play best of 3. Every game comes down to the black ball followed by a tie breaker so it always becomes best of 7 games. We both end up getting too fly-blown (wasted). I love you Blair, you are my best mate and I don't mean that in a gay way. After every surf you have to drive up Wilhelmina Rise to get back to Blair's place - it's a very steep incline for like a mile, so you've got to do the Starsky & Hutch stunt and put your foot flat to the floor, flog the guts out of the hire car for speed. Hoping no cars are coming through the intersection as you're going airborne before you feel the tail end of the hire car bottom out as you're landing, it's bulk fun but very dangerous.
Blair's partner Lisa is a top sheila. So down to earth and a good sport, also Lisa is the Elle Macpherson of Oahu. Lisa was a top class Hawaiian model in her day even now in her 50's she is very attractive - also a very good cook. Lisa can make a five course meal from nothing. You've got to experience a sunset from Lisa's balcony it's the best I've ever experienced, it's a good 45 minute sunset so have your Coronas beside you on ice as you don't want to miss a minute of it. As the sun is setting there's maybe a USS Aircraft carrier, the Queen Mary and other big ships just outside Waikiki beach, as international flights come into land, you get this double effect as all the lights of Honolulu come to life as the sun fades away - it's a beautiful million dollar view for a concrete jungle paradise. There's two shops I'd recommend - Tamura's Bottle Shop at Diamond Head where you can buy THE MOST expensive liquor on the planet, up to ten thousand dollars for a bottle of spirits. I remember having Tequila shots on Namotu Island, a guest left behind a bottle for us to drink. The bottle of Tequila cost like three thousand dollars a bottle - so it worked out at fifty dollars a shot at that price. Tequila tastes beautiful when it's free. The other shop is Bailey's Aloha Shirts at Diamond Heads for the best Hawaiian dress shirts you'll ever get your hands on.
Phil & Blair
Lisa, Jonah, Blair
When on Oahu surfing Ala Moana is the best, as I get to catch up with good mates Alan, Lance, world class board shaper Glen Pang and a few more Hawaiian legends. I met these blokes while working as a Alcoholic-Lifeguard on Namotu Island, Fiji.
www.namotuislandfiji.com/ Their whole group just takes over the island it's the best week ever. If you've never been to Namotu Island it's a must to put on your bucket list you will not be disappointed - it's paradise. Every year when the Hawaiians make their pilgrimage to Namotu Island the Hawaiians all go over to Tavarua Island at Low-Tide to sift out this particular seaweed only found on Tavarua and make OGO - it's the best seaweed dish you will ever taste while drinking a Fiji Bitter.
OGO
Alan on the BBQ
Shark Fishing
Crab Racing
Winner
Glen Pang & Phil
Skull Drag
Namotu Island
