M2O Report by Jenn Lee

• Posted on 3 August 2016
• By Jenn Lee
• 0

M2O Report

Aloha everyone,

Molokai 2 Oahu World Championships have come and gone.  This year I went as a mixed team with Tyler Jaggers.

Long story short, with a couple of last minute entries we had a world class race on our hands and I wanted our team to rise to the challenge.  With the last minute entry which included Armie Armstrong of New Zeland who can cross the channel by himself in under 5 hours, and his wife and relay partner having made very fast crossings (top 3) in the past, I knew we had a major task on our hands.

Also in true Morgan fashion, Morgan Hoesterey entered very under the radar at the last minute with Will Taylor.  Knowing Morgan and the way she entered she expected to win; she is a channel veteran and expert in Hawaiian waters and surely was in top form coming from a huge adventure race in Tahiti. There were also a couple of dark horse teams with sponsored athletes that certainly had the potential to mount a challenge.  Tyler and I went as hard and as smart as we possibly could and when all was said and done we crossed the line at 5 hours and 25 minutes.  This put us at 2nd overall for the mixed gender team division.  We also came in 8th overall out of 27, 2 person teams in general, ahead of some 2 man teams with big names which was unexpected and exciting!

We had a fantastic time out there, it was incredibly intense the entire way since there were quite varied conditions and we did not know where are competition was.  I also knew that Armie and Penelope aren’t likely to make mistakes out there so that really kept us on our toes.  Tyler and I have been training together and he has improved in speed as have I.  He is an amazing up and coming elite and I have been beyond happy to have him as a training/relay partner.  This is his first bonafide elite level result and one of the best results I have had in years.  Needless to say we are quite stoked with both our finish time and our placing!  First would have been better but in a way having come that close to Armie and Penelope actually lends credibility to our result and forced us to push harder than we ever thought we could so in that sense I am very grateful.

Molokai 2 Oahu World Paddleboard Championships 5 hours 25 minutes

2nd Place Mixed Gender SUP Teams with fellow Blue Planet Athlete, Tyler Jaggers (all 2 man teams are on 14’ Stock rudderless SUP Boards)
32 miles from Kaluakoi, Molokai to Portlock, Oahu

Athletes take turns paddling at varied intervals generally between 15 and 40 minutesEquipment: Blue Planet Bump Rider, Kialoa Double Bend Hulu Narrow, Vitamin A Swim Inca Print Cozumel High Neck and Cozumel Brazilian Bottom + mandatory race jersey, H2O Audio Interval, Kialoa Trucker Hat, On It Pro Xtreme Cream (Board Coat), and On It SUP Deck and Paddle Wax, Planet Sun Hawaii Formulation 2 Sunscreen and Planet Sun Hawaii Vanilla Ray SPF 30 Lip Balm, Infinit Nutrition MUDD, Infinit Jet Fuel, and Infinit Custom Interval 1 Mix.

Up next is Na Pali Paddleboard Race which is a fun race I added since I have been wanting to see the NaPali coast from the water since I was a young teen.  Psyched to get to do it this year!

Thank you all so much for your support and much aloha,

Jennifer Lee