M2O predictions

Hope we get a video of Travis' wave coming into the finish!

Nice work Trav congrats!!!
and yeah great to see an obviously good, new unlimited board.

sounds like

2nd Kai Lenny
3rd Lincoln Dews

Aussies 1st and 3rd! Woohoo! Congrats Travis and Lincoln Dews!
Sounds like Brad Gaul is the top bunch in the Prone.
Keen to see how Nick and Tom Carroll go in the Prone!

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Hawaiiheke said..
Go Annabel!

she has got a longer run in doesn't she as she went further north? ripping effort on the 14'

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Hawaiiheke said..
I'll settle for kiwis 2 + 3 in the ladies!

Sonni Honscheid
Annabel Anderson
Penelope Strickland

I believe Annabel was on a 14'er as well.

Awesome work by James Casey with a 6th.

I notice his time is showing as faster than Travis Baptiste who was 5th (I assume it is a mistake with Travis's time)

Winning M2O board???

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stimo said...
just talk to DC on travs boat 2 mile out trav way in front yeww so stoked for trav now NSPDC have a great unlimited board great effort full team Dale Chapman and Alain Teurguetil great board carnt wait to get mine nsp better start gearing up production

It's got a lot of nose rocker, so it is surprising that it went quite so well in windless conditions. Travis went faster as the race went on, when others were crashing out. That suggests to me that it was mainly Travis not the board, good no doubt that it is.

I wonder if the crazy competition schedule that Connor has had over the last year finally caught up with him. But at least he managed to avoid assaulting someone in this race.

Offical

That's an amazing gap over second place. Travis' time equates to a 10.3km/h pace, with little-to-no wind assistance, in hot conditions.

It puts all the finishers' efforts into perspective when you consider who didn't finish, including Connor Baxter, Jeremy Riggs and Slater Trout (who was apparently pulled off the course at 20 miles severely hydrated).

Only two Hawaiians in the top 13 is quite surprising, but I guess the international field is growing and after having paid that much money will train like mad and finish whatever it takes. I'm stoked for our "kid" Ethan Koopmans, 3rd in 14ft class and inside top 13 overall only beaten by one woman :)

I know how strong he is (pretty much best in RSA) and I just cannot, cannot, cannot believe that he was fighting off Annabel Anderson also on a 14ft'er - she is unbelievable!!!!

I think Chris Bertish paid for having paddled across to Molokai from Maui solo on the Friday + he never liked no wind paddles but at least he finished and sounded amped to give it a competitive go next year...

Overall times were even slower than 2013 where there was wind but just messed up sea and currents. Telling that Travis can pull it off when the going gets tough.

Well done Ozzies, you beat us in the rugger and smoked the world in the M2O!

For Travis to say he was seriously thinking of pulling out and for Mick DiBetta and quite a few other very experienced paddlers to pull out it must have been brutal.

Well donate to everyone who finished!

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petedorries said...

laceys lane said..

CMC said...
If I'm not wrong it's the first time a male paddler has won on a production board actually made by their sponsor rather than Hawaiian made custom.....

Stoked to work with this bunch of guys! Yessssss!

And if im not mistaken I have the only unl board in australia that is similar to travis 's winning sitting in my garage.

I had that for a month before you. It is nice in our bumps. Glides along nice in the flat too. I reckon its similiar....

Pete I trained on it one morning and wash rode the guns paddlers.

I was very impressed.

Go Annabel!

And congrats to the Aussie blokes too.
HB

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laceys lane said..

CMC said...
If I'm not wrong it's the first time a male paddler has won on a production board actually made by their sponsor rather than Hawaiian made custom.....

Stoked to work with this bunch of guys! Yessssss!

And if im not mistaken I have the only unl board in australia that is similar to travis 's winning sitting in my garage.

Yep, so basically what we can see here is that if a board can pass what is known within world racing circles as "The Currumbin Creek test" it's probably got the goods to win on a world level.

There is a full press release online already in some places but basically the board Trav paddled was an evolution from a board he tested last year which was 'faster than a OC1' but he found the nose to bury a bit in big bumps.

The team developed a new adjustable steering system that you can adjust the amount of movement of the rudder versus the pedal movement and modified the board to keep the speed but be better in the big stuff. It was sent with a clear message to Travis. 'Unless it's the fastest board you can find to paddle for the race do not use it', he tested it a bunch before the race and said it was without a doubt faster than any other board he could do the race on. Of course it's better if Trav paddles a production board that can be sold but not as important as him winning the race, how could you ever tell someone that trains so hard and tried so hard to win to use the product if it's actually going to be a disadvantage?

With that all said Alain, Travis and Dale can be super proud that what they have created is a board that helped him to glide and get every bump in that flat ocean to keep going long enough to win when other people were or wanted to pull out.

I spoke to Dale today (he was on Trav's support boat with Travs wife) and he said that Travis was delirious and was basically paddling for bumps when Dale yelled at him to do so. They blasted Reggae and techno the whole way across and yelled at him and cheered for every single bit by bit achievement. It's a team effort and today Travis' team was on point.


So stoked that a few blokes from Currumbin (that includes the Frenchy that technically lives in Byron) can get something happening that makes the whole world sit up and take notice.