2022 Molokaʻi-2-Oʻahu Paddleboard World Championships Presents Racing Options for 2022 as Hawaii Loosens Restrictions

March 17, 2022

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR 2 GREAT OPTIONS FOR RACING IN 2022

HONOLULU, HI (March 17,2022) /OUTDOOR SPORTSWIRE/ – Molokaʻi-2-Oʻahu Paddleboard World Championships (M2O) will celebrate the sport of paddling this summer with the introduction of its first annual Blue Water Hawaiian Classic on July 24^th   and the triumphant return of the M2O Virtual Edition 3.0 the weekend of July 31^st.

The Blue Water Hawaiian Classic on Sunday, July 24^th, showcases a 22-mile coastal downwind course on the island of O’ahu, starting at Makai Pier and finishing at Sand Island.  Paddlers will navigate challenging surf and tides through Makapu’u Point and China Walls before linking to the classic Hawaii Kai downwind run outside Maunalua Bay at Koko Head. The course continues to Diamond Head and stays in deep water through Waikiki, and then heads to Sand Island for the finish. The race is open to prone and stand-up paddleboards and foil for solo and team divisions.

“Our safety team and key course managers, all seasoned paddlers and surfers, enjoyed creating a new challenging course linking together some classic downwind runs,” said  Shannon Delaney, Executive Director of the Molokaʻi-2-Oʻahu Paddleboard World Championships. “The community of Molokai remains vulnerable to the pandemic and asked the paddling events to focus on a safe return in 2023.  Our new course will be a great in-person experience to get us all back on the water.”

If paddlers can’t attend in-person this summer, registration for the 3^rd  Virtual Edition of the Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships is now open.  The Virtual Edition is a 16-mile paddle anytime, anywhere on anything.  Live coverage of the virtual will take place on the weekend of July 31st. All athletes will receive a custom package of gear and the option to track their paddle live and share their experience with photos and video.  Over 2500 paddlers from 65 countries have participated in this virtual paddling event,  a testament to the bucket list status of the race and its broad appeal throughout the global paddling community.

For Registration info for both races, visit  Molokai2Oahu.com.

MAHALO to our paddling community for all your support through the pandemic. We are excited to look ahead to a safe return to the sport we all dearly love and experience the ultimate paddleboarding event in July of 2023 on the island of Moloka’i.

About the Molokaʻi-2-Oʻahu Paddleboard World Championships

Founded in 1997, M2O has grown from a grassroots challenge for the legendary lifeguards of Oʻahu to the premiere event in the sport of paddleboarding. The race annually crowns world champions in the two disciplines of traditional (prone) and stand-up (SUP) paddleboarding. In 2018, a hydrofoil division was added to welcome the evolution of technology in the SUP. Connecting the islands of Molokaʻi and Oʻahu, the 32-mile race crosses the Kaʻiwi Channel, also known as the Molokaʻi Channel and Channel of Bones. Men and women from more than 25 countries face strong currents as they navigate the fastest downwind route over one of the most beautiful and powerful channels in the world. Top athletes can complete the crossing in less than five hours, riding mid-channel waves that crest more than 12 feet and carry paddlers hundreds of meters. M2O starts on the northwest shore of Molokaʻi and finishes in Maunalua Bay on the southeast shore of Oʻahu. The annual race is a deeply personal experience, challenging every paddler’s physical and mental endurance.  Every finisher experiences an individual championship.