Taking on the Koa Kai Triple Crown is no mean feat. Battling the ever-shifting moods of the Hawaiian channels, it’s a physical, mental and technical endurance test for any downwind athlete, three-fold. Rising to the challenge this year was AXIS team rider Nicholas Weighall…
Words: Nicholas Weighall | Photo: Shannon Stent
They flow with such effortless beauty, you catch them out of the corner of your eye and sometimes they come to visit, just as they have for the generations of voyagers before us. Watching the shearwaters cruise and glide always makes me smile! I’m in the middle of the Ka'iwi Channel, the “channel of bones”, and the vastness of the open channel makes me feel so small. I spent most of my life playing in the dirt, chasing a flow state and looking for the perfect turn in loamy dirt and flowing trails on my mountain bike. When I wasn't chasing the perfect dirt, I started chasing the wind with my kite on the coast of Santa Cruz, which in time turned into wingfoiling, and then downwind foiling. This path, over a decade later, brought me to Hawaii for the Koa Kai “Sea Warrior” Triple Crown, a series of three races in some of the most majestic and hectic waters combined. The experience of crossing the channels from island to island is just wild; the contrast of the lush jungles in the west Maui mountains to the rugged dry landscape of Molokai to the hotels of Waikiki, Oahu is an experience all on its own.
The week begins in Maui on the famous Maliko Gulch run, where racers dial in their gear before the competition begins. We acclimatize to the warm water and the conditions which are different to home. This is the stage for the start of the Triple Crown, the Paddle Imua, a short eight-mile effort from Maliko Gulch to Kanaha Beach on Maui. This gets the energy flowing as over a hundred of us gather before the race, reminded of the history of what we’re about to do and the paddlers who came before us. The excitement is palpable. Most of the next week is spent gear testing and fine-tuning for the longer and more challenging races to come. This year the AXIS team was hard at work with some last-minute gold bling!
💎 Premium Content Ahead! 💎 *You will receive our weekly Friday Pump newsletter, plus the latest features, gear tests and giveaway announcements. Next up is the Molokai Holokai Ho'olaule'a, which goes from the west coast of Maui, 26 miles across the Pailolo Channel to Molokai – not a small feat! Traveling from one island to another by foil is hard to describe. After one rest day, the final race is on: the Moloka‘i 2 O‘ahu, 40 miles across the Ka'iwi Channel, which takes you from the island of Molokai to Oahu. Flanked by support boats, hundreds of paddlers cross the channel. It’s truly a sight to see. More so than the competition, it’s the community that draws me in. The camaraderie for the sport and the unique challenge of these races brings an instant connection. From local Hawaiians to avid everyday foilers to some of the fastest athletes in the world, we all come together to take on this challenge, which is a privilege to experience. What has drawn me to the path of downwind foiling is this constant search for flow state and the feeling of turning your brain off and losing yourself. A few years ago, the thought of going more than a couple of minutes on a foil was a dream; now we can go for hours at speeds the ancient Hawaiians could only dream of. If you have a challenge you think you want to go for, send it! If not now, when? The wind is pumping – solid trades from the east-northeast. There’s a charged silence on the water. Everyone’s quietly focused, holding position, eyes scanning the ocean ahead. Some racers sit still, heads down, almost meditative. Overhead, the Coast Guard helicopter circles the start line, low and loud – a constant reminder that what we’re about to do is no joke. Forty miles of open ocean and Oahu in the far-off distance, with no guarantees. Just raw water, wind, and the will to move forward. I take a breath. My gear feels dialed; the Frank foilboard and AXIS gear feel rock solid. I glance at the racers beside me – some world-class legends, others are young guns with fresh legs – and I know we are lined up on the edge of something big. We watch for the green flag and the horn blasts! Then we launch. I'm in heat number two, a change they made to help with the boat fiasco of years past which resulted in churning and chaotic water. It helped! Boards slap the water. Paddles flash. I pump hard, sync with a clean bump, and lift. The foil engages, and I’m up, riding. The ocean opens up ahead, the energy smooth and generous. This is what we came for, now just keep a good tempo! This year, the boats had to keep some distance from the group, staying to the south of the pack, making it so much safer and with less crossed-up wakes. We all know that moment where it feels like flying – as if the foil disappears and it's full flow state! Then a rogue cross-bump knocks me offline, and I crash. Salt water in my nose. The sudden silence of being below the surface. I pop up quick, heart pounding. Reset. Deep breath. Back on. Paddle hard. Pop. Up again! default
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