Paddle on

Aussie wins Hawaiian Paddleboard Race

Australian Jamie Mitchell has won the epic Hawaiian island-to-island paddleboard race for the eighth-year running.

Each year, contestants take on the 32-mile race from the Hawaiian island of Molakai to Oahu, crossing with only a paddleboard.

Contestants can stand up and use a paddle for the race, or they can do what Mitchell did and lie down and use their arms to paddle - the events are separate in terms of scoring. The boards are similar to long surfboards, ranging in size from 12 feet to 14 feet.

The race, on July 26th, saw around 70 people taking to the water. Mitchell won with a time of four hours, 58 minutes, 25 seconds which although 20 minutes ahead of the second place competitor Brian Rocheleau was still well short of the record. The record is an incredible four hours, 48 minutes, 23 seconds, which Mitchell set himself in 2007.

Rocheleau, who gained second place, got a respectable time of five hours, 20 minutes and 53 seconds, itself ten minutes ahead of the paddler who ended third, Australia's Tim Foran with five hours, 30 minutes and 45 seconds.

The stand-up paddleboard is in a different division to regular paddleboarding, and the winners are therefore awarded separately, although there is little difference in times. The standup paddleboard champion this year was Ekolu Kalama, from the island of Molokai, with a time of five hours, two minutes and six seconds.