As paddlers we don’t have a Mt Everest or a K2 to be the pinnacle of the sport, but what we do have is Molokai and other similar races. During May, Damien Searle and Paul Burton travelled to Hawaii to take on the 2026 Kawai Solo race, as OC paddler and support crew. A gruelling 51kms lay ahead, stretching across the legendary Kaʻiwi Channel - known as "The Boneyard" - between the Hawaiian islands of Molokaʻi and Oʻahu. Finishing in a little over 5 hours, you both smashed it! To compete in, and volunteer to support, an endurance race of this calibre, is the embodiment of Ohana. You’ve taken on our Everest and will always be a better version of yourself for it.
