Kai Lenny turned the Foil division of the Molokai-2-Oahu Paddleboard World Championships into a record book of its own. He crossed the 32-mile Kaiwi Channel in 2:29:38, the fastest passage in the race's 23-year history. It stood 24 minutes quicker than his own 2018 mark.
An upwind charge decides it near Portlock
The finish was not handed to him. Hawaii's 18-year-old Jefferey Spencer led the race into Portlock, just a few miles outside the line, when Lenny caught him and prevailed in the upwind charge home. Spencer held on for second at 2:37:44, with New Caledonia's Clement Colmas third at 2:38:36.
The channel gave him a fast track to work with. The 23rd annual event saw the Kaiwi at its best, with conditions delivering record-shattering results across the fleet. Lenny rode the foil clear of the swell, the board lifted above deep water, Oahu drawing closer.
A record built on a promise to smash the old one
After vowing to break his own record from the year before, Lenny overcame a fellow Maui competitor to obliterate another benchmark. His winning margin over Spencer stood at 8:06. The Foil division only debuted in 2018, yet he has already owned both editions of it.
The crossing fits a long habit of firsts. In 2010 he became the sport's youngest SUP world champion, and in 2017 he foiled the length of the Hawaiian island chain. The Kaiwi has long served as his proving ground.
Kai Lenny now holds the quickest time anyone has ever recorded between Molokai and Oahu. On this day the water was kind, the line was clean, and no rival came close. The mark is his to chase again.
