Waking up to a Kona Wind day on Maui isn’t the best way to start a Maliko run race day. Kona winds blow from the southwest. On the other hand, our normal trade wind direction is from Northeast. This made for a difficult call for the race committee of the Paddle Imua championships. ( Benefits Camp Imua ) They decided upon a race time and start set for later in the afternoon. With that in place, I had time to run one of my Surfing Coaching Programs with the @InZaneClinics-
So no matter what the eventual call was with the race I was grateful to start my day with some water time surfing.  
Thankfully the Paddle Imua Race Committee didn’t cancel the race and they adapted with the conditions. By 11am, the Race Course was changed from a downwind run to a course race inside of Kahului Harbor. The Harbor is where we would normally finish a down wind race. 
The start time also changed from 1 PM to 3 PM and this gave me a little extra time and inspired the idea to take advantage of the epic Windsurf and kite surf conditions in Lahaina, which is a rare occasion! So after my early morning surf session and hearing about the change in start time, I loaded my truck with some Airish kitesurf gear and scored an epic session right in Lahaina near my home before heading to the competition area for the Sup race and Foil expedition. 
I arrived to the beach just in time before registration closed and was able to participate in the hydrofoil demo where we showed the competition venue what is possible with course racing on a hydrofoil. 
Shortly after the Hydrofoil Division, we started with the Standup Paddle Pro Men 14-foot board class division. I chose to race on my Starboard 14’ x 21.5 Sprint with a BlackProject “Tiger” Race Fin and my Starboard Lima sized “M” Race Paddle. The combination of my equipment along with the physical and mental state felt great. It was refreshing to be back grinding on a race board in competition, especially after putting in work preparing for the up-and-coming competition season on the APP world tour. 
Success is when preparation meets opportunity , and I am grateful to find success today with my first SUP Race Win of 2019. It was tight between another Maui pro, Josh Riccio, but I was able to hit the beach moments before him and sprint through the beach run finish in the lead! 
New Vlog Series - Weekly Posts
I just launched a new Vlog series on my YouTube channel featuring at least 1 video a week in personal and longer length style edits inviting the views into a unique perspective of my life. Check it out here! VLOG: Video Blog - And great music