Baxter and Hönscheid Crowned King and Queen at OluKai Ho’olaule’a

Connor Baxter and Sonni Honscheid have reclaimed their OluKai crowns in tough conditions on Maui today, with light winds and big seas providing a mighty challenge for both competitors and organisers of the 10th Annual Ho’olaule’a, the third stop of the 2018 Paddle League World Tour.

 

 

This year’s event took place on April 28th and 29th on Kahului, Maui from Maliko Gulch to Kanaha Beach Park and brought together 500 paddlers for two days of racing, including two brand new divisions: Foil and Prone. Introducing Foil as the newest innovation in the SUP category, OluKai is excited to host the first foil race. The race features the largest gender equal prize purse of $15,000 with athletes from all corners of the globe vying for the top prize and bragging rights.

 

Connor held off a four-pronged Aussie invasion to defeat defending OluKai champ James Casey, Travis Grant, and Matt Nottage to secure his sixth OluKai belt and restart his World Title campaign after disappointing results in Carolina and Tahiti.

 

Feels good to be back! The feeling of racing in my backyard is like no other! • • • • • • • • • @starboardsup @realsaltlife @officialmauijim @olukai #superman #winner #standuppaddle #hawaii #olukai

A post shared by Connor Baxter (@conbax) on Apr 30, 2018 at 10:15am PDT

Sonni once again shows her great form and was in a league of her own, paddling away from the rest of the pack and reclaim her OluKai title.

I’m super happy to win the 10th anniversary Olukai race here on Maui ? Big swell and light wind – not a regular Maliko run – but I still enjoyed every little bit of it!! (Besides getting literally washed into Kanaha). Congratulations to all the competitors to manage the conditions out there. Thank you Zólikam @zoltanvonceika for all your help, patience and driving us around. Ps. I know I need to practice on my „Supergirl“ jump, but at least I tried ? @mercedesbenz_de @mercedesbenz @bluesmiths @starboard_germany @starboardsup @northshorefuerteventura @velocitek @officialmauijim @itakebioastin @hawaiianspirulina @onexeteam @blackprojectsup ? by @zoltanvonceika ?

A post shared by Sonni Hönscheid (@sonnihoenscheid) on Apr 29, 2018 at 8:43pm PDT

 

Connor also took out the first ever SUP Foil Race – watch the video by @OluKai

 

What a weekend! Huge mahalo to everyone who made the 10th annual Ho’olaule’a such a fun event! OluKai is honored to host the first ever official Foil Boarding race! Congrats to @conbax for not only being the first ever Foil champ but also winning today’s SUP division! Big props to the rest of the finalist and racers just for finishing in such extreme conditions. Check our story for much more coverage. Division winners are as follows… . . OC1 men’s – Kua Nolan. OC1 woman’s – Monica Esquivel OC2 men’s – Keahi Warfield & Jun Balanga. OC2 woman’s – Kristin Old and Sarah Taylor Balanga. Prone – Tyler Jaggers. SUP woman’s – Sonni Honschide. SUP men’s – Connor Baxter. Foil – Connor Baxter. . . ? courtesy of @gofoil and @oceanpaddlertv ?

A post shared by OluKai (@olukai) on Apr 29, 2018 at 11:06pm PDT

 

 

2018 Olukai Mens Results:

1st: Connor Baxter (1:12:50) Hawaii/ Starboard
2nd: James Casey (1:14:45) Australia
3rd: Travis Grant (1:15:35) Australia
4th: Ty Judson (1:15:50) Australia
5th: Matt Nottage (1:18:41) Australia/ Starboard
6th: Josh Riccio (1:20:01) USA
7th: Nathan Cross (1:23:46) Australia
8th: Ryan Funk (1:24:00) USA/ Starboard
9th: Noah Garfield (1:26:44) Hawaii

 

2018 Olukai Womens Results:

1st: Sonni Honscheid (1:27:36) Germany/ Starboard
2nd: Penelope Strickland (1:33:18) New Zealand
3rd: Annie Reickert (1:33:48) Hawaii
4th: Yuka Sato (1:35:46) Japan/ Starboard
5th: Jade Howson (1:36:39) USA
6th: Laura Quetglas (1:44:23) Spain/ Starboard
7th: Shanna Upton (1:51:31) USA

 

Full results have been posted by SUP Racer: http://supracer.com/olukai-results

 

More amazing moments from 2018 OluKai SUP race captured by 808photo.me

 

 

Feature image credit: 808photo.me