First off-
Nothing personal against Jr. This post is not intended to insult or undermine his (many) accomplishments in any way, but rather to start a dialogue for ideas on how the system could be more accurate, not saying that it isn't fine the way it is now.
The Molo Solo has long been billed as the 'World Championship' of OC1 racing. But think about it: It is one race on a certain platform that favors certain aptitudes of OC1 paddling and the local paddlers. You can rebut this statement all you want, but that is not the purpose of the forum, the purpose is for ideas to change this format, if it even needs to be changed.
Think about it: Jr. has won 7 YEARS. He is a truly remarkable OC1 paddler, probably the greatest in it's short history, not to mention with his OC6 steering (and paddling) prowess, arguably the best OC paddler in the world. But all the years he has won the Molo Solo are in HIS conditions: the Surf. Jr. is the best OC1 surfer in the world, hands down. You could probably start him 10 minutes behind everyone else in the Molo Solo and he'd still win. But flat water? Come on, Kai, Danny, Greg Long, Maui, Manny, all these guys can pretty consistently beat him, not to mention a probable long list of Tahitian, Australian, and other great flatwater paddlers us here in our 'Hawaii is King' mindset never even heard of. Upwind? The list grows even larger. Look at last year's Molo Solo. So, with Karel winning a race catered to his style, does it really validate the title 'OC1 World Champion'? What if the so-called 'World Championship' race was held in SoCal. We all know who would win, would Danny be World Champion then? What about a mixed conditions race in Australia, and Greg Long won? Yeah, go ahead, bring up Kai and Karel's 1-2 finish at Hamilton last year, again, i'm not looking for a rebuttal, just trying to evoke some thought. Basically, if the race format was anything other than what it is, the race would be more 'up-for-grabs', agreed?
What about the fact that the race is just that: ONE RACE. People get sick, bugs, have half-assed races, make uncharacteristic mistakes, and other things may come up.
I've ran through all the typical logistic reasons: Hawaii is the OC1 epicenter; all the top OC1 paddlers are (arguably) from Hawaii, so it should be in Hawaii; travel would make it difficult to do an official trans-pacific race series; and so on and so forth.
Should the format be re-vamped? Should it be left alone? What are possible alternatives? What could solicitation for more financial backing provide? Maybe a 3-race series in each of the aforementioned locations, with point totals a la surfing's WCT? With financial backing, each race could have purses like Pa`a Hawaii's Molo Solo and make travelling for the paddlers worth the trip, not to mention a more complete format for determining the World Champion.
Too much money/logistics? How bout instead of Molokai-Oahu, how bout a 3-day race around Oahu? The first day could be an upwind course, maybe along Northeast Oahu. The second day, flatwater along leeward oahu. The last Day, surfing run like Makai Pier to Sand Island. Oahu paddlers would still have the advantage of local knowledge, but it would be a start. It could basically be an expanded version of Pa`a's Koa Nui.
I apologize, I can see this being a divisive and unpopular thread, but it is what it is.
Thoughts?
