In the world of prone paddle board racing there are two big races, the Molokai 2 Oahu and the Catalina Classic, while they are both 52km long they are very different.
The Classic is sometimes called the granddaddy of paddleboard racing, starting off in 1955 with a group Californian lifeguards challenging themselves to race from Isthmus Cove on Catalina Island back to Manhattan Beach Pier in the south bay area of Los Angles.
In the mid 1990’s a group of Hawaiian paddle-boarders took on the classic, and headed home with an idea, working out the distance between the island of Molokai back to Oahu was the about same distance as the classic, the Molokai 2 Oahu race was born.
While Molokai is categorised by its big swells and the competitors who can use these bumps to their full potential surfing them across the deep water traditionally do well, Catalina Classic is a flat water race, strength both mental and physical, and endurance is needed to win this race.
Both these races take between five to six hours to complete.
The classic is raced across one of the worlds busiest shipping channels, it is not uncommon that races had sit and wait till a massive container ship slowly passes by.
Compounding this is the fact that both races are only weeks apart, leaving very little recovery time from the Molokai race before the racer has to front the classic start line.
Only a very select few paddlers have won both races, even less in the same year, this is known in the paddleboard world as “the double”.
On Sunday 25 August Noosa’s Lachie Lansdown joined that small group, winning stock at the classic backing up Molokai win last month.
Lachie is no stranger to the classic, in fact he already had four wins to his name, three on the 12’ stock board, and one outright win on a unlimited race board.
But that elusive win in the Molokai race had eluded him, having won that race late last month, winning the double was on the table for the first time for Lachie.
Both races has logistically issues, to get to the start line is a big project, compounding for Australian Paddlers being located on the far side of the world.
First you need to secure an entry, next fund the airflights to the US and the accommodation and pay for both, then you need to ever get your race board to other side of the world, or find one at the race location.
Each paddler requires an escort boat and a crew, this is for safety reasons, but they are also used for communication, and provide hydration and food for the paddler.
Just to prove how difficult this can be, Lachie’s race board specially shaped to his size and style of paddling was stuck somewhere between Hawaii and California.
In stepped the Bark family, who build Lachie and most of competitors race board, and Lachie was loaned Jack Barks stock board.
Lachie and Jack have been close mates for over a decade, but also have been fierce competitors. It is a special thing when two top athletes in any sport can be such good buddies but give no quarter in a race, only to share a joke and swop stories post-race.
This is the relationship that Jack and Lachie shares.
When Lachie travels to LA he normally stays with Jack at his house.
Over the years jack has enjoyed numerous success at Molokai but has never won the classic even though the race finishes in his home town, Lachie had the reverse, enjoying wins in the classic, but not till last month winning Molokai.
This has been a source of banter between the two.
Jacks father, Joe Bark, had won the classic twice in the ‘80s and both Jacks younger sister, Emily was having a serous tilt at classic this year, his younger brother Sam his first attempt at the race.
Jack was racing in the unlimited class this year, looking for his first win.
The race starts at dawn on Catalina island, Jack immediately took a commanding lead in the race, and was never headed over the next 52 km. Lachie took the lead in stock straight off and kept a steady pace, it was clear that Jack was on pace to break the race record dating back to 1999, nearly as old as he is.
Lachie broke the stock record for the race back in 2016, but felt the conditions where not possible to repeat this feat this year for a stock board.
About 5km out from the finish the paddlers round the R-10 marker buoy, at this time the tide changed, and all of sudden the condition where there to break the record again for Lachie, he lifted and in the end broke his own stock record by a bear three minutes.
Jack had already finished in a new outright race record, that just left Emily, Sam Bark.
Emily found herself in a two and though race with 2 other girls for the win in the woman’s race. In the last 2km Emily lifted and took the win by the barest margin, Sam finished his first classic strong.
This win has given Lachie, a honour he shares with Jack, the only paddlers to win both Molokai 2 Oahu, the Catalina Classic, and hold gold medals from the ISA world paddle board championships, where both guys raced for their respective counties.
Lachie is one of the most successful ISA athletes, and has been named the Australia teams co-captain twice.
He has also enjoyed success in races as the Jay Moriarity memorial race. Jay was made famous in the movie Chasing Mavericks.
Both Jack and Lachie have been working with John John Florance the two time WSL world championship winner and his clothing brand, designing and testing sun and water safe clothing, John John shouted out his congratulations on his social media this week.
