I stopped at the top of Maliko Gulch this afternoon and snapped some photos of the start of the sixth annual Naish Maui Paddleboarding Championship. The race goes from Maliko Gulch to Kahului Harbor along the famed “Maliko Run” on Maui’s North Shore. This stretch of coast is one of the best in the world for downwind paddle runs. Typically, the wind is at the paddlers back. The prevailing wind creates swells that the paddlers are able to catch and ride down the course. Conditions looked grim this morning as the winds were extremely light. The fortunes of the paddlers improved drastically right around race time as a steady wind started to blow along the course. Event organizers were predicting that this was going to be the biggest race yet with as many as 300 participants. Judging by the small armada of paddleboards spilling out of the mouth of Maliko Bay, I suspect they were pretty close to that number.
