Torquay lifesavers reflect on finishing paddle, hint at expansion

THREE Torquay Surf Lifesaving junior have described completing a 16-nautical mile paddle from Fairhaven to Torquay as an awesome experience with plans to expand the journey in future years.

16-year-old Harris Henderson and 14-year-olds Taj Purcell and Jack Patel undertook a virtual running of the famous Moloka’i to O’ahu (M2O) paddleboard race on July 29, completing the paddle in three hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes quicker than their goal.

Henderson said completing the paddle made the group proud, but the time was somewhat irrelevant.

 

“It was just a great experience doing it for the first time and the main objective for us was to just complete the paddle, so the time was just a bonus for us,” Henderson said.

“Being able to say we completed our first M2O together was the main thing, it made it more special.

“Although, when we touched land at Fishos and saw we beat our time goal, that was an added bonus.”

 

The trio began their journey in Fairhaven with each athlete taking on two legs of the distance with a boat and escort jet skis accompanying the boys for safety and changeover purposes.

The breakdown of the journey was:
Henderson – Fairhaven Beach to Urquhart Bluff
Purcell – Urquhart Bluff to Point Roadknight
Patel – Point Roadknight to Red Rocks
Henderson – Red Rocks to Jarosite
Purcell – Jarosite to Steps
Patel – Steps to Point Danger
All – Point Danger to Fishermans Beach

The three boys have thought about completing the M2O in person in Hawai’i, but not for at least a few more years when the group turns 18.

Patel said the logical next step would be to complete the paddle individually, with individual times, as a group.

“Next time would be virtual as well, but we’d each paddle the full 16 nautical miles with individual times, but starting and finishing together.

“This would eliminate the transitions and it would fall in line with the actual paddle, with each of us completing the full distance, not part of it.

“We can also build up the paddle a bit more, get more paddlers to join in, perhaps paddlers from other clubs as well.”

For full results from this year’s Moloka’i 2 O’ahu, head to molokai2oahu.com