Lewis wins Molokai 2008 (Hank McGregor behind) (Pic: Vince Bechet)

Two hours and forty minutes into the race he covets most, Oscar Chalupsky figured he had his 12^th Molokai title in the bag..

[Editor: Itsuko Oda, the first Japanese woman to race Molokai sent us this personal race report following her marathon seven hour effort. Congratulations Itsuko!]

First of all, I would like to thank all the people who helped me make my long held dream of Molokai solo crossing come true.  I feel I would never have succeeded without their help and support.

Post race relief! (Pic: Itsuko Oda)

Molokai - the Holy Grail of surfski paddling! When the race organizers invited me to go to Hawaii to experience the race I leaped at the opportunity.  I had a great time and a terrible race... , learnt a lot about paddling in Hawaii - and about myself.

Yep, that's exactly how I felt! (Pic: Vince Bechet)

Oh, how I look forward to the Molo after-party. Eat what you like, drink what you like and go to bed...whenever. And of course, everybody has a story to tell. I started to tell mine to Rob before he said, I'm tired and I've got a long flight ahead of me - and I'm going to bed. But he asked me write about my race experience for surfski.info so here it is.

Dean Gardiner (Pic: Vince Bechet)