Annabel paddled hard to win both the BOP and the Distance racing.

Another event, another win for Kai Lenny. The super-man from Naish needs to start wearing some kind of crown permanently… And Annabel Anderson has hit the record books, being the first to ever win both the Battle of the Paddle and the long distance racing, for two years in a row!

In a controversial move by the race organizers, they chose to run the women’s fleet separately from the men’s. It turned out to be a great decision, because the girls fleet was exciting, competitive and the crowd absolutely loved it. Jenny Kalmbach held on to a monster set wave to catch Annabel on the second last lap of the Battle of the paddle, only to suffer a fall in the final moments, costing her first place!

The mens fleet was equally spectacular, with Kai Lenny leading from the get-go and winning over Connor Baxter in a run up the beach to the finish. Check out his finish below to see what we mean, the cool calm and collected Hawaiian is simply untouchable right now.

On day two we saw some incredible long distance paddling, and finally the Aussies got a look in! Travis Grant was a favorite for the battle of the paddle event, but after dislocating his knee two weeks ago while surfing in Hawaii, there was no chance he could run up the sand. He could still paddle though, so he swapped to the long distance event despite not being sure if he would actually enter.

Lucky he did. Because he won it. With his gammy knee, Travis managed to out paddle the locals and his rival from the Gold Coast, Beau O’Brien. He ended Danny Chings six year winning streak, and most amazing of all, he did it while paddling inside the pack, not drafting for the entire last half of the race.

In the womens long distance race, it was again Annabel Anderson who took the win over Aussie girl Karla Gilbert and Lina Augaitis from Canada. Lina is making a name for herself lately, with the third place in this event she’s sure to get somewhat of a leg-up for future events, hopefully it’s not enough to beat the aussies though! Karla Gilbert was an event standout according to spectators, labeled as a ‘dark horse’ for the Battle of the paddle, she proved them right when she crossed the line only a few meters behind Annabel.

What a weekend of racing! That’s why we look forward to the Battle of the Paddle in California each year, it’s always a great show with some amazing stories. Will we see Annabel make it three in a row next year?

Check out the video of Kai’s amazing finish below!