This will be the fourth time that the Hennessey's International has been staged in Hawaii, and the third time that it has been held on the North Shore. The defending champion, Jamie Mitchell (Australia) is once again the favorite, looking for a clean sweep of the Hawaii summer paddleboarding season that has so far netted him three victories over courses ranging from four to 17 miles.

The Hennessey's International is also an important part of Mitchell's preparation for the long-distance finale to the Hawaii paddleboard season: the 32-mile race from Molokai to Oahu the very next weekend.

"This race is as important to me as any," said Mitchell, 31. "We train so hard yet get to race so little. Four months of intensive training and sacrifice goes into a season that offers maybe five or six races, so I really love to race, whatever the distance. Once I'm on the starting line, they're all important to me. I'm very easily motivated."

Along with Mitchell and the hard-core, traditional paddleboarding crew, a burgeoning field of stand-up paddle surfers are also anticipated for this race. Recent short-course races off Maui and Oahu have each seen more than 100 SUP paddlers take to the water, reflecting the exponential growth of this new branch of ocean paddling. Cash prizes will be awarded to both prone and SUP division top finishers, courtesy of Hennessey's, and C4 Waterman will award product prizes to the top SUP paddlers.

A full report and results will be distributed at the conclusion of the race.
A VNR will be delivered to local news stations.

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