Joel Parkinson participera à la course de paddleboard de Molokai à Oahu

Ecrit par / Dans ACTUALITES, Joel Parkinson, Sports complémentaires du surf, Surf à Hawaii /

Même si les surfeurs professionnels sont de plus en plus aidés par des jet-skis pour repartir au large, la rame n’en reste pas moins une qualité essentielle d’un surfeur complet. Ramer sur un paddle board peut être un bon exercice de préparation pour le surf. Joel Parkinson a décidé de pousser au maximum cet entraînement au paddleboard en se donnant pour objectif de participer à la course prestigieuse de « Molokai 2 Oahu » remportée 10 fois d’affilée par le waterman Jamie Mitchell.

Parko devra couvrir la distance de 32 miles (51.5 km) à la force de ses bras. Il profitera de la suppression de la compétition du Billabong Pro J-Bay cette année pour s’aligner au départ de la course de paddle à Hawaii le dimanche 29 Juillet 2012.

Il participera pour la bonne cause dans l’intention de lever des fonds pour l’ONG SurfAid. Parko était aux îles Mentawai récemment et il a pu constater les dommages causés par le tsunami de 2010 dans la région.  L’argent récolté grâce à sa course servira à construire une nouvelle école dans le village de Masokut sur Sipora Island. Ce village ravagé par le tsunami a été reconstruit plus en hauteur avec l’aide de SurfAid. Mais pour le moment, les enfants ont classe dans une cabane délabrée composée d’une seule pièce avec des murs en plastique.  L’objectif est de récolter $25,000 pour reconstruire une école digne de ce nom.

Pour le moment, Joel s’entraîne dur. Parko ne participera pas pour gagner mais au moins pour finir la course, ce qui serait déjà un accomplissement quand on connaît les conditions qui attendent les rameurs. Il est super motivé et il a même mis au défi Kelly Slater de participer à la course. Parko est un excellent rameur et il aimerait bien essayer de battre le King à quelque chose. Pour le moment, Kelly n’a pas répondu à son invitation…

Vous pouvez aider Joel here www.fundraiseonline.com.au/Parko .

Partager la publication "Joel Parkinson participera à la course de paddleboard de Molokai à Oahu"

  • Facebook
  • X

A propos de l'auteur :

Surf Prevention est le site sur le Surf, la Sécurité, la Santé et l'Environnement.

 

Tags: , , ,

 

2 Commentaires

  1. sebastien dit :
    25 juin 2012 à 10:28

    ouf.. 51 kilometres a la rame avec les bras.. je dis chapeau bas

    Répondre
  2. Surf Prevention dit :
    30 juillet 2012 à 12:36

    Parko et son co-équipier Wes Berg ont terminé 3e de leur catégorie :

    Current ASP world number three surfer, Joel Parkinson (31, Coolangatta, Qld) and paddling partner, Wes Berg (32, Miami, Qld) have finished third in their division of the 16th annual Molokai To Oahu Paddleboard Championships in Hawaii.

    “We were hoping for a top five finish, so to finish in the top three was huge for us,” said Parkinson, who competed in the event for the first time during a six-week break in the ASP world surfing tour. “It was awesome.” The pair competed in the stock paddleboard division and made the crossing in a time of 5 hours and 49 minutes. “It was so good because the Hawaiian guys who won (Mikey Cote and Mitch Degues) are unbelievable paddlers, professional paddlers, and I’m just a surfer. One of the guys held the solo record for the race for years.”

    The 32-mile (50km) race across the Ka’iwi Channel (dubbed “The Channel of Bones”) between the Hawaiian islands of Molokai and Oahu is regarded as one of the world’s toughest ocean paddling races. “My knees are bleeding and I’m sunburned and the rest of me is pretty beat up, but I feel incredible,” said Parkinson afterwards. “Just the buzz of having paddled from another island over the horizon is massive.” Parko and Berg traded paddling duties in 20-minute shifts across the channel, where the winds and tides were largely favourable. “Conditions were pretty good. We were downwind for most of the paddle, but coming around Koko Head the current was really strong against us, so we weren’t making a lot of ground.”

    Parkinson, who’d trained two months for the race, spoke of the mental challenges of paddling the channel. “There were some hills and valleys and a bunch of times I found myself thinking, you know, I’m a surfer, not a paddler. What am I doing here? At certain stages I’d be feeling like I was paddling backwards, then five minutes later I’d be powering ahead and feeling great. They were hills and valleys like I’ve never felt before. But it was cool,” he laughs, “I had my Hawaiian friends Makua (Rothman) and Marcus (Hickman) in the support boat and they were just blaring the reggae all the way, so it felt like a party.”

    Berg, a competitive lifesaver who doubles as Joel’s fitness trainer, has competed in the Molokai race before but enjoyed the element of doing it with his good mate. “It was awesome to do the race with Joel, especially as we come from two different professional sports. It will be the most memorable channel crossing for me. Joel surprised me immensely. He continually pushed himself through the race and was impressive for someone who only jumped on a paddleboard three months ago and had limited preparation around his surfing events.”

    “There’s just something really primal about being in the middle of the ocean paddling from one island to the other,” said Parkinson. “A couple of times in the middle of the channel I jumped out of the support boat to swap with Wes and looked down into the ocean and it was like looking down into the abyss. I didn’t even want to know how deep it was, and the water was just the darkest cobalt colour, and you were just waiting for a huge mako to come and grab you.”

    “It was an amazing feeling coming in,” said Parkinson of paddling over the finish line at Maunaloa Bay. “It’s the most incredible vibe on shore, as it’s such a huge race in Hawaii and there’s such a camaraderie between everyone involved. It’s much more than a simple sporting contest and so different to being in a surfing contest. I’ve never competed in a team sport in my life apart from primary school footy, so to do this as a team was so much fun.”

    “If anyone has ever contemplated doing the crossing they should give it a go as it is a one in a lifetime experience,” said Berg.

    While defending 10-time individual champion Jamie Mitchell did not compete in this year’s event, the individual men’s title was won by a fellow Australian, Brad Gaul from Warriewood. Jordan Mercer (Castaways Beach, QLD) meanwhile defended her title by winning the women’s title.
    http://joelparko.com/freestyling/parko-and-wes-fi…

    Répondre

Laisser un commentaire