Kai Thompson second overall in the Koa Kai Triple Crown 2026

The Hawaiian downwind season has come and gone, and rarely has a season delivered such a variety of conditions in a few short weeks. The M2M was contested in fierce conditions, while the M2O, the unofficial world championships, presented such tricky light-wind racing that 37 of the 123 entrants did not finish. Kai Lenny declared that any result in the top 20 this year was outstanding.

Kai Thompson finished second overall in the Koa Kai Triple Crown. His season: second at the Voyager-Wetfeet challenge, third at the Paddle Imua, third in the Maui to Molokai, fourth on the Kamalo run and fourth at the Molokai 2 Oahu. "Coming 2nd or being on the podium for the Triple Crown is one of the hardest achievements possible."

On his way to that fourth place at the M2O he averaged a heart rate of 163 beats per minute over 2 hours 15 minutes, with a peak of 183; the marathon world record holder is estimated to average 174. "Before jumping into the water I switched to my bigger front wing. I breached a wing tip and fell 10 minutes in, the glassy no-wind area. After a couple of minutes down I got back up and worked my body to its limits to get back to the podium placings."

While Hawaii was battered by tropical storms, Kai has been setting records on the stock Tempo 890 with the Skinny Link 300/22.5: equal first on the prestigious Maliko run rankings, a best kilometre of 1 min 25 s and an average 10 km speed of 37.2 km/h. World-beating performance on freely available production gear.

First reported in the AXIS newsletter of 18 August 2026; photos from @kaii.thompson on Instagram, Larry Foiler.

The gear

• AXIS Tempo 890
• Skinny Link 300/22.5
• Ti Link titanium fuselage
• KAIWI mast