Patience — and endurance — finally paid off for Tahiti's Lewis Laughlin.

After a decade-long wait for a victory, Laughlin won what felt like a decade-long race yesterday. He became the first Tahitian to win the surfski division of the Epic Kayaks Moloka'i World Championships, completing the 37-mile course from Moloka'i to O'ahu in 5 hours, 20 minutes, 6 seconds.

"I don't know what to say, really," said Laughlin, 37. "Seven years ago, I came and tried to win ... but never got a chance to win."

The event is considered the world championship of long-distance ocean paddling for solo surfskis and one-person canoes (OC-1). The race course was extended 5 miles this year to finish at Kaimana Beach, Waikiki, instead of Koko Marina.

As if the added mileage was not enough, conditions were unfavorable. The wind was blowing from O'ahu to Moloka'i, and the swells were small and inconsistent across the Kaiwi Channel.

It showed in the times, as Laughlin's time was the slowest for a winner since 1979.

Still, Laughlin smiled when asked about the conditions.

"What kept me going is when I saw that the tide wasn't moving ahead," he said. "I thought maybe I have a chance today because this is our type of water. Back in Tahiti lately, it's been almost three weeks of these same conditions. I've been training in these conditions."

Laughlin caught a pack of South Africans off East O'ahu, and then held them off the rest of the way.

South Africans took the next four places: Hank McGregor was second in 5:22:16, Dawid Mocke was third in 5:25:27, 11-time former champion Oscar Chalupsky was fourth in 5:42:20, and 2006 champ Clint Pretorius was fifth in 5:47:00.

"It wasn't my day," said Chalupsky, who is a co-owner of the Epic Kayaks company that sponsored the race. "It was the worst conditions you could ever hope for."

Laughlin has finished in the top 10 of every Moloka'i World Championships since 1997, including second place in 2001.

But all those previous races covered 32 miles. Laughlin said the extra 5 miles may have played a role in his breakthrough win yesterday.

"If it was the old course, it might have been closer with me and Hank because we were right together at Koko Head," he said.

Steve Kelly of Kailua placed 11th overall and was the first Hawai'i finisher in 6:06:02.

"It was a true test out there — brutal all the way," said Kelly, 34. There were some (wave) runs coming into Portlock, but other than that it was a headwind all the way."

Megan Quale of Lahaina, Maui, was the first female to finish on a surfski with a time of 6:39:39. It was her first attempt at the Moloka'i World Championships.

"That was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life," said Quale, 31.

Honolulu's Maggie Twigg-Smith was the second female finisher with a time of 6:45:41.

Because of the conditions, several paddlers withdrew from the race midway through, including Hawai'i veterans Mark Sandvold and Sean Monahan.

Some didn't even get that far. Australia's Dean Gardiner — a nine-time former men's champion — withdrew before the race even started

Ninety paddlers (48 OC-1 and 42 surfski) finished the course, and 44 withdrew.

Chalupsky said the extended course would have been fine on any other day except yesterday.

"The course had nothing to do with it; the most important thing that had lots to do with it was the weather," he said. "We looked 100 days before and 100 days after, and it's trade winds. You can't base a whole race on one bad day."

FINAL SURFSKI RESULTS

MEN

Overall: 1, Lewis Laughlin, 5:20:06. 2, Hank McGregor, 5:22:16. 3, Dawid Mocke, 5:25:27. 4, Oscar Chalupsky, 5:42:20. 5, Clint Pretorius, 5:47:00. 6, Zsolt Szadovszki, 5:50:40. 7, Ash Nesbit, 5:57:02. 8, Kurt Dierckx, 5:59:02. 9, Leopold Tepa, 6:00:11. 10, Bevan Manson, 6:01:06. 11, Steve Kelly, 6:06:02. 12, Thomas Gallagher, 6:10:02. 13, Geordan Purdy, 6:12:27. 14, Karl Treacher, 6:13:11. 15, Stu Gaessner, 6:19:46. 16, Robert Wall, 6:23:23. 17, Rene Appel, 6:24:48. 18, Joe Glickman, 6:25:29. 19, Dave Jensen, 6:27:57. 20, Shun Kobayashi, 6:33:45. 21, Alan Carlsson, 6:35:18. 22, Michael Murphy, 6:35:49. 23, Mike Kane, 6:35:58. 24, Andrew Dunstan, 6:37:24. 25, Stephen Coulter, 6:39:51. 26, Eric Abbott, 6:40:55. 27, Mark Fisher, 6:43:01. 28, Nick Dundee, 6:45:23. 29, Andy Orr, 6:48:20. 30, Don Kiesling, 6:48:58. 31, Jon Dingley, 6:54:10. 32, Aidan Shipton, 6:57:17. 33, Richard Von Wildermann, 7:00:20. 34, Cam Middleton, 7:02:21. 35, Mick Handley, 7:06:50. 36, Dale Ponsford, 7:09:42. 37, Kala Judd, 7:10:28. 38, Troy Griffin, 7:58:08. 39, Rob Walker, 8:01:15. 40, John Payne, 8:18:50.

Masters 40-49: 1, Oscar Chalupsky, 5:42:20. 2, Thomas Gallagher, 6:10:02. 3, Stu Gaessner, 6:19:46. 4, Rene Appel, 6:24:48. 5, Joe Glickman, 6:25:29

WOMEN

Overall: 1, Megan Quale, 6:39:39. 2, Maggie Twigg-Smith, 6:45:41. 3, Heather Nelson, 6:51:07. Masters 50-59: 1, Mary Jo Gumbert, 8:10:19.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.