Paddling 32 miles from Moloka'i to O'ahu was hard enough.

How about 37?

The Epic Kayaks Moloka'i World Championships will traverse a longer course this year, and it is already taking a toll on the paddlers in the one-person canoe (OC-1) division.

"The original course was pretty good — it was a good test," defending champion Karel Tresnak Jr. from Kailua said. "But you add five miles to it, that's a lot. You're talking another hour or hour-and-a-half. I know a bunch of guys who didn't even sign up this year once they heard about the course."

The race is considered the world championship race for solo surfskis and one-person canoes.

The course will start at Kaluako'i Beach, Moloka'i, and finish at Kaimana Beach, Waikiki. In previous years, the race finished at Koko Marina.

Because conditions are expected to be relatively calm tomorrow, the top contenders in the OC-1 division are anticipating a grueling race.

"It's looking like the kind of day where you just want to complete the course ... never mind where you finish," Maui's Kai Bartlett said.

Over the past eight years, Tresnak and Bartlett are the only paddlers to win the men's OC-1 division. Tresnak owns a record six titles, and Bartlett won it in 2002 and 2005.

But given the conditions and the extended course, both paddlers said this year's race is "up for grabs."

"When it's a rough (ocean), me and Kai tend to stay up there," Tresnak said. "But the conditions change the playing field. And when it's a new deal like this, you have to look at a bunch of other guys."

Among the other contenders are Danny Ching, Maui Kjeldsen, Manny Kulukulualani and Thibert Lussiaa.

Unlike the surfski division, which is dominated by international entries, the OC-1 division features mostly Hawai'i paddlers. However, California's Ching is a legitimate threat to become the first non-Hawai'i paddler to win the OC-1 division.

"He's a flat-water specialist, in a sense," Bartlett said. "If the conditions truly are bad, you have to look at Danny as one of the favorites, if not the favorite."

The women's OC-1 division will not have a defending champion because last year's winner, Dane Ward of Maui, is not entered this year.

However, two former champions — Lauren Bartlett of Maui and Lisa Curry-Kenny of Australia — are entered.

Lauren Bartlett, who is the wife of Kai Bartlett, won the women's division in 2002, '03 and '04. She skipped the 2005 race because she was pregnant, and skipped last year because she was training with the national kayaking team.

"I'm totally excited to be doing this race again," she said. "But I'm also preparing for it to be one of the three most painful experiences of my life. The others were paddling all night with my dad and my uncle on a sailing canoe, and giving birth."

Curry-Kenny won the race in 2005, but did not travel to Hawai'i for last year's race.

"You can't change the conditions, so you just have to be ready to go," she said.

Curry-Kenny said Lauren is the favorite, regardless of the conditions. "Lauren is in a league of her own," she said. "She's such an ocean woman."

Lauren wasn't so sure.

"I don't think I've trained as much as I could have, or should have, because of work and the mom thing," she said. "And there are so many good girls out there. I'm just hoping it's a fun day and it turns out better than what we're all thinking."

KEIKI RACE TODAY

The 12th Annual George Perry Memorial Keiki Race is scheduled for today at Kailua Beach.

More than 700 youth paddlers are expected to participate. Age divisions range from 10-younger to 18-younger.

Races are scheduled to begin around 8:30 a.m. and run throughout the day.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.