Fitting for a race across a wide-open channel, Sunday's Steinlager Kaiwi Solo OC1 World Championship has a wide open list of contenders.

"This is probably the most even field we've seen in a long time," said race director Manny Kulukulualani, who is also considered one of the top contenders. "I could give you 10 names, and any one could win, and it could even be somebody else besides that. It's just so hard to say this year."

The Kaiwi Solo race is considered the world championship for individual paddlers in one-person canoes (also known as OC-1). The race starts at Kaluako'i, Moloka'i, and traverses 32 miles across the Kaiwi Channel to Koko Marina, O'ahu.

There are several contributing factors to the unpredictable field this year.

For one, defending champion Karel Tresnak Jr. of Kailua is not entered. He took the solo paddling season off this year for personal reasons.

Tresnak has won the OC-1 world championship race a record seven times since 1999, including a record time of 3 hours, 38 minutes, 3 seconds, last year.

"It'll be a bummer without him, but for the guy who wins, it's great," said Maui's Kai Bartlett, who owns three OC-1 world championships. "On the other hand, if you're that guy who wins, there's always going to be that question of 'what if he (Tresnak) were here?' Everybody knows he's the man to beat if he's here."

In Tresnak's absence, Bartlett is considered Hawai'i's top seed. Bartlett was the runner-up last year, and defeated Tresnak in grueling conditions during the 2007 OC-1 world championship race.

Conditions are expected to be tough again on Sunday, mostly because of unfavorable winds.

"I don't know if anybody can ever be ready when conditions are bad," Bartlett said. "Yeah, I won the last time we had to fight against the wind, but I got lucky, too. I guess you could say I'm comfortable in any conditions, but I just wish I was in better health."

Bartlett said he has been battling flu-like symptoms for the past week.

Other contenders from Hawai'i include Jimmy Austin, Mike Judd, Simeon Ke-Paloma, Maui Kjeldsen, Aaron Napoleon, Kea Pa'iaina and Tapa Worthington.

California's Danny Ching placed third at last year's race, and is considered a legitimate threat to become the first non-Hawai'i paddler to win the OC-1 title.

But the name creating the most buzz this week has been Lewis Laughlin of Tahiti. He is the two-time defending surfski world champion, and is entering the OC-1 world championship for the first time.

"I would put him right at the top of the list," Kulukulualani said. "That guy is good on anything. And if conditions are like what it's supposed to be, he's even more of a factor."

In any case, Laughlin is representative of an international influx of entries this year. Around 100 total paddlers are expected to compete, including entries from Australia, France, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and Portugal, as well as California and Florida.

"We feel like we're not even close to reaching our peak yet," Kulukulualani said. "To get this many paddlers from around the world this year, in a bad economy, that says a lot about this sport."

Lauren Bartlett — Kai's wife — is considered the overwhelming favorite in the women's division.

She is a five-time OC-1 women's world champ, and set a course record of 4:20:47 last year.

"I always consider anybody who lines up at the start to be competition," she said. "Every year I stress out about the weather conditions, and so of course, they're calling for horrible winds. But I'll just deal with it on the day of. You just have to man up and be ready no matter what."

Like her husband, Lauren said she has been battling an illness in recent weeks.

"I had a 104 (degrees) temperature just on Monday, so hopefully I'll be ready by Sunday," she said.

Other female contenders include Arlene Holzman, Jessie Eames and Alana Frazier.