Makani Andrews

Makani Andrews was introduced to sailboat racing and El Toros as the pathway to greatness at the young age of four as a crew member in the 61st annual Bullship.  That year he was awarded the youngest Bullshiper along with the first-ever overall victory in the Senior event on a doublehanded Toro.  With his dad as the sailing director at KYC and his older sister starting to sail single-handed boats, Makani was born into a life of sailing.  Makani first sailed in the HYSA El Toro clinic in 2015 when he was eight and the HYSA Laser clinic in 2016.  He sailed in these clinics until 2019 when they were interrupted by the pandemic.
 
In January of 2017, after a few years of sailing El Toros and one year of sailing Bics, the family took a Christmas vacation to Australia where Makani competed in his first National event, the Australian Bic Nationals in Adelaide, South Australia.  That year he also competed in the El Toro North American Championships in Richmond, California.  
 
These experiences only fueled his passion for competing and sailing both Bics and Toros for the next few years.  In 2018, Makani went to his first O'pen Bic North Americans in Buffalo, New York where he finished first in the Under 13 division.  He also sailed in the O'pen Bic Worlds later that year in Auckland, New Zealand, placing 6th overall in the U13 fleet.  There were 133 boats at this event! In 2019, Kaneohe Yacht Club hosted the El Toro North Americans where Makani took second place, just one point out of first!  Makani also sailed a few offshore events that year--not only the Dinghy Transpac in a 29er, but also an Oahu to Kauai regatta in a Melges 32, and Maui to Oahu on the "Yellow Dragon", a Hobie 33.
 
Just before the pandemic, the family went back to New Zealand and Makani sailed in their National Champs where he placed third overall in 2020— ironically again one point out of 1st.  He started sailing WASZPS around the same time and finished 3rd in the very competitive fleet.  From 2019-2021 Makani won El Toro Season's points in El Toros, and in 2019 he also placed 1st in the O'Pen Bic HYSA Season points. 
 
In 2020, Makani started Wing Foiling during most of his spare time, since competitive sailing was not much of an option at the height of the pandemic.  Around Christmas time in 2020, he purchased JP Lattanzi's old IQ windfoil board, and before too long he was off to his first event, the IQ Foil nationals in Florida.  Makani ended up a close 4th in that event but won the second day in the slalom sailing.  From then on, he was hooked on racing the IQ Foil. In 2021, Makani placed 3rd in the US Open Sailing series in Clearwater, Texas, which was the first qualifier for Youth Worlds.  Then he placed 1st in the ODP Midwinters West, which was the second qualifier for Youth Worlds.  This qualified him in 1st to represent the USA in the 2022 ISAF Youth Worlds in the Hague, Netherlands!  At age 14, Makani placed 22nd in the IQ Foil Class at Youth Worlds, where 67 nations competed. He was one, of if not the youngest, competitors in his fleet.  After that event, Makani sailed in the Open IQ Foil Junior World Championships in Silvaplana, Switzerland where he placed 30th out of 94 competitors.  Locally, the same summer,  he placed 2nd in the IQ Foil Hawaii Junior Olympics Festival, and 1st in the Wingfoil.

Makani still enjoys non-foil sailing. In 2021, his team won the local qualifiers for the Sears Cup and went on to place 5th in the Chubb US Sailing Junior Championships, and earned the team Shipshape Award.  In 2022, Makani won the Bullship regatta for the third time and continued to skipper his Sears Cup team into the 2022 Chubb US Sailing Junior Championship, securing Hawai’s first ever 1st place win in the Sears Cup Trophy, in the VX One, in Macatawa, Michigan.
 
Lately, Makani has been training hard, three days a week, in the IQ Foil and windfoil.  He is getting into foil kiting and teaching lessons at Kailua Beach Park for windsurfing and winging.  He enjoys sailing with Bryce Huntoon in 29ers, winning 1st place in the Hawaii State 29er Championship in December 2022.  Makani is looking forward to the upcoming IQ Foil events in Clearwater, Florida in February and the 2023 Youth Champs in Bristol, Rhode Island in June, which will be the 2023 ISAF Youth Worlds qualifier for the race in Buzios, Brazil in December 2023!
 
Congratulations Makani Andrews for earning the Roy Disney Morning Light Trophy for the 2022 HYS Sailor of the Year!!  You are an exceptional sailor and an inspiration to your teammates and youth sailors around the world!