There were hats.

There were T-shirts.

And there was no bachi.

Jamie Mitchell was unaware that one of his sponsors had made 750 items commemorating his anticipated 10th consecutive Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championship title.

"I had no idea," the 34-year-old Australian said. "That would have been a bit of bad karma."

It wasn’t.

Mitchell was tossed a shirt, a cap and a winner’s haku as he crossed the finish line Sunday at Maunalua Bay. Not only did he extend his record winning streak to 10 straight, Mitchell lowered his course record by nearly 8 minutes, finishing the 32-mile race in 4 hours, 40 minutes and 31 seconds.

"It was obviously faster, but it didn’t feel like it," said Mitchell, finishing fourth overall and some 7 minutes ahead of fellow Australian Brad Gaul (4:47:45) in prone paddleboard. "You never know what you’ll get with the channel. Conditions were good, but if the wind and waves had been up a little more, it would have been ridiculously fast."

The times were record fast for all division winners in the 15th annual event, with 16-year-old Connor Baxter of Maui shattering the men’s stand-up paddleboard mark by nearly a half-hour. Baxter was the first to finish overall, breaking away from Honolulu’s Scott Gamble around Koko Head, for a 4:26:10 finish. Gamble was second overall and in SUP in 4:30:10 with Livio Menelau, a Brazilian now living on Maui, third in 4:38:13.

In the women’s divisions, 17-year-old Jordan Mercer of Australia debuted with a win and new prone paddleboard mark. She finished in 5:22:31, breaking the 5:53:49 record eight-time winner Kanesa Duncan Seraphin set in 2004.

Andrea Moller successfully defended her SUP title. Another Brazilian now living on Maui, she won her third M2O in a record 5:26:51. Maui teen Talia Gangini was second in 5:30:57.

Also, Mark Matheson, paralyzed from the mid-chest down, completed the run from Kaluakoi to Maunalua Bay in 9:18:54.

Conditions were nearly perfect "but still hard," Baxter said. "We had a little swell, a good current coming around Koko Head and then you’re into the wind. I battled with Scott and (defending SUP champion) Dave Kalama (fourth SUP, 4:45:52) and it made me push harder.

"I’m happy that in two years I’ve been able to make a big jump. When I was 14, I was so far back (86th overall) and last year fourth. To be at the top as long as Jamie has is my goal."

Baxter may be seeing Mitchell on a SUP next year.

"I think so," Mitchell said. "I’d like to do something different."

That’s been Moller’s mind-set since moving to Hawaii for windsurfing. The paramedic-in-training said it’s hard for her to choose which water craft she enjoys more and is happy to switch from one-man to SUP to six-man as the racing seasons change.

"It would be hard for me to choose," she said. "Whatever we have in the ocean, I want to be on it.

"Today was so unbelievable, with really good bumps. No, I didn’t see any (marine life). I saw the bumps and that’s what I wanted to see."

Gaul said he saw a marlin under his board for about 10 minutes as he chased Mitchell across the Kaiwi Channel. The Australian was "stoked" to break 5 hours; he finished in 5:19:57 in last year’s debut.

"I learned so much from last year," he said. "You have to respect the channel. It’s a body of water like no other."

The Australians again dominated the men’s paddleboard division, taking the top five places.

Mercer became just the third Australian woman to win, and the first since Shakira Westdorp in 2007.

"I didn’t know what to expect," said Mercer, finishing 28 minutes ahead of defending champ Duncan Seraphin (5:50:19) of Kauai. "I knew it was going to be hard. Thirty-two miles and none of it was easy."

There were relay teams in both prone and SUP divisions. Veteran watermen Aaron Napoleon and Kai Bartlett were fifth overall when winning the two-person SUP division in 4:40:30. Jack Bark and Mikey Cote won the two-person paddleboard division in 5:10:09, 30th overall.

In stock divisions, Hawaii’s Eric Abbott won the prone division (5:26:59) and Andrew Logreco the SUP (5:13:45).

In all, there were 275 athletes who competed individually or in two- and three-person relay teams.