Australian paddleboard champion Charlie Verco, the 25-year-old who rescued Leah Stewart after a shark attack at Coogee in June, is now in the lead to win his fourth world championship despite a huge swell caused by a cyclone in Hawaii.

With only an hour left to go in the race across what Verco called the most formidable crossing in the world, Verco is now in front of the pack, nearing the cliffs of East Honolulu, followed closely by another Australian in Stewart McLachlan and Japan’s Hayato Yamamoto.

More than 100 competitors are in the water. Verco is defending his three-time world championship paddleboard title again.

If successful, he will join the elite of the sport who have won the Moloka’i to O’ahu Paddleboard World Championships four times in the 27 years that they have run.

Before he set out, his mother, Nicky Verco, said Charlie told his father, Jamie, who is on the support boat, to look out for sharks that could be trailing him across the 52 kilometre “Channel of Bones”, as it is known. His brother George has been jumping into the water to feed Charlie.

On Friday, Verco said the course from Moloka’i Island to O’ahu Island through the Ka’iwi Channel was in some of the world’s most dangerous and deepest waters, which are rich in marine life including sharks, giant turtles and flying fish.

“It is the most formidable crossing in the world,” said Verco, who grew up in Bondi. “It has got a big history behind it. People have lost their lives because of how dangerous the water can get.”

More to come

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