Outrigger’s momentum
was too much to handle
Canoe club dominates state regatta at Hilo
By Cindy Luis
Star-B.ulletinHILO -- It was a nine-hour mini-drama Saturday at the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association state regatta on Hilo Bay. Thirty-three chapters of races-within-a-race during a day where Outrigger Canoe Club turned the show into a rerun. The Waikiki-based club had a year to think about recapturing its overall crown from Lanikai. The plot all came together, according to head coach Mark Sandvold, just a few weeks ago.
"The sport is all about performance," he said after Outrigger finished with 157 points to runner-up Lanikai's 117 in the AAA Division (15-plus crews). "We started the season at a moderate pace, have been building at getting everyone back together. The past few weeks, the momentum's been going our way.
"What helped us today was our depth. Our kids' program is real strong, our women's program has always been strong. But what I wanted to do was bring back a lot of our younger (male) paddlers who had been paddling for other clubs. They thought Outrigger was restricting the younger guys and not allowing them to get into some of the top (upper division) crews. We got some of the older guys to step aside and paddle masters. It's benefited the whole club."
Outrigger didn't need the nine first-place points from its winning masters men's crew in the final event of the day, but it was a fitting end to a year-long comeback. And it was the start of the long-distance racing war that culminates with October's Molokai Hoe.
That battle began with the sophomore men's race, which has recently kicked off Lanikai's string of men's upper-division dominance. In a great 11/2-mile race, Outrigger held off the fast-closing Lanikai crew by .57 seconds.
The gauntlet was thrown down, so to speak, with Lanikai, the defending Molokai champ, regrouping to sweep in the men's junior and premier senior races.
"We wanted those pretty badly," said Jim Foti, who steered Lanikai's juniors to a six-second win over Kai Opua and a 10-second victory over Outrigger's seniors. "We needed to redeem ourselves after losing the (Oahu championship) senior race.
"I think what it says is that we're back paddling. During the regatta season, a lot of us were coaching the younger kids, trying to give back to the club and not to ourselves. Now it's time to give back to ourselves and focus on distance."
It was the same for Outrigger's women, who doubled in the sophomore and senior races, the latter by 15 seconds. They have not won Na Wahine O Ke Kai, the women's Molokai race, since 1992.
"A double win is always nice," said Kisi Haine, who steered both the sophomore and senior crews. "We've worked hard all season. It's been a club effort, with 4-5 crews going out to practice hard and race each other."
The Waikiki Beach Boys Novice B women felt like they were on their own Saturday. As the only representative of the club to come to the state regatta, the crew had to borrow a canoe, boat holders and cheering section.
"We'd like to think that we're the foundation of building the club back up," said Meredith Takara, the crew's stroker. "Being the only crew ... we were without our coach, in a koa canoe for the first time ... it was exciting and we hope it grows from here."
The crew didn't score any points in the A Division, finishing 13th out of 14. The A Division (1-6 crews) winner was Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i, holding true to its name with all six crews entered in youth races.
Ka Mo'i amassed its 28 points during the first 11 races of the day then waited out the remaining seven hours for the final result. It wasn't until Race 31, when Kaneohe finished out of the top 8 in the open mixed event, that Ka Mo'i's win was secure.
Kanehoe finished with 24 points and Keaukaha 21.
The AA (7-14 crews) title went to Kai Opua of the Big Island with 61 points. Runner-up Keauhou O Kona (57 points) saw its title hopes buried when hitting the flag at the quarter-mile turn in the mixed masters race, erasing the nine first-place points that would have given them the championship.
