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Monday, July 24, 2000
Kailua takes
OHCRA crown
The Windward club edges
By Brandon Lee
out Outrigger, Lanikai and
Hui Nalu in a tight battle
at Keehi Lagoon
Special to the Star-BulletinWith the championship undecided until the final race and only five points separating the top four clubs when it was done, the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association Championship Regatta was full of drama and high tension yesterday at Keehi Lagoon.
When the final results were tallied, Kailua became the first canoe club other than Outrigger or Lanikai to win in the last six OHCRA championships.
Kailua finished with 64 points, just two points ahead of second-place Outrigger, the winner of four out of the previous five championships. Lanikai, which won the title in 1998, finished third with 61 points. Hui Nalu Canoe Club made a strong fourth-place showing with 59.
Keahiakahoe Canoe Club won the A Division for smaller clubs in what also was a very tight race with 22 points.
The delighted Kailua contingent let out a roar as the results were announced, led as it has been all season by head coach Cy Kalama.
"At the beginning of the year we had three goals: Winning our own regatta in Kailua, winning the OHCRA championship, and winning states," said Kalama, whose club won the state title in 1998. "So far we've accomplished the first two and it has been a total team effort.
"We hadn't been doing so well these last couple of weeks going into this race so I reminded everybody of our goals and I held up a medal and said 'This is where it's at; we got to go for the gold.' "
Though the Windward club didn't exactly blow its competition out of the water yesterday - winning only four races - its crews consistently finished in top four spots. Kailua grabbed a one-point lead after a second-place finish in Event No. 32, Men's Open Four, and stayed ahead the rest of the way despite no wins in the last three events.
Outrigger continued its recent trend of making a strong late-season push.
"We're very pleased with the last three regattas," Outrigger head coach Kehau Kali said. "We're pleasantly surprised and happy to be peaking at this time.
"But I think our strong showings are due in part to us having most of our paddlers with the club now."
Lanikai finished with a regatta-high eight victories.
Hui Nalu turned in perhaps its most impressive showing of the year with six, four in the women's division.
Said Nainoa Thompson, chief navigator for the Hokulea and longtime steering coach for Hui Nalu: "Our club did awesome today. It's the championship so you've got to put everything together."
Watching intently yesterday was Hawaiian Canoe Club's head youth coach, Paul Luuwai.
Luuwai was scouting the competition for his Maui-based canoe club that won the the Valley Isle championship on Saturday and also was leading the state championship last year before it was called off under protest. A state winner was never declared.
"We can't change the decisions that were made, but we can use the decision to fuel the fire," Luuwai said. "So far, it appears that we will be the most well-represented club at states with 29 crews out of 35 qualified.
"I think the state race (Aug. 5) will be won by a really close margin and we plan to come over here and represent the best we can."
The Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship will be held at Keehi Lagoon.
Making runs at the state title chase will be Lokahi and Kaneohe, the top two finishers at Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a championships last Saturday at Keehi Lagoon. Lokahi finished with 68 points to Kaneohe's 67.
