[ WEEKEND SCENE ] Island-style fun as seen through the camera’s eye

Paddling profiles

Canoes race at Koko Marina
to benefit the Sierra Club

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM George Cronstead of Tahiti positioned his rudderless one-man canoe yesterday prior to starting the semifinal heat of the Kona Brew's Blue Water Challenge Race at Koko Marina. Cronstead won the men's competition.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM 2004 Olympian Lauren Spalding sprinted to the finish line during her heat. Spalding, who flew in from Maui for the competition, won the prize of a $3,500 rudderless canoe, which she will donate on behalf of a friend recuperating from a scuba-diving accident.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM George Cronstead and Kamuela Lau were shoulder to shoulder during the semifinal heat. Cronstead flew in from Tahiti to participate and is the current world champion in rudderless one-man canoe sprints.

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Jim Foti held his son, Connor, 13 months, after participating in the race. The event was held to raise funds for the Blue Water Campaign of the Sierra Club Hawaii Chapter.