Kaneohe’s winning streak grows

It seems that Kaneohe Canoe Club could keep on winning Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a regattas this season -- no matter what it tries.

The Windward-side club won the Koa Kai Regatta yesterday at Ke'ehi Lagoon with 79 total points and a regatta-high 10 race wins in the 36-race event. The victory kept the three-time defending association champions undefeated in six regattas so far this summer.

Even when using a new crew in the 1 1/2-mile senior men's competition -- the most prestigious race -- Kaneohe picked up its first win in that division this year, defeating the second-place Waikiki Beach Boys by a nose, 12 minutes and 19.01 seconds to 12:20.88.

"I was shocked too, because we haven't done this -- this crew just got together," said Kaneohe head coach Clint Anderson of the senior men's victory.

Members of the winning crew were Clint's son Moki Anderson, Aaron Abbey, Louis Figueroa, Stuttgart Schilling, Clark Abbey and Seth Ramolete.

Said Moki Anderson: "Everyone has a job, so it's hard to get together. (But) you just get into that mentality where you just want to win. It's like, 'It's so close, don't lose it now.' At the end, we just picked (the pace) up."

As usual, Kaneohe dominated the youth portion of the regatta, winning seven of 13 races, to jump out to an early lead that it never relinquished. It would have won another race, but was disqualified for being ahead of the start flag for the boys 15 race.

Besides the youth and senior men's wins, Kaneohe's other victories came in the senior women's masters and men's open 4.

Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i finished as the runner-up to Kaneohe in the AAA division (25-plus crews), well back with 65 total points, while Lokahi was third with 48.

"We're getting the crews together, getting ready for" the state championships at the beginning of next month, Clint Anderson said. "So as we do OK, we just got to keep on bettering our times. That's all it is."

Using their newly refurbished koa canoe, Molokai, for the first time in years, host and defending association AA champ Koa Kai returned to the winner's circle in the AA (13 to 24 crews entered) with 39 points. (Hui Wa'a clubs normally use fiberglass canoes for their regattas, with koa being optional. Koa canoes are mandatory in the state race and in the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association).

Koa Kai won the season opener, with Manu O Ke Kai winning the last four regattas. Yesterday, Manu O Ke Kai finished second with 32 points.

Koa Kai won only two races -- mixed novice B and men's masters -- yesterday, but finished second in seven others and consistently placed in the top four spots in the races it entered to earn the winning margin.

"It's a very special thing to bring this canoe into a regatta, paddle almost every race in it and do that well," Koa Kai head coach Dave Randall said. "But there's a lot of clubs out there working very hard, and just because we're in front this week doesn't mean we can lay back. We love having the competition."

Like Kaneohe, the Waikiki Beach Boys remained undefeated this year, taking the A division (six to 12 crews entered) for the sixth straight time, with 35 points.

The three-time defending association champs in the A division have not been seriously challenged this year, as Kalihi Kai finished second yesterday with 14 points.

The Beach Boys smashed the field for the sixth consecutive time in the 1 1/2-mile senior women's race, finishing in 12:57.38 to runner-up Lokahi's 13:56.65.

The Beach Boys have not lost in Hui Wa'a senior women's competition since 2003. Yesterday's winning crew members were: Kelsa Teeters, Erin Offenhauser, Dana Gorecki, Andrea Messer, Cherie Lee and Sue Brown.

The OHCRA did not race yesterday, but will head to Waikiki Beach tomorrow for the only surf race of the year in the Walter J. Macfarlane Regatta.