HUI WA'A LOKAHI CANOE CLUB REGATTA
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
The women of North Shore Canoe Club overtook Koa Kai in the senior women's masters 50 event at Keehi Lagoon yesterday.
|
|
Kaneohe keeps perfect season alive
STORY SUMMARY » |
READ THE FULL STORY
Five-time defending Hui Wa'a champion Kaneohe held on to remain a perfect 3-for-3 in regattas of the 2008 season -barely.
Koa Kai made a late run at the Lokahi Canoe Club Regatta yesterday at Keehi Lagoon, gaining six points on Kaneohe over the final three events to pull within 62-58 in the AAA (largest) division.
The Waikiki Beach Boys showed some spunk in the AA class, rising to 57 points (good for third overall and first in their division) despite competing in 11 fewer events than Kaneohe and 13 fewer than Koa Kai.
A sweep of the men's and women's senior events highlighted the Beach Boys' day.
"Koa Kai did good, Beach Boys did good - Beach Boys did awesome today," said Kaneohe coach Clint Anderson. "The competition is mean. This is the third week, so you can expect everybody's moving up, getting better. Practicing, everybody doing their homework, so we have to continue doing ours."
Kumulokahi-Elks edged Ka Mamalahoe by a point, 13-12, to win its third straight A class title.
BRIAN MCINNIS
FULL STORY »
JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM
Koa Kai's mixed platinum 60 crew, middle right, won its race yesterday at Keehi Lagoon.
|
|
The Waikiki Beach Boys might want to think about a move up to the AAA division in the near future.
Yesterday's AA (middle-size) champion posted an impressive 57 points at the Hui Wa'a Lokahi Canoe Club Regatta, including its second sweep of the coveted men's and women's senior events in three tries during the 2008 season.
With those two victories late in the day at Keehi Lagoon, the Beach Boys came within five points of overall winner and AAA titan Kaneohe (62) and a point of runner-up Koa Kai (58).
Kaneohe and Koa Kai each were penalized five points for false start and paper violations, respectively, which nearly opened the door for a AA winner.
The women's senior race has long been the Beach Boys' staple event - the women have won the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association title in that event the past two years - but now are bolstered by strong showings from the Waikiki Beach Boys' men. The club won nine of 39 events yesterday.
"(The women) are thrilled that we're coming up, because now we're actually able to score some points in regattas and have a shot of winning our divisions," said Beach Boys men's coach Patrick Switzer right after he steered the senior men to a 15-second victory over Manu O Ke Kai. "And if we could get some more crews on the water, we'd have a shot at winning the whole regatta. It's a balanced club right now."
The Beach Boys would need to add seven crews to qualify for the AAA class, up from the 18 they used yesterday.
Women's coach Sean Monahan attributes his women senior team's lasting success to a solid rotation of up to 12 people ready to step in on any given week.
"The girls put in a lot of hard work for it," Monahan said. "Right now they're mostly racing (against) the clock, but a couple of clubs here put in a real tough crew. They're excited, work hard, and they want to race, and race well."
In that event yesterday, the Beach Boys posted a 12 minute, 52.26 second winning time over second-place Lokahi (14 minutes, 3.46 seconds) - a ridiculous margin of more than a minute for a mile-and-a-half race. That's 11 seconds off their best time so far this season.
Kaui Pelekane has emerged as a capable steersmen this season in her first year at that position for the senior crew.
"We just try to go out there and have a good race, not so much looking at the time between the crews," she said. "Making sure we do our part and working hard."
She figures the Beach Boys' flexibility to swap crewmates in and out between regattas plays a big part in their continued success.
"Definitely (a big advantage)," Pelekane said. "If one person comes out, another person comes in and we still do well. We push each other to train harder and get better."
Much of the club's focus remains on distance racing, primarily the upcoming Na Wahine O Ke Kai on Sept. 28 and Molokai Hoe on Oct. 12.
"I wouldn't say (a women's senior three-peat at states) is our primary goal," said Andrea Messer, who paddled the "4" position yesterday. "We'd love to see that happen, but our primary goal is more related to the distance season, and getting better and better in Molokai every year."
In the meantime, the Hui Wa'a midseason races serve as excellent sprint training.
Kumulokahi-Elks edged Ka Mamalahoe by a point, 13-12, to win its third straight A class title.
Lanikai wins again
Lanikai won its second event of the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association season, posting 110 points in the King Kamehameha Regatta at Kailua Beach Park.
Lanikai crews won 14 races as the club claimed the AAA division victory. Kailua was second with 90 points, followed by Outrigger with 71.
Hui Lanakila won the AA division with 32 points and Anuenue won the A division.