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Monday, July 3, 2000

Lokahi wins
Hui Wa‘a tug-o-war
with Kaneohe

Five points made the difference

Macfarlane races set for tomorrow

By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin

The development of a championship club over the course of a season involves adapting to different conditions and winning a good share of the "close ones."

While the Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a champion will not be crowned until the end of the month, Lokahi Canoe Club accomplished both of these tasks in winning Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i Canoe Club's Regatta yesterday at Maili Beach.

After consecutive double-digit victories over the rest of the competition the two weekends before, Lokahi was the eventual winner yesterday by a mere five points in what was a back-and-forth affair all day with second-place Kaneohe Canoe Club. Lokahi finished the regatta with 65 points to Kaneohe's 60, yet Lokahi trailed Kaneohe as late as the start of the second-to-last event of the day.

As for the conditions, the two previous regattas were held at typically calm locations similar to the Ala Wai Canal, where Lokahi practices, but yesterday 's race was at an open-ocean site that threw factors such as undercurrents, shifting winds and swell action into play. While the conditions at Maili were relatively docile when compared to past years, Lokahi and its paddlers still tend to struggle more in open-ocean conditions and yesterday was no exception.

But the perseverance and flexibility of its paddlers still drove Lokahi to its fourth title in six regattas this season.

"Our paddlers are just not as experienced as those from other clubs in open-ocean conditions and we kind of expect them to do better at a location such as Keehi Lagoon than here at Maili, and that happened," Lokahi head coach Wayne Babineau said.

"Our kids, in particular, were really strong at Keehi last week, helping us jump out to a nice lead, but the conditions were different."

"I think that was the key difference and the reason why this race was much closer."

Kaneohe's kids, who practice in Kaneohe Bay, helped propel their club to a 37-27 lead over Lokahi at about the midway point of the regatta. But Lokahi's women - particularly its dominant freshmen, sophomore and senior crews - then took over the regatta. They pushed Lokahi past Kaneohe for a 42-41 point lead after 26 events.

Kaneohe finished first in both the senior mixed masters and men's golden masters to regain the lead, 53-49, with four events remaining. After each club won one of the next two events, Lokahi came through with another first and a second in the last two events to complete the last-breath comeback "We tried to work on our strategy and beef-up our crews, but it looks like we came up a little short this time," Kaneohe head coach Woody Kahiapo said.

Host Ka Mo'i finished third with 36 points. Manu O Ke Kai Canoe Club won the A Division for smaller clubs with 22 points. The Hui Wa'a season continues next Sunday with a Keehi Lagoon regatta.

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Macfarlane races set for tomorrow The Fourth of July is a special day for the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association. Paddlers and spectators will get some holiday spirit tomorrow at the annual Walter J. Macfarlane Regatta at Waikiki Beach. Races begin at 8:30 a.m OHCRA's only surf regatta honors Macfarlane, a highly respected Outrigger Canoe Club president who passed away in 1941.