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Monday, October 9, 2000

By Ronen Zilberman, Star-Bulletin
Lanikai Canoe Club crew members celebrate after crossing the finish
line in record time in yesterday's Bankoh Molokai Hoe.

Hana Hoe
for Lanikai in
record time

The Windward Oahu club breaks
own mark in winning the
49th channel race

---

By Jason Genegabus
Special to the Star-Bulletin

Team chemistry and ideal conditions proved to be the right mix for Lanikai Canoe Club. The Windward Oahu club broke its own course record yesterday, claiming the 49th annual Bank of Hawaii Hinano Molokai Hoe overall title in 4 hours, 50 minutes and 31 seconds.

Formidable ocean conditions with winds approaching 30 knots and 8- to 12-foot seas made for an exhausting 41-mile crossing, but Lanikai's nine-man crew rose to the challenge.

"The conditions were ideal for us," said Lanikai crew member Kai Bartlett. "We started behind, but once we started getting into the right spots we just started climbing. (Our) team chemistry was unreal."

It was that team chemistry, along with the skill of steersmen Jim Foti and Karel Tresnak Jr. that helped maneuver Lanikai back into the lead after a slow start.

By Ronen Zilberman, Star-Bulletin
Lanikai Canoe Club crew members are jubilant after yesterday's finish.

Foti and Tresnak coaxed as much as they could out of their crew, struggling against the current in an effort to catch some of the sizeable waves.

Team New Zealand/Hawaii held their own for most of the race, surfing the same waves Lanikai used in an effort to catch up to the early leaders.

But it was the steersmanship of Foti and Tresnak that closed the gap and allowed Lanikai to get ahead of New Zealand/Hawaii and third-place finisher Rai-Tahiti.

"There was plenty of good surfing but we came across a lot of sloppy water," said New Zealand/Hawaii steersman Todd Bradley. "The Lanikai guys fit into that kind of water really well. They just seem to move better in the seam of the trough."

"We thought we were in front for a good percentage of the time, but it's just one of those things," added New Zealand/Hawaii's Robert Kaiwai. "I think we paddled really well. We were surprised that Lanikai was so far in front of us at the end."

For Lanikai Canoe Club's Kekoa Bruhn, bringing back the club's first championship in four years was "the best" of his 10 crossings from Molokai to Oahu.

By Ronen Zilberman, Star-Bulletin
Lanikai's. Ikaika Harbottle, gets a kiss from his wife Beth.

"It was unreal," said Bruhn shortly after arriving onshore at Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki. I can't believe we won, and then to break the record -- it's just too much for me now.

"All I wanted to do was cross (the channel) as fast as we could, as hard as we could and together as brothers," he said.

New Zealand/Hawaii finished second with a time of 4:58:18. Rai-Tahiti was a close third, finishing less than two minutes behind New Zealand/Hawaii.

In the Masters division (35 years and over), Outrigger Canoe Club took top honors while finishing fifth overall in 5:04:31. Kauai's Hanalei finished almost 15 minutes ahead of Kailua to win the Senior Masters (45-over) division.

The Big Island's Keoua finished first in a traditional koa outrigger, arriving at Waikiki in 5:58:56. It was a milestone for the team and its canoe, which had to be rebuilt after suffering damage in the 1996 crossing. Keoua coach Kurtis Yamauchi, responsible for the majority of the repairs, also took a turn paddling during the race.

More than 100 boats representing nine different countries started the race this morning at Hale O Lono Harbor. Eight were forced to withdraw for various reasons.