Monday, July 9, 2001
For the Kaneohe Canoe Club, youth was served again. Juniors lead Kaneohe
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comAnd again. And again.
Kaneohe's youth crews won five races, finished second in five others and placed in every race but one to build an all-but-insurmountable early lead, 50-23 after 16 events, at the Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a Regatta yesterday at Ke'ehi Lagoon.
Kaneohe won the regatta with 80 points to Lokahi's 65. It was the biggest margin of victory for either club this season. The point difference between them had been a combined 15 points in the six previous regattas.
Manu O Ke Kai was third with 42 points and Waikiki Yacht Club fourth with 23 points in the AA division.
After a sub-par performance at last weekend's regatta, the kids were all right again. The only race that Kaneohe didn't place in was the Boys 15, in which they finished third but were disqualified for a false start.
"We tried to keep them focused on the race and not make any mistakes," Kaneohe coach Woody Kahiapo said. "The majority of the kids did what they were supposed to do. They came in at least the top two brackets. We've been doing this all season, but it's mistakes that cost us the past couple of races. But today, we tried to keep them in line and focused."
Kaneohe received help from the adults as well, with the Men's Seniors edging Lokahi for third to add to Kaneohe's 71-61 lead. The two points scored meant there would be no last-race dramatics deciding the winner of the regatta."They jumped out to the lead and we never did catch up," Lokahi coach Wayne Babineau said. "They were stronger in several events. It was a total club victory."
The usual drama may have been missing from the AA division, but in the single A division the regatta was decided in the last race again.
Kamehameha, normally in the AA division, dropped to the A division. The club fielded fewer crews due to having some paddlers on vacation.
"We have all kinds of things going on," coach Sam Ahai said. "We tried to accommodate everybody. We've got to go with our stronger paddlers now and not double up as much."
The strategy worked, as Kamehameha was in a three-way tie for first with host Koa Kai and Imua after 35 events. Koa Kai had a chance to win the regatta after Event 34 -- the Mixed Open 6 -- but a false start nullified the five points they earned for first place.
The disqualification put the pressure on the Men's Senior Masters crew, a group that hadn't paddled together often but needed to place for Koa Kai to win the regatta outright. Koa Kai's crew finished two seconds ahead of Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i to earn the point and the division trophy.
"We (were) lucky today," Koa Kai coach Joe Kim said. "It was a real awakening. Before we even started racing, they (Kamehameha) already had 20 (points)."
Kim was exaggerating, but not by much. Koa Kai was the only club of the three tied for first to enter the final race. If the club hadn't placed, a coin flip would have decided the winner of the regatta.
Next Sunday's regatta at Waikiki Beach is a surf race that doesn't count toward qualifying for the association's championship on July 21 or the state race on Aug. 4.