[PADDLING]

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM The Kaneohe Club's mixed masters crew, from left, David Aquino, Beryl Parrilla, Wanda Brown, Junior Parrilla, Tweetie Anderson and Cory Fukushima, won the one-half mile race at Maili Beach yesterday.

Lokahi squeezes in,
wins at Maili

The difference turned out to be
penalties, miscues and an overturned canoe

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By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.com

With four wins in the first five regattas this season, the Kaneohe Canoe club has demonstrated that it's the one to beat in the Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a racing association.

Kaneohe was on its way to a fifth victory yesterday but it loosened its grip ever-so-slightly on first place. That opening was enough for Lokahi to squeeze in and capture its second win of the paddling season.

Lokahi won seven races en route to scoring 64 points for first place at Maili Beach Park. Lokahi's other victory this season was at Haleiwa on June 16.

Kaneohe was victorious in more races (nine), but a disqualification and a five-point penalty hurt the club in its bid to win back-to-back regattas for the second time this season. Host Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i finished third with 54 points.

Lokahi's win surprised coach Robert Viernes. Viernes said that crews that usually placed in the top two were finishing in second and third. And Lokahi had to contend with the talented Kaneohe youth.

But Viernes said that overall improvement by his novice crews and having a mistake-free regatta was the key to winning.

GEORGE F. LEE GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM The senior women of the Lokahi Canoe Club (from left, Iwa Bush, Dy Valdez, Jennifer Thompson, Kanesa Duncan, Nalyne Harada and Theresa Gerry) paddles their way to victory in the 1 1/2 mile race at Maili Beach yesterday.

"It seems like it's down to whoever makes the mistakes," said an exhausted Viernes, who coached and raced three times. "It seems like that every week. It's that fight.

"The regattas have been coming down to five points and a disqualification is the regatta. Last week we had it and Kaneohe had it this week."

Kaneohe's youth crews turned in another stellar performance, winning five races to give the club the early lead. But Kaneohe lost two points for being over the starting line in the girls 16 and had five points subtracted for turning in their paperwork late in the men's novice B race.

"The kids were good. We gave away seven points," Kaneohe coach Clint Anderson said. "It goes two ways. Lokahi could make the mistakes, we win the regatta. We make the mistakes, Lokahi wins the regatta."

Lokahi benefited from Kaneohe's miscues and an overturned canoe. In the men's senior race, Manu O Ke Kai's canoe flipped over before it reached the starting line.

Racing association rules dictate that the crew has a five-minute grace period to continue to bail water, but Manu O Ke Kai protested that the race began before the five minutes had elapsed.

The race was redone at the end of the regatta after other clubs had already left or opted not to paddle in the re-race.

In spite of the loss, Anderson was pleased with his team's overall performance. Anderson said that different members of the youth crews got the chance to compete. And Anderson is happy to escape the choppy waters of Maili for the smoother, calmer waters at Keehi Lagoon.

In the A division, Koa Kai dominated the division for smaller clubs again with 35 points for its sixth win of the season.

The Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association did not compete yesterday. The annual Walter Macfarlane memorial regatta is Thursday.