GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Team New Zealand/Hawaii's Maui Kjeldsen, Bill Pratt, Andy Penny, Kealii Paiaina, Raven Aipa and Karel Tresnak pulled into the small boat harbor at Ko Olina at yesterday's Ayau race.

Ayau honored
with fast race

New Zealand/Hawaii breaks
the course record by 10 minutes

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By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.com

The conditions were perfect. Good surf. Good tide. Good winds.

Henry Ayau would have loved it. From the chicken-skin blessing of Outrigger's new canoe -- the Henry Keawe Ayau -- to how Lanikai's koa Hokulele ran in her ocean debut to watching New Hope steersman Kainalu Picl jump out after crossing the finish line and swim over to congratulate the crew of Waikiki Beach Boys, which had battled New Hope for the latter part of the 31-mile outrigger canoe race.

The inaugural Steinlager Henry Ayau Men's International Race was a befitting memorial to the late waterman, who died last May. His presence was felt by many from the start at Maunalua Bay to the Ko Olina Marina finish.

There was no better way to honor Ayau than to win it going away with a course record. Team New Zealand/Hawaii finished in 3 hours, 32 minutes and 51 seconds, some 10 minutes better than the mark set when the race was known as the Skippy Kamakawiwo'ole Race, and nearly five minutes ahead of Lanikai (3:37:48).

"It was pretty much all you could ask for out there," said TNZH steersman Karel Tresnak Jr. "We pretty much took the lead right off the bat, right when we got into the surf. Something just clicked.

"I think there was motivation after last week (second place in the Catalina Channel race). Last season, we won pretty much everything we entered. This year, we were hoping things would come our way again, but the first two races we didn't do so well. So we went back to the drawing boards, started training a little bit more. We finally got a good surfing race."

Tresnak, who steered the entire race, said he was able to catch some "radical" waves.

"It was the most fun race I've ever done," said Maui Kjeldsen, who stroked the last part of the race for TNZH. "We dropped into some big bumps and we were just screaming. Once we got out in front, we just kept walking.

"Junior (Tresnak) made a big difference today. The water at Catalina didn't move, we pretty much had to muscle it. I think last week drove a couple of guys."

GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM Team New Zealand/Hawaii's Bill Pratt, right, celebrated after the team broke a course record to win the Ayau race.

Team New Zealand/Hawaii finished 16 seconds behind Team Hinano, a Hawaii crew comprised mostly of Kai Opua paddlers that also included Lanikai steersman Jim Foti. Foti steered Lanikai's new koa yesterday and proclaimed it was a great ocean debut for the Hokulele.

"We've been working on her for five years or so," he said. "The canvas (cover) came in yesterday so we couldn't not race her. We made her to race open ocean and we're real proud to race in her. Not many people have a koa that is capable of winning Molokai. This one is."

Whether Hokulele will race in the Oct. 13 Molokai Hoe will depend on the Kaiwi Channel conditions. Outrigger may use the new Ayau in four weeks.

"The boat performed perfectly," said Outrigger coach Kala Judd, after his crew finished third in 3:38:43. "It ran well and it was exciting for us to race it after it was blessed this morning.

"Our changes were good, the combinations were good. What we need to do now is to refine our skills, get a little bit faster and get ready for Molokai."

One crew from Molokai competed yesterday. Team Aloha Ayau-Molokai Masters finished 18th overall in 4:15:27. Kama Han said the crew got together to honor Ayau, who was born on Molokai.

"He was my good friend and my hunting and diving partner," said Han. "We came from the same small homestead town. I feel his spirit today. It's like he's around here.

"It was a good race for us. We turned over twice so we did pretty well."

Ayau's son Bruce steered Kai Opua to a sixth-place finish (3:46:18). His canoe flipped once off Barbers point and "It took us a while to get the boat back over and get it dry," said Bruce Ayau.

"We were up there, second, third, fourth, when we flipped. It took us a while to get it going. By then, it was too little, too late. New Zealand was the team today and everyone else was trying to catch them."

Picl and New Hope's goal was to finish strong. The crew caught and passed Waikiki Beach Boys in the final 50 yards.

"It doesn't matter what place you come in," said Picl. "When you're neck and neck with another canoe, it's like you're going for first and second place. It was a good, fun race."

Fifty-one canoes finished, although Waikiki Yacht Club was disqualified for an escort boat violation. The only other infraction was committed by Kailua, which missed turning on a buoy; a 10-minute penalty was assessed, moving the club from 24th to 34th.

Hui Lanakila, which was co-founded by the late Ayau, won two of the age groups, Masters-35 and Masters-45.

"It was a good day," said race organizer Walter Guild. "Before the start, everyone raised their paddles to honor Henry and then they threw leis in the water. Then it was 'Go!' "