The Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers have done it in basketball, and the New York Yankees the same in baseball: three-peat as world champions. [ PADDLING ]
Kai Opua looks to
build canoe dynasty
By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-BulletinTomorrow, can the women of Kailua-Kona's Kai Opua Canoe Club do the same in outrigger canoe paddling?
There are expected to be 64 other crews hoping the answer is no at the 24th annual Hawaii Modular Space Na Wahine O Ke Kai, a 41-mile crossing of the Kaiwi Channel that concludes the local paddling season and is considered the world championship of long-distance canoe racing.
But for Kai Opua, the chance to become the first state club to win back-to-back-to-back titles in the race from Hale O Lono Harbor on Molokai to Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki, was really the only reason the group did not disband after last year's victory.
And now they are ready to try to make it happen.
"I get chicken skin just thinking about (the chance to three-peat)," said Cheryl Villegas, 39, who sits No. 2. "But we don't want to put our eggs all in one basket. It's not ever in the bag until we cross the finish line.
"But it is something we think about. It is the motivation of why we're working so hard. It's our main goal in staying together one more year."
In the months leading up to last year's race, some of Kai Opua's crew -- the majority of whom have been together for about 10 years -- had contemplated retirement after 2001, including Villegas.
But the decision was made immediately after their second victory to attempt the three-peat and make more history. Kai Opua was already the first club from the Big Island to win the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and the first from the neighbor islands to win two in a row.
Outrigger (Waikiki), Hui Nalu (Hawaii Kai) and Team Eyecatcher (paddlers from Kauai, Maui and Oahu) are among the strongest contenders this year from Hawaii. Teams from the U.S. mainland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Tahiti also will participate. Based on earlier performances this season, however, Kai Opua must once again be considered the prerace favorite.
The club swept all four open women's divisions at the state championship regatta and won two long-distance races abroad (Washington and Canada) this summer. They followed these victories by placing second to Outrigger at the Dad Center Race at the end of August then snagging the top two spots when splitting into two crews at the Liliuokalani Races earlier this month.
"We're at our strongest right now," compared to the two previous championship years, said coach Beanie Heen.
With his easy-going demeanor, Heen provides the perfect complement to his group of "real high-strung women," leading them for the past five years.
"We've prepared for flat-water conditions and we've prepared for rough water, so we're ready," he added. "There is a lot of pressure and it's tough to deal with, but these women are athletes -- they thrive on pressure."
Only one new paddler cracked Kai Opua's 10-paddler rotation (six sit in the canoe at one time, with open-ocean changes) between their first and second championships, and again just one new paddler -- stroker Jymi Friday -- has been added this year.
Besides Friday and Villegas, the crew is comprised of Ronona Della Cioppa, Patty Eames, Beth Graves, Carrie Sue Hendricks, Cherisse Kelii, Nicki Lacey-Enos, Jackie Taylor and Amy Young.
Making the crew is "really very, very special," the 38-year-old Friday said. "I'm very honored to paddle with these girls and have Beanie as our coach. Each one of us brings the others to a higher level."
With a receding tide forecasted, combined with variable winds and a small north swell, the group is not expecting to challenge the race record of 5 hours, 24 minutes and 32 seconds established in 1995 by Offshore of California. Offshore also holds the overall wins record (10) and is the only club so far to have won more than two in a row (six straight from 1986-91, and four from 1993-96).
Simply winning is what matters more for the women of Kai Opua. And with so many variables to tackle in crossing the unpredictable channel, they know that performing at their best is all they can really hope for -- win or lose.
"If we perform to our potential, we don't have any injuries, we have good changes and a good course -- then we race the perfect race," said steerswoman Taylor. "If someone beats us and we've raced the perfect race, hats off to them because we know what it takes to get there."
Molokai to Oahu race
What: 24th annual Hawaii Modular Space Na Wahine O Ke Kai, outrigger canoe race
When: Tomorrow. Race starts at 7:30 a.m. with first finishers expected around 1 p.m.
Where: 41-mile crossing of the Kaiwi Channel starting at Hale O Lono Harbor, Molokai, and finishing at Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki.
Who: 65 teams expected from Hawaii, U.S. mainland, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Tahiti.
How: Koa and fiberglass canoes will be used with six women paddling at a time, rotating with open-ocean changes. Divisions are Open (18 years-older, 10 paddlers per crew), Junior Masters (35-older, 12 paddlers) and Senior Masters (45-older, 12 paddlers).
