The wind has been "smoking" for a week now. Lauren Spalding can feel it at her upcountry Maui home in Kula and during her training runs on Kahului Harbor. [ PADDLING ]
Wind will be a factor
in Kanaka I Kai KaBy Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comThere's no question that the wind will affect tomorrow's Kanaka I Kai Ka State Championships, particularly the 23-mile long course from Makai Pier to Sand Island. But if the wind drops down to the anticipated 20-25 knots and the surf is 8-12 feet, the only question is how fast the winning time will be for the surfski and canoe paddlers.
Two weeks ago, the 23-year-old Spalding finished eighth overall in the Oahu Championships solo surfski division, winning the women's division in 2 hours, 39 minutes and 5 seconds. The conditions were brutal for the course from Makai Pier to Magic Island: little wind or surf.
Tomorrow should be drastically different, which plays into Spalding's decision whether to race or not. She is undefeated the past two seasons, this year in surfski and last year in OC-1.
What: Kanaka I Kai Ka State Championships; racing in OC-1, OC-2 and surfski. Canoe paddling
When: 9 a.m. tomorrow.
Where: Long course, 23 miles, Makai Pier to Sand Island; Short course, 18 miles, Maunalua Bay to Sand Island.
"I would like it to be blowing hard," said Spalding, who won last Sunday's 18-mile OC-1 women's race of the Kauai Championships. "Oahu (Championships) was dismal. It was hard and took a lot out of me.
"Right now, I'm playing out the weather. If the conditions are good, I'm ready for it."
Spalding has raced mostly surfskis this season to prepare her for the national team trials in June at Lake Placid, N.Y. The goal is to make the U.S. senior world flatwater kayak team, a springboard for the 2004 Olympics.
Spalding has the talent to do it, according to Chris Ball, coach of the Hawaii Canoe/Kayak Team. When on Oahu, Spalding has worked out with Ball and the HCKT on the Ala Wai Canal.
"She's probably the most talented in flatwater kayaks from Hawaii in a long time," said Ball, an alternate on the U.S. kayak team in the 1992 and 2000 Olympics. "We had Peter Newton in the K-1 making the 1992 Olympics, but he came out of nowhere.
"But Lauren is already an accomplished paddler. She'll make the world team, but the question is if she can make the commitment to stay on the mainland to train and do all the travel."
Spalding is a single mom whose son, Haena, turns 4 tomorrow. She also has a dream she wants to pursue.
"I guess I started getting serious in 2001," she said. "I thought I would try to go somewhere with the sport, somewhere besides Hawaii. The Olympics is my total goal.
"I like the K-1. You go really fast. It's a whole different feeling from one-man paddling. Chris (Ball) said I should try K-1, maybe go to the Olympics. I'm kind of into training hard. I want to see how I stack up. The good thing, I'm not burned out yet and usually after doing the season on a one-man, I'm fried."
Last year, she went undefeated in the OC-1 division, including the Molokai Challenge. Entering the race across the Kaiwi Channel for the first time, she set a new women's record.
As for tomorrow?
"I consider everyone a threat," said Spalding.
Ball, who won the surfski division two weeks ago, won't be racing tomorrow because of work commitments and helping set up next week's Kala Kukea Memorial Race.
"My predictions are for Steve Kelly and Mike Beyer in surfski," said Ball. "If there's big surf, I'd go with Karel (Tresnak Jr.). If it's flat, there's a bunch of guys like Kai (Bartlett) and Maui (Kjeldsen)."
Kanaka I Kai Ka Web site
