Kaneohe and Lokahi
battle in opening
of regatta seasonRegatta schedule
Paddles up.
Tomorrow is the start of the 2003 Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a regatta season. The Kaneohe Canoe Club hosts the all-day regatta at Keehi Lagoon.
The first event of the season usually gives a glimpse of what might follow in the season. But Kaneohe coach Clint Anderson and his counterpart Robert Viernes at the Lokahi Canoe Club already know what will unfold. They're just not sure how it's going to happen.
"I'm stressing this week," said Viernes, the second-year head coach of Lokahi. "We're trying to put as many crews as we can in. We're trying to get everybody to race. We don't know where everybody is racing.
"It's going to be a tight one between us and Kaneohe. It's the same like last year. I won't say who'll win it. ...It depends on the other clubs, if their kids can rack up some points (and prevent Kaneohe from scoring as much). Kaneohe's kids are going to kill as usual. We have to try to counterpunch with our adults."
Kaneohe and Lokahi battle each other annually for Hui Wa'a supremacy. This regatta season could be a lot like last January's Super Bowl. But instead of pitting the league's best defense against the league's best offense, it will be the Kaneohe youth vs. the adults of Lokahi.
The two groups are the major point scorers for their respective clubs which means they should balance each other in the standings.
The outcome of regattas will probably hinge upon how the Kaneohe adults matchup against Lokahi's youth.
In recent years, the regatta begins with the Kaneohe youth crews running up points and building a lead in the morning that adult crews try to protect in the afternoon when Lokahi is at its toughest.
"Lokahi will always be strong in the women's. No doubt about it," Anderson said. "The men's crews have been doing well. Their adults' program is still solid."
Anderson said Kaneohe has beefed up its adult crews with more than 100 adult paddlers joining the club. But the majority of them will compete in the novice divisions which means Kaneohe will still rely on youth to carry them.
At last year's state races on the Big Island, Kaneohe paddled to a second-place finish in the AA division with its youth crews winning or placing in the top three of races they qualified in.
"We're going to present this first race to our children because our kids did well (last year)," Anderson said. "And it's the 30th anniversary of our club."
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2003 Regatta schedule
Date, location, host clubMay 25: Keehi Lagoo, Kaneohe
June 1: Haleiwa Beach Park, Manu O Ke Kai
June 8: Keehi Lagoon, Lokahi
June 15: Haleiwa Beach Park, North Shore
June 22 Keehi Lagoon, Windward Kai
June 29: Maili Beach, Na Keiki O Ka Moi
July 6: Keehi Lagoon, Koa Kai
July 13: Waikiki Beach, Waikiki Beach Boys
July 19: Keehi Lagoon, Hui Wa'a Championships
August 2: Keehi Lagoon, HCRA State Championship (hosted by Hui Wa'a)
