[ CANOE CLUB ]
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
The Lokahi Canoe Club's senior men's crew paddled back to the beach after finishing first yesterday. The club finished second to Kaneohe Canoe Club.
Kaneohe rebounds
to win regattaThe canoe club gets by Lokahi
for its fifth triumph in six events
After experiencing its first hiccup in 2003 Na Ohana O Na Hui Waa competition last week, Kaneohe Canoe Club recovered nicely.
The windward-side club responded to a runner-up showing a week ago by scoring a regatta-high 10 race victories and 75 total points yesterday to win the Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i Regatta at Maili Beach.
Kaneohe has now won five of six regattas, with only two more regular-season regattas before the association championships next month.
"We're happy with the job everybody did," Kaneohe head coach Clint Anderson said. "We have fun, and do what we did -- just try our best -- and it came out OK for us."
As has become customary for the club, Kaneohe surged ahead at the start of the 36-race event and had a commanding lead at its midpoint behind the strength of its youth paddlers, who race before the adults. After 18 races, Kaneohe enjoyed a 60-25 advantage over eventual runner-up Lokahi, which finished with 66 points.
Finishing a distant third in the AAA division (18-plus crews) was Manu O Ke Kai, with 38 points. Koa Kai defeated host Ka Mo'i 40-31 in the AA division (9-17 crews), while Waikiki Beach Boys won the A division (6-8 crews) with 29.
Its kids scored seven of Kaneohe's victories, with wins in: boys 12-and-under; mixed 12-and-under; girls 14-and-under; girls 15-and-under; boys 15-and-under; boys 16-and-under; and boys 18-and-under.
"We tried our best to maneuver some new kids inside (the crews) and we did well -- they pulled it through," Anderson said.
But Anderson also quick credited assistant coach Cory Fukushima for yesterday's success.
Fukushima led Kaneohe's adult paddlers to three wins yesterday while the regular adults coach, Junior Parrilla, was on the mainland. The last of these wins came in the 33rd race -- mixed masters 45-and-over, basically cementing the overall victory.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Lokahi's senior women's crew returned to shore after winning their race yesterday.
"We just had to adjust to what the other clubs were doing," Fukushima said. "We tried to keep up with them with (crew lineup) changes. All the adults, we came back together and worked hard.... (In the past) we were kind of short on adults, but now we got a lot of adults and we're coming out strong."
After picking up its lone regatta title of the season a week ago, traditional Hui Waa powerhouse Lokahi was relegated to its fifth second-place showing this year.
As it has experienced earlier in the season, the Ala Wai-based club yesterday suffered not only through Kaneohe's solid performance, but self-inflicted wounds as well. Four disqualifications as a result of the club's boat holders letting the canoes drift in front of their starting flags before races cost Lokahi what would have otherwise been three second-place finishes and one fourth, a total of 10 points.
"What killed us was the DQs," Lokahi coach Robert Viernes said. "I brought it up (with the boat holders), we checked it out, but I guess it was something they couldn't correct. It was just that the current was moving the flags. (But) it was our fault, too; we should've set up more back (of the flags)."
But Viernes also gleaned the positive from yesterday's regatta, emphasizing that Lokahi's men are making fast strides, and that the club's senior women remain the class of the association. Lokahi's men swept through the freshmen, sophomore and senior races, and the club's senior men now have a modest three-race winning streak to compare with Lokahi's senior women, who picked up their 52nd straight win.
The 1 1/2-mile senior races are considered the most prestigious in regatta competition. Lokahi's senior men's crew of Christopher Tseu, Eddie Davis, Viernes, Mike Cushnie, Earl Cobb Jr. and Terry Hamamoto finished in 12 minutes, 18.84 seconds, about seven seconds faster than runner-up Koa Kai.
Lokahi's senior women, with Jenn Thompson, Carol Jaxon, Dy Valdez, Karen Dunai, Iwa Bush and Bozo Vierra won in 14:17.14, some 30 seconds ahead of second-place Waikiki Beach Boys.
"Our men are getting good," Viernes said.
"We got a streak, too, now," he kidded. "That's something good ... Other than that, we're still trying to just qualify as much crews as possible for (the state championships, Aug. 2)."
Hui Waa's next regatta will be at Keehi Lagoon on Sunday. The Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association, the island's other paddling association, will next compete Friday at the annual Fourth of July Macfarlane Regatta at Waikiki Beach.
FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM
Steersman Iwa Bush led Lokahi's senior women's crew through the victory tunnel yesterday.
