DQs move No. 3 crew
into first

The race is won on the water.

Even though the official results won't show that Outrigger and Lanikai flexed their considerable muscle yesterday in the first long-distance canoe race of the season, the rest of the field knows:

Outrigger is the crew to beat. And Lanikai is right there.

Officials disqualified the two top finishers in the 37th Duke Kahanamoku Men's Race when the crews failed to come through the channel leading to the finish line, instead opting to cut inside of the shoreline break. The ruling erased the battle that saw Outrigger finish the 24-mile race from Kailua to Waikiki in 2 hours, 57 minutes and 46 seconds -- just seven seconds ahead of Lanikai.

The victory was awarded to defending champion Team New Zealand/Hawaii, racing under the aegis of Hui Lanakila and with a different steersman (Aaron Napoleon). The crew finished in 3:02:11 with Hui Nalu I second in 3:04:56.

"We all know who won," said Napoleon. "We'll give them the trophy. We were neck-and-neck. They turned inside. I started to go with them but my guys told me we'd get DQ'd."

The confusion came when no buoy was placed outside the channel lane, as is done with the Molokai Hoe. But as one official said, "The Duke race follows the same course. Course maps are given to all crews. They opted not to follow instructions."

"There was no buoy there so we went inside," said Outrigger steersman Karel Tresnak Jr., who steered for Team New Zealand/Hawaii last season.

"It would maybe be a minute difference, going inside," said Lanikai steersman Jim Foti. "The Molokai (buoy) wasn't there so we went with them. DQ or not, we know who won."

Outrigger gets points for perseverance. After rounding Makapu'u, the OCC canoe was hit by another crew's escort boat "and we had to scramble for a bit," said Tresnak.

Outrigger recovered, regained the lead and had a great race with Lanikai ... until the two crews crossed the finish line and got the word they would be disqualified.

The Waikiki Beach Boys won the 25th running of the women's race, finishing the 7-mile iron event from Kailua Beach to Mokolea Island and back in 50:13.

The real race was for second. Kailua edged Hui Nalu's by six seconds, 52:06-52:12.

"Our focus is on Molokai," said Beach Boys steersman Julie Shoup. "This was a good start."