It’s Tresnak, then
the pack in the
outrigger series race

Sandvold, Hozman and Twigg-Smith
also capture division titles

There's fast. And then there's faster.

In Kanaka Ikaika racing, there is the pack. And then there is Karel Tresnak.

Tresnak continued his dominance of the one-man outrigger season, surfing his way to another Ocean Club Oahu Championship title yesterday. He finished the 16-mile course from Makai Pier to Kaimana Beach in a very fast 1 hour, 39 minutes and 57 seconds, nearly 4 minutes ahead of runner-up Manny Kulukulualani.

"I've consistently been finishing second to Karel, but he seems to keep opening the gap," said Kulukulualani, who finished in 1:43:43. "This was really fast today, pretty much ideal conditions.

"We've had a flat season. Finally, we got the conditions we wanted."

The conditions may have changed, but the result was the same. Tresnak pulled away off Portlock, with the only challenge coming from Mark Sandvold, who was paddling a surfski. Sandvold shot ahead at the end, finishing in 1:38:50 for the overall top time.

"We were having fun the whole time, trading waves," Tresnak said of his friendly battle with Sandvold. "It was epic out there, great waves, ideal conditions.

"I feel like I'm surfing better now. Every time, I learn something new, figure out the ocean a little more. It was a good day."

The hardest part for some of the competitors was making it through the channel to Kaimana Beach after crossing the offshore finish line. Several big sets rolled in as both the short-course and long-course paddlers were finishing; the waves even forced the official boat to pull up anchor and move back to avoid getting caught in the break.

Initially, John Foti wasn't sure if he had officially completed the course after cutting inside of the official boat to avoid getting caught in a big set. He later learned he had finished third overall, in 1:43:55.

A total of 62 OC-1s and 12 surfskis finished the long course. Arlene Hozman won the women's OC-1 division in 2:06:44, while Maggie Twigg-Smith was the surfski winner in 1:57:10.

Ninety-one OC-1s completed the 10-mile short course from Hawaii Kai to Kaimana Beach.

Carlton Helm took the men's short course in 59:26, 12 seconds ahead of Kelly Foster. Bonga Perkins, who had won most of the races this season, was third in 1:00:58. The top female was Jaime Kinard in 1:09:46.

Officials did not give times for the OC-2s (two-man canoes).

The race was not without its controversy.

The start of the long course was pushed back to 10:30 a.m. to take advantage of the incoming tide. However a number of paddlers got caught off 150-200 yards behind the starting line when a group took off before the gun.

"The race sort of started itself," said Mark Rigg, who finished eighth. "It's too bad because you train for this race and then it's like the bus leaves without you."

The next race is the Hurricane State Championship on April 23. The short course is 15 miles, from Hawaii Kai to Sand Island, while the 23-mile long course is from Makai Pier to Sand Island.

"Hopefully, we'll have the same conditions as we had today," Kulukulualani said.