FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM The Waikiki Beach Boys women's sophomore crew of Rachel Shackelford, Christina Hoggatt, Cherie Lee and Stacey Shepard celebrated their victory yesterday.

All-around effort gives
Kaneohe victory

The defending champions win six
youth races and have 12 top-five
finishes from the adults

Defending champion Kaneohe Canoe Club got an all-around effort from its entire crew as it won yesterday's season-opening Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a regatta at Keehi Lagoon.

Kaneohe had a strong start and remained steady during the 36-race regatta to win with 83 points in the AAA division. It won six youth races to start the day, then had 12 top-five finishes in the adult races.

Lokahi, last year's AA division champion, finished second to Kaneohe with 58 points in the AAA division for clubs entered in more than 25 events.

"It was a good showing from the kids to the adults," Kaneohe coach Clint Anderson said. "We had a last-minute arrival of kids about a week ago from other sports, so we trained them. It was surprising."

Like other clubs, Anderson expects a few more youth paddlers to show up as their school years begin to wrap up. With new faces in the canoe each week, he expects the competition to get tougher.

"The first regatta, everybody sees where they stand and start picking their slots where they can make points," he explained.

FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Dave Cadavona, Kekoa Taylor, Mark Munneke, Darren Kela, William Gualdarama and John Miner, from front, got Koa Kai a win in the men's novice A race.

"We did pretty good as far the kids are concerned," said Manoi, whose entire youth crew has already showed up. "My predictions were pretty accurate as to who I thought would be in the top five."

Prior to yesterday's regatta, the league had a series of preseason long-distance races ranging from 6 to 8 1/2 miles. The success of Kaneohe's senior women's master 50-plus crew in the long-distance events carried over to yesterday's 1/2-mile race as it won its division for the first time. Regular-season races range from a half-mile to 1 1/2 miles.

"It prepared us very well," crew member Lois Lake said of the long-distance races. "It made us stronger."

"It's harder because it's a quick sprint," added Tweetie Anderson, whose crew finished in 4 minutes, 35.18 seconds -- 16 seconds ahead of the second-place crew from Kai Poha.

"They are a diehard bunch of ladies and they won all the long-distance races," Clint Anderson said. "I was kind of shocked because they hardly do well. Today, they did really well.

"Long distance helps us a lot. We entered every long-distance race this year just to motivate the paddlers to the next level and the results showed up pretty good."

In the AA division for clubs entered in 13-24 events, Ka Mamalahoe edged Alapa Hoe 19-17. Waikiki Beach Boys continued the dominance it showed in the A division last year, capturing four races to win with 29 points.