Liliuokalani long distance
race keeps getting bigger
on Big Isle

KAILUA-KONA » Three decades ago, a handful of Hawaii canoe clubs gathered in Kona for the inaugural Queen Liliuokalani Long Distance Canoe Races.

Now billed as the "world's largest long distance canoe race," the event was the brainchild of famed Hawaii waterman Duke Kahanamoku's brother Louie and his wife, Mary Jane.

"We started off this race in 1971 with three Big Island clubs and a few invited from Oahu," said Maile Mauhili, executive race secretary. "We had nine races for men and women. We were the first race for double-hull canoes and the first to organize one-man canoe races, too."

Mauhili said she is proud of how far all the clubs have come, from local clubs that sweep categories to newcomers from the mainland and beyond.

"The Outrigger Club from Oahu did well that first year," she recalled, and went on to dominate for the next decade until finally a Big Island club took top honors in the early 1980s.

"That was the biggest chicken-skin moment for me," she said, "when Kai Opua broke through that barrier. And we haven't looked back."

This weekend, more than 240 crews fought for medals in 60 divisions. Saturday's races included canoes with six and nine paddlers racing the 18 miles between Kailua Bay and Honaunau Bay, while yesterday's events focused on youth, double-hull and one- and two-man canoes.

Teams came in from across Hawaii and the Pacific, as well as California, Washington state, Washington, D.C., and Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Island Paddle Club took home two medals and a boatload of motivation.

"We've been coming for seven or eight years and this year we brought our biggest contingent. Three men's crews and two women's," Matthew Flynn said. "This is our target race, the biggest one for us. It gives us a lot of motivation to take home and try to get better."

The Hong Kong paddlers spend half the year racing dragon boats and have learned to respect the vessels.

That respect carried over this weekend into a koa canoe, borrowed from host club Kai Opua.

"This was the first time I ever set foot in a koa canoe. It's just such a real honor for us to paddle in this club's treasured boat," Flynn said.