RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Karel Tresnak, Jr., left, and Kai Bartlett shook hands after crossing the the finish line.

Tresnak Jr., Hendricks eke out relay win

The pair reunites to win the Kaiwi Channel Relay

Five years after last racing together, Karel Tresnak Jr. and Nate Hendricks soothed the memory of a nose-tip loss with a strong -- if still narrow -- victory yesterday in the 15th annual Starbucks Kaiwi Channel Relay.

Tresnak and Hendricks completed the 40.2-mile course from Molokai to Oahu across the treacherous Kaiwi Channel in 4 hours, 36 minutes and 5.5 seconds, just edging the team of Kai Bartlett and Patrick Dolan, which won last year but settled for second place at 4:36:25.1.

Considered the canoe-relay world championship, 100 teams began the race that started at Kaluakoi Hotel and finished at Magic Island, most of them in OC-1s (teams of two, with one paddling at a time and the other in an escort boat), though some competed in OC-2s (teams of four) and surfskis (teams of two).

"It got really close," said Kailua's Tresnak, who at 25 picked up his third win at this event and first with Hendricks. "The whole way across the channel we always had kind of a lead, until about Sandy Beach. But we were able to kinda pull them in by Portlock. We figured that would be a good time to make a move, into Maunalua Bay, because we know that area really well -- I've surfed there a lot.

"We figured that was our last chance, because we know how strong those guys are once (the ocean) gets flat. I went as hard as I could for about 10 minutes, and we got a decent gap. The gap fluctuated between a quarter-mile and 200 yards ... scary, scary. We know what it's like to lose this one right at the end, but we did a few (rotations), and that managed to hold them off."

Kea Paiaina and Aaron Napoleon (4:41:22.9) finished third in the open men's OC-1, and Tapa Worthington and Manny Kulukulualani (4:43:05.3) placed fourth.

Wave faces averaged 8 to 10 feet in the channel, and winds also helped push the paddlers along.

The win was the 40-year-old Hendricks' first in this race.

"I'm not at the level of (Tresnak), Pat or Kai -- the guys around me," the Kona resident said. "For me to paddle with him is totally an honor. Basically, he won the race, and I just jumped in to spell him for a while and hold them off for as long as I could. As far as that time we lost (in 2001), I'm getting on in age, so it's a good victory for me."

On the women's side, the Maui team of Lauren Bartlett (Kai Bartlett's wife) and Dane Ward turned in a convincing win in 5:23:24.0, also smashing the previous record (5:34:32) set by the Australian team of Lisa Curry-Kenny and Kirsty Holmes two years ago.

After a strong start by Lauren Bartlett, the duo had a solid lead and only seemed to build on it as the race progressed -- which got them thinking about the record.

"We were definitely going for time," Lauren Bartlett, 26, said. "We put the hammer down in the flat (sections). We knew we were close to the record, and we wanted to get it. We wanted to keep that record in Hawaii."

Said the 40-year-old Ward: "It was ideal: great wind, good tide -- it was awesome. That was probably one of my best (channel crossings) ever."

Noe Auger -- a member of the winning women's team last year -- and new partner Andrea Moller finished second in 5:36:46.3, more than 13 minutes behind.

Many of these top paddlers will brave the channel and a similar course individually on May 21, competing in the Molokai World Solo Canoe and Surfski Championships.