Tight finish at end of long canoe race

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Even in a 40-mile, five-hour canoe race, every second counts and every inch matters.

John Foti and Mike Judd proved that with a photo-finish victory in the Island Snow Kaiwi Channel Relay yesterday.

Mike Judd, left, and John Foti used a strategy of alternating frequently in their one-person canoe — and it paid off. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Kaua'i paddlers Katy Curtis and Darcy Wilcox won the women's division in 6:43:44.

The event required two paddlers to alternate in a one-person canoe. When one teammate paddles, the other follows in an escort boat. They can switch positions anytime throughout the course.

"To me, nobody lost," Judd said. "When it's that tight, it's hard to say that somebody won and somebody lost."

To be sure, Hendricks and Tresnak were credited with the same time as Judd and Foti. However, the nose of the Judd/Foti canoe clearly crossed the finish line first.

"You paddle for five hours and lose by less than one second, six inches, it's frustrating," Hendricks said. "But we had a shot at it. That's all we can ask."

Paddling for 20-minute intervals each, Judd and Foti raced to an early lead and held it nearly the entire way across the Kaiwi Channel. "It actually looked like we were slowly eating everybody up and starting to go away with it," Foti said.

But in the waves off East O'ahu, Tresnak surfed into the lead. Because he was in such a groove, Tresnak stayed in the canoe for nearly one hour and opened a lead of about 100 yards.

"Our plan was to have me stay in the surf and Nate in the flat water," Tresnak said. "It was just that there was so much surf, I stayed in there kind of long."

As a result, Hendricks was left to paddle the entire stretch run from Diamond Head to Magic Island. During that same stretch, Judd and Foti alternated four times and slowly closed the gap.

"We knew they were doing those long runs," Foti said. "So we wanted to stick with our short runs and stay fresh. We wanted to 1-2 punch them."

Judd got in the canoe last, and out-sprinted Hendricks to the finish.

After 40 miles, the Island Snow Kaiwi Channel Relay came down to a photo finish yesterday, with Mike Judd, above, out-sprinting his brother-in-law Nate Hendricks to the finish line. Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Judd also happens to be Hendricks' brother-in-law. Hendricks' wife, Carrie Sue, is Judd's sister. She placed second in the women's division with her partner, Cherisse Kelii.

It was the sixth Kaiwi Channel Relay win for Foti, but the first for Judd. All five of Foti's previous victories came with his younger brother, Jim.

Kai Bartlett and Kea Paiaina were a distant third at 5:10:02. Brothers Aaron and Joe Napoleon were fourth (5:14:33), and Jim Foti and Raven Aipa fifth (5:14:37).

In the women's division, Curtis and Wilcox paddled to an impressive, and somewhat surprising, victory.

"I thought we could be up there (with the leaders), but I didn't expect to beat them," Wilcox said.

They did it by paddling on a northerly course that provided a friendly current and gentle swells. Although most of the other teams paddled on a southerly course, Wilcox opted otherwise.

"It was my decision, and it was based on . . . nothing," she said with a laugh. "We just kind of committed to it from the beginning and stayed with it. It was a little bit of luck, I guess."

Not so lucky was the team of Donna Kahakui and Nicole Montel. Their escort boat broke down just before the race, and they talked some fishermen on Moloka'i into providing assistance.

"It was panic for a little while," said Kahakui. "We kind of had to tell them what to do — make sure they didn't run anybody over — but it worked out."

Kahakui and Montel led early in the race, but then lost track of Curtis and Wilcox.

"We don't know where we got ahead because we were on our own for a long time," Curtis said. "We didn't know we won until we crossed the finish."

Carrie Sue Hendricks and Kelii passed Kahakui and Montel down the stretch to take second.

There was also a division for two-person canoes (three paddlers were allowed to alternate in the two seats). Marc Haine, Greg Poole and Mark Rigg won that division in 5:25:52.