Outrigger takes inside track to win
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The Outrigger Canoe Club celebrates its victory in the Duke Kahanamoku Long Distance Race. The crew finished the 24-mile course in 2 hours, 54 minutes, 44 seconds.
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
The new and improved version of the Outrigger Canoe Club men's team was unveiled in style yesterday.
With a new collection of paddlers, Outrigger won the 35th annual Duke Kahanamoku Long Distance Race yesterday. Outrigger completed the 24-mile course from Kailua Beach to Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Wai-kiki, in 2 hours, 54 minutes, 44 seconds.
Team New Zealand/Ha-wai'i, the defending world champion, placed second at 2:55:35. Lanikai, which won the Duke Kahanamoku race last year, placed third at 2:58:04, followed by Kai 'Opua (2:59:39) and 'Anuenue (3:03:34).
"Definitely surprised," said Jim Beaton, who steered the winning Outrigger canoe. "A lot of us are in our first year with Outrigger, so this was kind of like our first test."
If so, they aced it.
Members of the winning crew: Beaton, Kevin Allen, Tom Allen, Mike Beyer, Bret Chuckovich, Ian Forrester, Byron Ho, Sean Monahan and Tim Twigg-Smith. Not one of those paddlers was on the Outrigger crew that won the 1999 Moloka'i Hoe.
However, the crew is not composed of rookies. Many of them transferred to Outrigger this year from other clubs.
"It just came time to move on," said Twigg-Smith, who paddled with Waikiki Surf Club last year. "A bunch of us came over to Outrigger for the coaching and just to be with a great bunch of guys."
Perhaps because of their newly created status, Outrigger went undetected by the other contenders throughout yesterday's race.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
Riding waves closer to the shoreline, Outrigger stayed even with the leaders for most of the course before making a surge at the end.
Jim Beaton said he was "definitely surprised" by the win.
"A bunch of the other teams were outside, but we seemed to be on a good line inside so we stayed there," Beaton said.
Team New Zealand/Ha-wai'i steersman Karel Tresnak Jr. said that by the time he became aware of Outrigger's presence, it was too late.
"I actually thought we were winning the whole way," Tresnak said. "But right around Black Point, I saw Outrigger on the inside and went, 'No way!' It was like they came out of nowhere."
Yesterday's race followed a new format, with the top 15 seeded crews starting 18 minutes after the rest of the fleet. In essence, the top crews had to maneuver past the slower canoes along the course.
"I actually liked it because you can pass the other boats along the way and use that as incentive," Tresnak said. "The only bad part is you have to keep an eye out for who's where, and we didn't do that."
But Team New Zealand/Hawai'i was not at full strength. The crew is normally composed of five paddlers from New Zealand and four from Hawai'i. However, three of the New Zealand paddlers are not scheduled to arrive in Hawai'i until next month.
"That's still a good crew they put out today," Beaton said. "But we know that we can't make too much out of us beating them this time."
Twigg-Smith added: "There are no guarantees this year. There's no way we can relax now and think we're going to be up there for the rest of the season."
Lanikai never quite threatened for the lead, although it did gain a measure of revenge by finishing ahead of Kai 'Opua. Three weeks ago, Kai 'Opua won the senior men's race at the state championship regatta, ending Lanikai's 10-year winning streak in that event.
"We're working some new guys into the first crew, so we have no complaints with how we did," said Mike Judd, Lanikai's paddler/coach. "We were pretty close behind (the leaders) the whole way, we just could never catch them."
Outrigger crews also won the 35-and-older division and 45-and-older division. The 35-and-older crew was an impressive sixth overall at 3:04:01. 'Anuenue, guided by expert steersman Nappy Napoleon, won the 55-and-older division.
A total of 44 men's crews entered, with 42 finishing (two crews withdrew midway through the course). Each team was allowed to rotate nine paddlers into the six seats of the canoe (while six paddled, three followed in an escort boat until relief changes were needed).
• Women: Kailua crews dominated the 7-mile women's race, which was staged off Kailua Beach prior to the men's race.
Kailua crews accounted for four of the top five places, including the winning time of 52 minutes, 42 seconds. The winning crew: Suzanne Schaeffer, Kathy Erwin, Ann Farrell, Lisa Martin, Amy Hebenstreit and Carleen Ornellas.
Another Kailua crew was a distant second at 55:43, followed by Lanikai at 55:51.
• • •
Top finishers
Men (24 miles)
Open: 1, Outrigger-I (Kevin Allen, Tom Allen, Jim Beaton, Mike Beyer, Bret Chuckovich, Ian Forrester, Byron Ho, Sean Monahan, Tim Twigg-Smith), 2:54:44. 2, Team New Zealand/Hawai'i, 2:55:35. 3, Lanikai-II, 2:58:04. 4, Kai 'Opua, 2:59:39. 5, 'Anuenue, 3:03:34. 6, Hui Lanakila-II, 3:04:12. 7, Hui Nalu-I, 3:05:14. 8, Hui Lanakila-I, 3:05:38. 9, Kailua-I, 3:08:10. 10, Hui Nalu-II, 3:08:18. 11, Outrigger-II, 3:10:54. 12, Leeward Kai, 3:13:43. 13, Lanikai-I, 3:17:01. 14, Hui Lanakila-III, 3:18:30. 15, Healani-I, 3:19:46.
Masters 35-older: 1, Outrigger-III (Walter Guild, Marc Haine, Karl Heyer, Mark Sandvold, Geoff Graf, Tom Conner, Tommy Damon, Todd Bradley, Courtney Seto), 3:04:01. 2, Puna, 3:12:32. 3, Hui Lanakila-IV, 3:23:55. 4, Koa Kai-I, 3:25:39. 5, Hui Nalu-III, 3:35:52.
Masters 45-older: 1, Outrigger-IV (Doug Bechert, Bill Fegtich, George Hana, Chris Crabb, Allen Dowsett, Bill Lawson, Glenn Perry, Mike Schwinn, Brent Ackerman), 3:34:08. 2, New Hope-III, 3:54:22.
Masters 55-older: 1, 'Anuenue-II (Richard Bell, Ed McKeon, Jon Miki, Sam Rodriguez, Harry Ho, Nappy Napoleon, Tom Sing, Harry Spoehr, Gaylord Wilcox), 4:01:28. 2, Keahiakahoe, 4:05:50.
Women (7 miles)
Open: 1, Kailua-I (Suzanne Schaeffer, Kathy Erwin, Ann Farrell, Lisa Martin, Amy Hebenstreit, Carleen Ornellas), 52:42. 2, Kailua-III, 55:43. 3, Lanikai-III, 55:51. 4, Kailua-II, 56:57. 5, Waimanalo-II, 58:50. 6, Lanikai-V, 59:09. 7, Healani-I, 59:14. 8, Lanikai-IV, 59:36. 9, New Hope-I, 59:56. 10, Hui Nalu-II, 1:00:46.
Masters 35-older: 1, Lanikai-II (Judith Sangiuliano, Lisa Sauer, Cathy Bender, Lori O'Riordan, Patty Bell, Dani Gay), 58:20. 2, New Hope-II, 1:02:23.
Masters 45-older: 1, Kailua-V (Mary Martin, Sara Watson, Peggy Spencer, Linda Shea, Lynn Wochrle, Lynn Kaita), 57:01.
Masters 55-older: 1, 'Anuenue-I (Liane Iaukea, Joyce Spoehr, Mimi Sharma, Sharon Skouge, Sandy Hu, Anona Napoleon), 1:05:16.
