Team Hawai'i paddlers conquer World again

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Team Hawai'i is all alone on the way to their fifth consecutive victory in the Liberty World Challenge. Hawai'i paddlers, from left, Thibert Lussiaa, Mike Judd and Kea Pa'iaina. Associated Press

Team Hawai'i, six paddlers from various clubs around the state, won the Liberty World Challenge in convincing fashion yesterday for the fifth consecutive year.

"We had a great race," said Thibert Lussiaa. "The water was super flat, but there was some wind and we all just worked well together."

Team Hawai'i completed the 16.3-mile course around New York Harbor in 1 hour, 57 minutes, 25 seconds. The second-place team, Newport Aquatic Center (Calif.), finished in 2:05:38, or about one mile behind.

OffShore Canoe Club (Calif.) won the women's division in 2:16:05. Team Hawai'i did not field a women's crew.

Yesterday's race drew close to 100 teams from around the world. The event has been held every year since 1997, and Team Hawai'i has never lost since it first entered in 1998.

"We didn't know what to expect, so we went out hard from the start," Team Hawai'i paddler Mike Judd said. "After that, we kept the pressure on ourselves. We pushed hard the whole way."

The course traveled past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, the Brooklyn Bridge, and alongside the financial district of New York City.

"This is my fifth year, but it's still exciting every year," Lussiaa said. "It's not every day you get to paddle around the Statue of Liberty."

Significantly missing from the skyline, however, were the twin towers of the World Trade Center, destroyed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"In past years, you'd look up and the thing that caught your attention the most was the twin towers," Judd said. "Now you look up and think of 9-11."

Kea Pa'iaina, a Team Hawai'i paddler who also works for the Honolulu Fire Department, added: "You know the towers are gone, but you keep looking up hoping it will be there. It's kind of an unreal feeling to go past there and think about what happened."

On Friday, Team Hawai'i paddled a canoe to the water fronting "Ground Zero" and spread flower lei around the area.

"This year definitely felt different from the other years," Lussiaa said. "I think we all came here this time with a different attitude toward life. Winning the race was important, but we also knew that there was something bigger going on."

Team Hawai'i was sponsored by the Hawai'i Visitors and Convention Bureau. Members of the winning team: Pa'iaina (Healani Canoe Club), Judd (Lanikai), Lussiaa (Kai 'Opua), Walter Guild (Outrigger), John Foti (Lanikai) and Jim Foti (Lanikai).