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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, May 5, 2003

Bartlett, Napoleon defend paddling crown

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

It wasn't broken, and so it didn't need fixing.

Lauren Spalding and her partner, Noelani Sawyer, finished in 6 hours, 17 minutes, 13 seconds.

Photos by Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser

Relying on the same canoe, the same course, the same substitution patterns and the same faith in each other, Kai Bartlett and Aaron Napoleon repeated as champions in the Starbucks Kaiwi Channel Relay yesterday.

"It's the same formula as last year," Bartlett said. "It's proven itself already, so why not stay with it?"

They completed the 40.2-mile course from Kaluakoi Beach, Moloka'i, to Magic Island, O'ahu, in 5 hours, 2 minutes, 56 seconds.

The race is considered the world championship of relay racing for one-person canoes. While one paddler paddles the canoe, the other follows in an escort boat. They can switch positions at any time during the course.

Lauren Spalding and Noelani Sawyer dominated the women's division. Their winning time of 6:17:13 was nearly 40 minutes faster than second place Jane McKee and Loretta Toth (6:57:12).

A record 120 teams entered the race, although several had to withdraw along the course due to injuries or equipment breakdowns. Choppy seas and moderate winds contributed to a relatively slow crossing.

For Bartlett and Napoleon — both from O'ahu — there were no breakdowns or let downs.

Kai Bartlett

Aaron Napoleon

Noelani Sawyer
After a slow start, they rallied to overtake Karel Tresnak Jr. and Maui Kjeldsen midway across the channel, and then never relinquished the lead.

"For some reason, I started out real slow," Napoleon said. "I got behind (Kjeldsen) by maybe 100 yards and I was feeling pretty down. I thought it was over."

According to Bartlett, it took a change of disposition rather than a change of course to catch Kjeldsen and Tresnak.

"We just needed to have fun with it," he said. "I didn't want to feel any pressure or anything like that. So it was kind of good when we got behind because it made us feel like the underdogs again."

Bartlett paddled one particularly strong leg to surge into the lead.

"Pretty much every (wave) in front of me, I caught," he said. "It's so hard to put a gap on (Tresnak) because he's such a good surfer, but that turned out to be a good run for me."

With no real timed strategy, they gradually increased the lead over the last half of the course. Most of the teams switched every 15 or 20 minutes.

"We didn't really follow a watch," Bartlett said. "If one of us was on a good run, we stayed with it. We both did some long runs and some short ones."

Once in the lead, Bartlett and Napoleon stayed on a straight course across the channel. In an effort to make up ground, Tresnak and Kjeldsen drifted south.

"We had to try something different," Kjeldsen said. "It seemed like we were gaining ground, but I guess it was too late."

Kjeldsen and Tresnak finished second at 5:06:20, or about a half-mile behind the winners. They also placed second to Bartlett and Napoleon last year.

"We both did some long runs and some short ones," said Kai Bartlett, on boat with arms raised, as his partner Aaron Napoleon crosses the finish line.
"We had a pretty good race; they just beat us," Tresnak said.

The rest of the men's field was even farther behind. Mike Judd and Mark Rigg were third at 5:12:39, followed by Nate Hendricks and Walter Guild at 5:15:28 and then Andrew Penny and Kea Pa'iaina at 5:17:23.

For the second straight year, Bartlett and Napoleon used a Polaris canoe. Bartlett designed and constructed the canoe himself.

Spalding and Sawyer used a Hurricane canoe to blow away the other women's teams. Spalding broke away from the pack right off the starting line and they never looked back.

"You keep checking the horizon looking for somebody to catch up," said Sawyer, who is from Kaua'i. "Thank god nobody did."

However, at least three contending women's tandems withdrew from the course due to injuries.

"We never let up," said Spalding, who is from Maui. "Even though we were by ourselves most of the way, we went hard to the end."

Spalding also won last year's women's division, but with a different partner.

There was also a division for two-person canoes. Four paddlers were allowed to alternate in that division.

The mixed foursome of Cherisse Kelii, Scott Jones, Bruce Ayau and Paula Crabb finished first in 5:30:17.

"It was fun all the way across," Ayau said. "We just tried to make our own race and try to pass as many teams as possible."

They beat all the men's foursomes. The first all-male team to finish was Hank Leandro, Donovan Leandro, Kawai Mahoe and Kealii Martin in 5:30:58.