"It just says that we have a lot of talent on Maui," Wailea coach Mark Cluney said. "We realize that in order for us to compete as a crew and as a club against clubs from all the islands, we really have to do our homework."

Kihei came out of nowhere to edge Kane'ohe, 139-138, in the AA division (9 to 17 crews entered). Kihei wasn't even on the radar halfway through the regatta as Kane'ohe took advantage of its 13 youth crews to take an early lead with 112 points, nearly double the total of the second-place team.

But Kihei placed third in four of the last eight events and won the open mixed race to win its first AA title since 2002.

"Coming here, we thought we could pull it off but halfway through the day, it didn't look like it was attainable," said Kihei coach Kawika Williams. "Kane'ohe was doing well and none of our earlier teams that we raced did that well. It wasn't what we expected."

Williams said he was surprised to learn late in the afternoon that his team had a shot at winning.

"We were in 10 of the last 12 races," Williams said. "That's our strongest teams towards the end. We have a lot of older guys and our mixed teams pushed it.

"We usually come on strong at the end of the day and we did."

Kihei's Donna Abdill said there's no favoritism by Williams so "you better earn your seat."

"He sticks to that and puts the good combinations together ... the combinations that work," Abdill said.

Kane'ohe coach Clint Anderson said his youth crews could have been more relaxed and pushed a bit more to defend its AA title.

"I think our kids took it for granted," Anderson said. "We didn't really push the way we were suppose to."

Cluney saw his team as the underdog coming into the regatta. With the tough competition and his club going through a rebuilding year, he didn't think it had a shot at making it three straight titles in A division (8 crews or fewer entered). But some key performances gave the club enough points to pull out the 79-77 win over Healani.

"We didn't think all our crews were really prepared as they could have been," Cluney said.

The division was tight throughout the day with several teams in contention for the title. Cluney said Wailea was "lucky to score points in certain races."

"Everybody just carried their load ... just enough to get the points."

Earlier in the week, Wailea bought a lane in the junior men's race since one of the 14 lanes was not occupied. It ended up placing fourth in that race, one of the keys to its victory.

"I didn't expect our group, especially our men, to do as well as we did," Cluney said. "Not because we don't think we're that good but one, the competition is great and we're just getting some guys back from taking a break for a couple of years."

A small club, Wailea is overshadowed by Hawaiian Canoe Club on Maui, where everybody assumes paddlers there compete for Hawaiian.

"We're the underdog but we love the underdog role," Cluney said.