Kjeldsen, Tresnak Jr. tame Kaiwi Channel
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
After two years of runner-up finishes, the fusion of Maui Kjeldsen and Karel Tresnak Jr. finally resulted in a victory yesterday in the Starbucks Kaiwi Channel Relay.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Using a new canoe called "Fusion," Kjeldsen and Tresnak prevailed in what is considered one of the most prestigious races in canoe paddling.
"We got out to a pretty good start, and then kind of held everybody else off after that," said Maui Kjeldsen, after crossing the finish line.
Maui Kjeldsen, left, and Karel Tresnak Jr. won the race after finishing second the past two years.
"We finally got rid of the curse," Tresnak said. "It was so frustrating to get second the last couple years, I think that's why we're so happy with this one."
The 40.2-mile race starts at Kaluako'i Beach, Moloka'i, and finishes at Magic Island, O'ahu.
The race is for one-person canoes, but with two paddlers alternating throughout the course. When one paddler is paddling the canoe, the other follows in an escort boat; they can switch positions at anytime during the course.
Tresnak and Kjeldsen completed the course in 4 hours, 31 minutes, 27 seconds — 1 minute, 1 second off the course record. Tresnak is from Kailua; Kjeldsen is originally from New Zealand, but now resides on O'ahu.
"We got out to a pretty good start, and then kind of held everybody else off after that," Kjeldsen said.
Kai Bartlett and David Beck were second at 4:34:57, followed by Kea Pa'iaina and Thibert Lussiaa at 4:37:08, then Mike Judd and Tapa Worthington at 4:38:23.
Australians Lisa Curry-Kenny and Kirsty Holmes won the women's division in a record time of 5:34:32. They beat the previous women's record by more than three minutes.
Most of the top tandems were based on sponsorship. Kjeldsen and Tresnak, for example, were sponsored by Outrigger Connection, which is owned by Tresnak's father. Karel Tresnak Sr. designed the Fusion earlier this year.
There would be no confusion over the winning strategy.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Once Kjeldsen and Tresnak took the lead, they kept a close watch on their nearest competitors.
Kirsty Holmes, left, and Lisa Curry-Kenny did not have a set plan when to alternate, just trading when one of them got tired. The strategy paid off with a first-place finish.
"We didn't take our ideal course, but that's because the other guys were going south," Tresnak said. "We figured we had to cover them, and not let anybody sneak by us."
Kjeldsen and Tresnak alternated paddling every 20 minutes, although Tresnak stayed in longer when the swells were pushing.
"He's the better surfer, so he stayed in and got some good runs," Kjeldsen said. "That really helped because I was losing some ground toward the end."
Judd and Worthington were in second place for most of the race, getting as close as 100 yards at various times.
"They would get real close, then we'd pull away, then they'd get real close again," Tresnak said. "It was like we had the lead the whole time, but we never felt safe."
Bartlett and Beck actually took a north course to sneak into a surprising second place. Bartlett won the Kaiwi Channel Relay the past two years with Aaron Napoleon.
However, Bartlett underwent a hernia operation in March, and was not able to train with Napoleon for this year's race.
"I wasn't expecting anything close to this," Bartlett said. "I would have been happy with top five."
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Bartlett said his injury would prevent him from entering the Kona Brewing Co. Moloka'i World Championships on May 16. That event is a solo race from Moloka'i to O'ahu.
Maui Kjeldsen, right, is greeted by a well-wisher after he paddled to victory with teammate Karel Tresnak, Jr.
"I'm in pain ... I'm done for a while," Bartlett said. "(Beck) had to do a lot of the work today. I was just filling in whenever I could."
Curry-Kenny and Holmes dominated the women's race in their first try.
"There were some other girls right with us for the first three hours," Curry-Kenny said. "Then we split up — we went a little more north — and I think that's where we made ground because we couldn't see anybody after that."
Because the women started one hour earlier than the men, Curry-Kenny and Holmes had to chart their own course across the channel.
"I can see why people get lost at sea out there," Curry-Kenny said. "There was a time when we couldn't see anybody else in any direction. I was actually happy when the men's boats started catching up to us. At least we knew we were going the right way."
Unlike many of the other top teams, Curry-Kenny and Holmes did not have a timed pattern for alternating in the canoe.
"We basically went until we were tired," Holmes said. "We found that we would do better when we each stayed in there a little longer and pushed it."
Dane Ward of Maui and Noelani Sawyer of Kaua'i placed second in 5:41:19; Big Island paddlers Cherisse Keli'i and Noe Nu'u were third at 5:44:32.
Maui's Lauren Spalding, who has been part of the winning women's team for the last two years, did not enter yesterday.
Curry-Kenny and Holmes arrived in Honolulu earlier in the week, and entered yesterday's race as part of their training for the Moloka'i World Championships. It was especially difficult for Holmes, who does not normally practice on one-person canoes (she will race in a surfski during the Moloka'i World Championships).
However, they are no strangers to big wins across the Kaiwi Channel — they were members of the Mooloolaba team that won the Na Wahine O Ke Kai race last September.
There was also a division for two-person canoes (four paddlers could alternate into the two seats of the canoe). The team of Greg Edwards, Pat Von, Donovan Leandro and Tommy Damon was the first to finish in a two-person canoe with a time of 4:49:11.
The Steinlager Kaua'i World Challenge — another relay race — is scheduled for Saturday off Kaua'i. Many of the same teams that competed yesterday will enter the Kaua'i race.
Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.
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RESULTS
One-person Canoe
Men
Overall: 1, Maui Kjeldsen/Karel Tresnak Jr., 4:31:27. 2, Kai Bartlett/David Beck, 4:34:57. 3, Thibert Lussiaa/Kea Pa'iaina, 4:37:08. 4, Mike Judd/Tapa Worthington, 4:38:23. 5, Jimmy Austin/Scott Hendricks, 4:41:13. 6, Mike Giblin/Rick Nu'u, 4:42:11. 7, Patrick Dolan/Aaron Napoleon, 4:43:55. 8, Michael Murray/Robert Dorrough, 4:43:58. 9, Nate Hendricks/Walter Guild, 4:45:13. 10, Raven Aipa/George Leslie, 4:45:16.
11, John Foti/Sam Alama, 4:46:06. 12, Kekoa Gramer/Jacob Abeytia, 4:48:33. 13, Danny Ching/Steve Sinkus, 4:49:43. 14, Mike Hangai/Michael Silva, 4:50:06. 15, Bruce Ayau/Steve Cole, 4:50:36. 16, Mael Carey/George Dagan, 4:50:55. 17, Bill Pratt/Andrew Penny, 4:52:14. 18, Greg Long/Shane McGrath, 4:52:16. 19, JB Guard/Felipe Gomes, 4:53:24. 20, Rory Frampton/Kawika Williams, 4:59:38.
21, David Daniels/Mike Pedersen, 4:59:43. 22, Ikaika Hauanio/Peter Konohia, 5:01:05. 23, Ikaika Kincaid/Mike Byers, 5:03:09. 24, Ka'ai Bruhn/Kekoa Bruhn, 5:03:10. 25, Marc Haine/Danny Shered, 5:03:39. 26, Jim Beaton/Tim Twigg-Smith, 5:07:22. 27, Ekolu Kalama/Bojo Morris, 5:07:25. 28, Bruce Blankenfeld/Greg Poole, 5:10:35. 29, Vaimana Conner/Cana Dey, 5:14:21. 30, Byron Ho/Mel Pu'u, 5:15:21.
31, Joshua Crayton/Greg Parker, 5:15:23. 32, Ron Cotteen/Steve Holbrook, 5:15:41. 33, Taku Araki/Kealii Martin, 5:16:12. 34, Justin Udovich/Gorden Lett, 5:17:24. 35, Pat Erwin/Kamoa Kalama, 5:18:49. 36, Chris Kincaid/Brad Kane, 5:18:57. 37, Reuben Dearlove/Glen Nooroa, 5:19:50. 38, Nue Youdarian/Cameron Leao, 5:20:29. 39, Mark Meyers/Britt Craven, 5:24:15. 40, Matt Beals/John Perell, 5:25:56.
41, Kai Ah Sam/Tracy Poepoe, 5:26:07. 42, James Bustamante/Keoni MacArthur, 5:26:11. 43, Paul Bates/Matt Kater, 5:28:17. 44, Lex Raas/Johnny McCandless, 5:28:35. 45, Robert Phillips/Dave Ting, 5:29:34. 46, Isaiah Bobnar/Yasu Tanaka, 5:31:09. 47, Mark Miller/Dave Cordell, 5:32:02. 48, Adam Meamal/Eric Starnes, 5:32:53. 49, Romani Katoa/Neil Woods, 5:33:19. 50, Shun Kobayashi/Masakazu Ito, 5:37:58
Masters (40-older): 1, John Foti/Sam Alama, 4:46:06. 2, Bruce Ayau/Steve Cole, 4:50:36. 3, Rory Frampton/Kawika Williams, 4:59:38. 4, Marc Haine/Danny Shered, 5:03:39. 5, Jim Beaton/Tim Twigg-Smith, 5:07:22.
Senior Masters (50-older): 1, Lambert Lee Loy/Jacques Blais, 5:43:01. 2, Nainoa Thompson/Harold Akeo, 5:47:45. 3, Kawika Goodale/Steve Baker, 5:53:20. 4, Gregor Knapp/Moke Paikuli, 5:53:38. 5, Chris Crabb/Doug Bechert, 6:01:08.
Golden Masters (60-older): 1, Gaylord Wilcox/Nappy Napoleon, 5:54:52. 2, Tay Perry/Rodney Romans, 7:00:16.
Women
Overall: 1, Lisa Curry-Kenny/Kirsty Holmes, 5:34:32. 2, Dane Ward/Noelani Sawyer, 5:41:19. 3, Cherisse Keli'i/Noe Nu'u, 5:44:32. 4, Arlene Holzman/Torrey Goodman, 5:50:25. 5, Paula Crabb/Jane McKee, 5:54:27. 6, Jill Schooler/Jeane Barrett, 5:55:18. 7, Kelly Fey/Patsy Vasquez, 5:58:35. 8, Bernie Murch/Heidie Verhagen, 6:03:11. 9, Jen Asano/Loretta Toth, 6:04:45. 10, Jaimie Kinard/Megan Clark, 6:26:57. 11, Sue Brown/Kelsa Teeters, 6:28:28. 12, Margie Goodnow/Katy Curtis, 6:29:28. 13, Katy Otsuji/Kimberlee Stewart, 6:50:13. 14, Catherine Bender/Lisa Martin, 6:52:33.
Masters (40-older): 1, Paula Crabb/Jane McKee, 5:54:27. 2, Kelly Fey/Patsy Vasquez, 5:58:35. 3, Katy Otsuji/Kimberlee Stewart, 6:50:13.
Mixed
Overall: 1, David Napoleon/Pauahi Ioane, 5:48:30. 2, Sandi Yahiro/Kawika Yahiro, 6:14:30. 3, Tom Kern/Jennifer Konohia, 6:50:08. 4, Tom Bartlett/Mary Bartlett, 6:59:32.
Two-person Canoe
Men: 1, Greg Edwards/Pat Von/Donovan Leandro/Tommy Damon, 4:46:51. 2, Kai Mowat/Keau Meyer/Devlin Murphy/Heath Hemmings, 4:47:39. 3, Ryan Van Gieson/Keola Wright/Alfred Van Gieson/Craig Davidson, 4:49:25.
Mixed: 1, Ricky Balidoy/Sharon Balidoy/Junya McGurn/Andre Moller, 4:56:33. 2, Ronona Della Cioppa/Freddie Berengue/Nicki Enos/Dane Enos, 5:13:48. 3, Carl Woehrle/Lynn Woehrle/Eric Olson/Stacey Olson, 6:03:15.
