Posted on: Monday, September 6, 2004

Combo team takes men's paddling title

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

The men of Team New Zealand/Hawai'i returned to their winning ways, and the women of Hui Lanakila continued their newfound success at the Queen Lili'uokalani Long Distance Canoe Races over the weekend at Kailua, Kona.

Team NZ/H won the 18-mile men's race in a record time of 1 hour, 50 minutes, 20 seconds. It was their third Queen Lili'uokalani victory in five years, but first since 2001.

Hui Lanakila won the 18-mile women's race in 2:12:06. Hui Lanakila had not won a long-distance women's race prior to this year, but it has now won two races in the past two weeks.

The Queen Lili'uokalani is billed as "the world's largest long-distance outrigger canoe races," and this year was no exception. The men's race drew 111 crews, and the women's race 114.

Team NZ/H beat the previous men's course record by nearly three minutes. Members of the winning crew were Thibert Lussiaa, Andrew Penny, Kea Pa'iaina, Maui Kjeldsen, Raven Aipa and Aaron Napoleon.

"It was flat and hot," Penny said of the conditions. "But we settled into a rhythm from the start and kept it going."

Outrigger placed second at 1:50:28, and Lanikai won a tight battle for third place at 1:53:16. Host Kai 'Opua was fourth at 1:53:26, followed by Hawaiian at 1:53:36.

Lussiaa, who resides in Kona, played a key role in the Team NZ/H victory.

Several of the top men's crews took an outside course, but Lussiaa instructed his teammates to stay inside.

"It was sort of a gamble, but that's like Thibert's home waters so we went with what he said," Penny said. "We ended up putting a small gap on the other teams, so it worked out."

In the women's race, Hui Lanakila proved that its victory in last week's Dad Center Race was not a fluke. Members of the winning crew were Pauahi Ioane, Gail Grabowsky, Michelle Arnold, Jessie Eames, Arlene Holzman and Katie Slocumb.

Hui Lanakila trailed early in the race but eventually finished with a comfortable lead.

"About halfway, we were behind Team Bradley and we made a decision at that point to work harder and see if we could pass them and we did," Slocumb said. "Then once we got the lead, we kept pretending like there was another canoe in front of us to keep us going hard."

Outrigger was second nearly a minute behind at 2:13:07, and Team Bradley was third at 2:14:18.

Hui Lanakila fared well as an overall club, also winning the koa canoe races for both men and women (the open races were in fiberglass canoes).

What's more, Jessie Eames won the six-mile women's individual race. Danny Ching of California won the men's solo race.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8101.