Lanikai steers to clear win in Waikiki

By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer

Thanks in part to its stable of strong steersmen, the Lanikai Canoe Club got back on the winning track.

Lanikai Canoe Club's Mike Pedersen, Andy Penny John Foti, David Daniels, George Leslie and Jim Foti won the 1 1/2-mile senior men's race, considered the top race of the Walter J. Macfarlane Regatta at Waikiki Beach. Lanikai finished ahead of Kailua Canoe Club to win the senior men's event for the 10th time in the past 13 years. Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser

Lanikai has won it six times in the past eight years.

"It was definitely one of our goals to win Macfarlane this year," Lanikai head coach Kalani Irvine said. "Even though it's supposed to be a fun race, we know all about the tradition associated with it and so we look forward to it."

Lanikai won 12 of the 37 races and compiled 87 points. The host Outrigger Canoe Club had its best showing of the year in placing second with 60 points.

Kailua, which beat Lanikai in another O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association regatta last week, placed third with 51 points.

Because the regatta is held in the unpredictable surf, each club is allowed to use open steersmen for safety purposes. For example, a girls 16 race will feature five girls 16 or younger, and one adult steersman.

Wave heights were around 2 to 4 feet yesterday, although occasional larger sets created some treacherous moments.

"It comes down to a little bit of luck with the waves and the lanes you draw," Irvine said. "But the better you are at steering, the more luck you get."

Jim Foti steered a regatta-high four victories for Lanikai, including a win in the prestigious men's senior race.

The 1 1/2-mile race is considered the top race of the regatta, and Lanikai has won it 10 of the past 13 years.

"It's really nice to get it back since we lost it last year," Foti said. "It was typical Waikiki. It's all about getting to the zone, and if you get on that wave, you can turn a two-boat lead into a six-boat lead in 10 seconds."

Outrigger Canoe Club won the senior women's race and the crew later drank champagne out of the silver trophy cup. Andrew Shimabuku • The Honolulu Advertiser

Their winning time was 10 minutes, 27.80 seconds. Kailua was second in 10:43.25.

Outrigger won five races, including the women's senior race, which is the top division for females.

The crew of Mary Smolenski, Traci Phillips, Jennifer Thayer, Megan Clark and Malia Kamisugi was steered by Walter Guild to a winning time of 11:34.43.

"You go hard in every race, but there's something different about this one," Smolenski said. "I guess it's because you're looking to get on every (wave) bump and you just keep your energy up the whole way."

Hui Lanakila led for the first mile of the race, but it collided with Kailua's canoe at the 1-mile turn, allowing Outrigger to surf to victory. Hui Lanakila's ama (outrigger) was cracked in half during the accident.

"That's exactly what can happen with the luck of the waves in this race," Smolenski said. "I've been on both ends of it over the years, so you always feel fortunate when you come out ahead."

In a Macfarlane Regatta tradition, the winning men's and women's senior crews got to drink champagne out of the silver trophy cup.

Lanikai took control of the overall regatta late in the day when it reeled off five consecutive race victories — men senior, women 55, men 55, women 50 and men 50.

Veteran steersman Tom Conner proved his worth by guiding the Lanikai women 50 crew to an exciting victory.

"We missed one big wave, it must have been about 6 feet," he said. "But we got the next one, which was maybe a 5-footer, and we surfed it for a good 300 yards."

Conner steered three different Lanikai crews to victories.

"Elation and terror," is how he described the conditions. "If you're in the right position, you get a great ride. If you're in the wrong position, you can get in trouble. There were some bad crashes today and fortunately nobody got hurt real bad."

Outrigger head coach Jimmy Austin steered three of his club's crews to victory.

"There really is a lot of luck involved," he said. "Every wave is different, and you can never tell when they're coming or not. It gets tricky, but once you get a good one, it's a blast."

Keahiakahoe Canoe Club had its best showing of the year, finishing with 32 points to win the A Division for smaller clubs.

Keahiakahoe won four races, and Kamu Lau steered in three of the victories.

The next OHCRA regatta is scheduled for July 17 at Nanakuli Beach.

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