The Lanikai Canoe Club — a perennial power in state canoe paddling over the past decade — will not participate in the Aug. 6 State Championship Regatta.

The club officially withdrew this week from the state regatta because of an ongoing dispute over the legality of its koa canoe.

"It was a very hard decision," Lanikai head coach Kalani Irvine said. "But it came down to the philosophy of this club and we decided to stick together and not go this year."

Lanikai is arguably the best team on O'ahu this year, having won four of six regattas in the O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association.

More than 50 clubs from around the state are expected to participate in the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship Regatta, which is scheduled for Aug. 6 at Hanaka'o'o Beach, Maui.

Lanikai has placed in the top four of every state regatta since 1995, including state championships in 1996 and 2000.

"Everybody knows that Lanikai is one of the best clubs, and it's really unfortunate that they're doing this," HCRA president John Kekua said. "But there is a rule in place."

According to HCRA rules, the manu — or protective top for the hull of the koa canoe — must be made of wood.

The manu on Lanikai's two koa canoes are made of fiberglass.

"It's for safety reasons," Irvine said. "We're one of the few clubs that actually uses our koa canoe across the (Kaiwi) channel. The (fiberglass) manu allows us to keep the hull thicker and keep our boat stronger for the channel."

HCRA officials informed Lanikai in March that its canoe would not be allowed to race in this year's state regatta.

As a result, Lanikai officials decided not to attend this year's state regatta, and informed all of its paddlers of that decision in late March.

"At registration, we let all our paddlers know that there would be no Maui trip," Irvine said. "We told them that if they felt strongly about going to states, then they had to paddle with another club. Fortunately, most of our paddlers stayed."

But in May, HCRA officials opted to give Lanikai a one-year reprieve for its canoe.

"They said we could race in the states with it for this year, but by then, it was too late," Irvine said. "We already told our paddlers that we weren't going, and so some of the families made vacation plans. Plus, with a club of our size, there's no way we could make arrangements that late to get all our paddlers on flights and in hotels."

Lanikai has more than 300 paddlers, and at least 200 would have attended the state regatta.

Irvine emphasized that his club was not boycotting the state regatta.

"We'll be back in 2006, even if we have to change one of our canoes," Irvine said.

HCRA officials are scheduled to meet again in December to decide what to do about the canoes for the 2006 state regatta.

"Of course, we can conform with the rules," Irvine said. "But we have our reasons for keeping the (fiberglass) manu and it mostly has to do with preserving the canoes."

Irvine said Lanikai's top koa canoe, named "Mokulua," has been racing with a fiberglass manu since it was launched in 1991. He said it would cost approximately $5,000 to $10,000 to replace the fiberglass manu with a wood manu.

Kekua, who is a canoe builder on the Big Island, said there is no proof that a fiberglass manu makes the canoe faster.

"It probably doesn't make a difference in the water," Kekua said. "But a rule is a rule, and we want the canoes to be all wood."

Lanikai's withdrawal creates several openings for other clubs in the OHCRA organization.

Lanikai will participate in Sunday's OHCRA Championship Regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon, but it will relinquish all of its qualifying points for the state regatta.

OHCRA president Hannie Anderson said all the spots that would have been filled by Lanikai crews in the state regatta will go to other OHCRA teams.

"We'll just give it to the next club in line," Anderson said. "I, personally, would like to see Lanikai paddle in the states, but I respect their decision."

James Bustamante, a paddler for Lanikai's powerful men's program, said: "It's mixed emotions. On one side, we're not going because we have a strong belief in our canoes. But on the other side, we don't get to compete with the best at the states.'