Kailua breaks through for first OHCRA win
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
After three weeks of close defeats, Kailua Canoe Club finally claimed its first victory of the O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association season.
Kailua left no doubt yesterday in winning the Waimanalo Canoe Club Regatta by 25 points over runner-up and previously undefeated Lanikai Canoe Club at Waimanalo Beach Park.
"Our kids did real well today," Kailua coach Jimmy Bruhn said. "Some of our novice crews did really well. Overall, it was a good day for us."
Kailua won 10 of 37 races yesterday — including four youth races and two novice women races — and scored 91 points. Lanikai, which had won three consecutive regattas since the start of the OHCRA season, finished with 66 points followed by Hui Nalu (61), Hui Lanakila (55) and Outrigger (46).
Kailua had lost the previous three regattas to Lanikai by 3, 1 and 11 points.
"Something had to break," Lanikai assistant coach Scotty Freitas said. "Today, it broke for us, and it was fixed for them. I take my hat off to Kailua. They did a fantastic job."
Waimanalo scored 11 points to win the A Division for clubs with 17 crews or fewer.
Yesterday, Lanikai competed without 10 of its top 15 paddlers who chose to compete in the Hamilton Island Cup in Australia. That multi-day race is scheduled to end today. A handful of Kailua paddlers were also competing in the race.
"It feels good to win this regatta," said Kailua paddler Kawai Mahoe, a member of the winning senior men's team. "The competition is so fierce. But there's a lot of crews in Australia representing Hawai'i. We have to take that into consideration, too. But we'll take a win whenever we can get it."
Lanikai won six races yesterday. But the loss of its key paddlers left the club shorthanded in the sophomore men, senior men, the four-man and mixed divisions.
Freitas said even at full strength, Lanikai would have been hard-pressed to defeat Kailua yesterday.
"If we would have won those crews, I still think Kailua would have won the regatta because they had an insurmountable lead from the morning," Freitas said. "I can't say we would have won the regatta if everyone was home."
Kailua won the girls 12, mixed 12, boys 13 and boys 15 divisions. The club, which led by as many as 25 points yesterday, also won the novice B women, novice A women, freshman women, freshman men, senior men and women's 55 divisions.
As an added advantage, Kailua paddlers rode a high-hull canoe yesterday to combat choppy ocean conditions. The club normally uses two canoes, but went exclusively with the koa canoe shaped by noted waterman Leighton Look.
The canoe "doesn't take in much water, it's a great boat," Bruhn said. "Our other canoe, the Lokahi, it's a little lower ... and it takes in a lot of water. We decided to go with one canoe for the first time in quite a few years. It kind of paid off."
Kailua won its first senior men's race this season, completing the 1 1/2-mile course in 11 minutes, 39.36 seconds. The winning crew was Kealii Martin, Viliami Malamala, Cana Day, Kawai Mahoe and the father-son tandem of Kevin and Zion Thompson.
Outrigger won the 1 1/2-mile women's senior race in 13:45.37 with crew members Traci Phillips, Paula Crabb, Jennifer Thayer, Mary Smolenski, Kristin Haine and Kanesa Duncan.
The OHCRA's Walter J. Macfarlane Regatta will be July 4 at Waikiki Beach.
Reach Brandon Masuoka at bmasuoka@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2458.
