New canoe, new season, same old Lanikai.

The defending O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association champ picked up where it left off last year with a first-place finish in yesterday's season-opening Clement D. Pa'aina Regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon.

Lanikai won thanks in large part to strong performances by its youth and women's crews. Kailua finished second.

Hui Lanakila took first in the small clubs division.

"It was a great day for us," said Lanikai head coach Dave Smith. "The kids did very, very well and it was fun to see the consistency all day long. Winning the first one doesn't guarantee success for the rest of the season — there are a lot of strong paddlers out there — but everybody had fun and I liked how everybody pulled together on race day."

Lanikai used the occasion to introduce its radically and gorgeously refurbished koa canoe Hokulele (Hawaiian for "shooting star"), which was redesigned by Brent Bixler.

The club had the canoe blessed on Saturday and used it for about half its races yesterday, alternating it with another canoe, the Mokulua.

In addition to style points (the tail is carved with a Hawaiian fishhook design) Lanikai paddlers gave the reborn vessel high marks for performance.

"The work is meticulous and detailed, detailed, detailed," said Jim Foti, 40. "It turns on a dime and it's really steady."

That was evident enough in Lanikai's impressive win in the mixed masters.

Lanikai's crew took a modest lead at the outset with Hui Nalu and Kailua in close pursuit.

"Our stroker told us we were going to go out really fast and I remember thinking, 'When are we ever going to slow down,' " said Lanikai masters paddler Kris Krengel, 42.

The turn proved more than literally pivotal as the Lanikai crew guided the Hokulele through a quick and definitive change of direction.

"There was one call for 'uni' (a coordinated hard turn) and we came out of it so smoothly," Krengel said. "That's all it takes with that canoe: one uni and out."

With that, Lanikai extended its lead by nearly two boat-lengths as it headed for the finish line. Hui Nalu shrank the distance with a furious late charge, but the Lanikai paddlers maintained their steady pace to seal the victory.

Hui Nalu's Dennis Fern, who guided the club's golden men's master's crew to a state championship last year, said nothing of consequence is won or lost this early in the season, but the first regatta traditionally offers a useful gauge of what to expect.

"It lets you know where you are and where the competition is," he said.

Still, as Fern and others noted, yesterday's regatta found many clubs at less than full strength. Dozens of paddlers are off island this week to compete in the Hamilton Island Cup in Australia.

Those who did compete were left in the dark about their clubs' overall standings throughout the day as race administrators grappled with new and uncooperative score-keeping software.

For Boy Kalama and the rest of the Kailua men's masters team, yesterday's regatta marked a sort of homecoming.

Kalama and several other Kailua paddlers had migrated to the Waimanalo Canoe Club years ago, yet maintained friendly ties with their former teammates as well as masters paddlers from other clubs, with whom they race with and against in the offseason.

"Waimanalo is a great club, but I felt like it was time to come home to Kailua," Kalama said.

Curt Sumida, 57, also returned to the Kailua fold after a decade-long sabbatical pursuing his other passion: mountain biking.

"It's time to come back because I want to show my children how to paddle," he said. "It's nice to be back."

The crew finished third yesterday but remained confident about their prospects for the rest of the season.

"We didn't win but that's O.K.," Sumida said. "We'll get it eventually. We have time to fine tune things."

Lanikai's paddlers are all too aware of that, too.

"Of course we want to come out and win the first race, but you have to take it with a grain of salt," Foti said. "It really doesn't mean anything. It's still a long, long way to Hanalei Bay."

HUI WA'A

You'll excuse Kane'ohe Canoe Club members if they break into a chorus or two of "Thank Heaven for Little Girls ... and Boys ... and Novices."

Kane'ohe won six of the first eight events — all kids and novice races — en route to a convincing victory in yesterday's Manu O Ke Kai Regatta at Hale'iwa Beach.

Kane'ohe compiled 69 total points (50 from their 10 overall first-place finishes) to beat Na Kaiki O Ka Mo'i (46) and Lokahi (38) in the AAA Division (25 or more events).

Manu O Ke Kai placed first in the AA Division with 54 points, edging Koa Kai (50) and Waikiki Beach Boys (44).

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.