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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, June 15, 2009

Kailua ends Lanikai's long run


By Stanley Lee
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Paddlers in the women's 55-over race compete during the King Kamehameha Regatta at Kailua Beach.

Photos by ANDREW SHIMABUKU | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Hui Nalu's Mary Fern, left, and Dayna Owskey embrace after winning the women's 55-over race of the King Kamehameha Regatta.

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KAILUA — There weren't a lot of wins, but everybody's contributions made a huge difference.

Paddling on its home course, Kailua Canoe Club won yesterday's King Kamehameha Regatta to end Lanikai's run of 15 straight O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association wins that dates back to late 2006.

Kailua finished with 98 points in the AAA division that were spurred by six victories and points from 32 of the 39 races held at windy Kailua Beach. Lanikai won 10 races and was second with 83 points, but was hurt by two disqualifications.

"This is our training site. For our club, this beach is very sacred, it's our sanctuary, it's our playground, it's where our families come together," Kailua head coach Kathy Erwin said. "It means a lot to us to win this regatta."

Hui Lanakila totaled 59 points to take the AA division for medium-sized clubs and Waimanalo had seven points to win the A division for small clubs.

The beginning of the regatta was virtually the opposite of the end result. Lanikai started strong in the youth races and had won seven races through the girls 16 before Kailua won its first race in the boys 18.

Kailua, though, was buoyed by strong performances across the board with its crews earning points in 32 races (the top four finishing canoes score points). Kailua's adult crews also finished strong down the stretch with wins in the women's masters, senior women's masters, senior men's masters, men's open four, and the mixed men and women's races.

Lanikai, last year's state champion, went undefeated in OHCRA regattas in 2007 and 2008 and won last Sunday's season opener at Ke'ehi Lagoon.

"What we realized after last week, when we really didn't win that many races but we still got close, I wanted the club to know the idea we came away from was every person's contributions matter, and every point counts," Erwin said. "We really realized we'd have to do it together as a club."

Hui Lanakila won the prestigious senior women's race with the crew of Deborah Rosenblum, Claire Townsend, Madison Minkle, Sarah Vandevanter, Jaimie Kinard and Lori Nakamura finishing the 1 1/2-mile course in 13 minutes, 18.73 seconds. Outrigger was second in 13:26.49 and Kailua third in 13:42.35.

"We tried to race according to our coach's plan, and we still have much to do," Vandevanter said with a laugh.

Hui Lanakila won the same event last week and spots in the canoe remain largely up for grabs among the club's paddlers.

"It keeps everybody on their toes, when you are incorporating some one-man training into the six-man workouts," Vandevanter said.

Hui Lanakila's women's crews also won the freshmen and junior races, and was edged by Outrigger by less than two seconds in the sophomore race.

Outrigger held on to win the senior men's race with the crew of Craig Gamble, Simeon Ke-Paloma, Jimmy Austin, Mike Kane, Billy Lawson and Kapono Brown finishing the 1 1/2-mile course in 11:24.54. Hui Lanakila was second in 11:28.28 and Kailua third in 11:31.10 in a race that saw the lead go back-and-forth.

"It was a tough one," Gamble said. "Parts of the race we were flying and parts of the race we were struggling a little bit. We've been paddling with the same group for a little while here and we do paddle pretty well together. That's kind of what helped us push through."

Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a did not hold a regatta this weekend.