The unheralded men of Outrigger Canoe Club may not be that way for long.

Not after yesterday's impressive victory in the Kailua Bay Men's Iron Challenge.

Outrigger won the 13 1/2-mile race in 1 hour, 52 minutes, 27 seconds. The course traversed around the small islands off Windward O'ahu.

"I can't believe this," Outrigger steersman Jimmy Austin said. "We're a young crew, and we're unfamiliar with this area, so I was looking behind the whole time to see what Kailua and Lanikai were doing."

Lanikai is considered the top contender from Hawai'i for the Moloka'i Hoe world championship race on Oct. 12. Lanikai also has a deep talent pool of paddlers, and they were split into three separate crews for yesterday's race.

In the Kailua Bay Men's Iron Challenge, all crews must use an "iron" crew — six paddlers in the canoe, with no relief changes.

Members of the winning Outrigger crew were Scott Gamble, Billy Lawson, Mike Kane, Kapono Brown, Simeon Ke-Paloma and Austin.

In most long distance races, including the Moloka'i Hoe, crews are allowed to use three relief paddlers.

The Lanikai crews placed second, third and fifth yesterday. Kailua was fourth.

"It's exciting, and it's a good win, but we have to keep everything in perspective," Gamble said. "Lanikai didn't put all their big guys together."

Still, Outrigger won by an impressive margin. Lanikai's runner-up crew finished with a time of 1:56:16 — or about a half-mile behind Outrigger.

Members of the Lanikai crew were Patrick Dolan, Kekoa Bruhn, Ryan Dolan, Aaron Creps, Justin Akama and Karel Tresnak Jr.

Outrigger took the lead off Moku Manu ("Bird Island") and kept it the rest of the way.

"This doesn't mean anything," Austin said. "Lanikai is still the team to beat."

The women will paddle today in the Dad Center Race. The course will go from Kailua Beach to the Outrigger Canoe Club.