By Paul Honda
Editor
HondaReport.com
Sunday, July 25, 2004

HONOLULU—When the pressure was on, Kailua’s Men 40 crew came through.

Facing a three-point deficit in the final race of the day, Kailua Canoe Club pulled out a second-place finish, filling the gap to finish in a tie with Lokahi for the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association AA Division championship yesterday at Keehi Lagoon.

Kailua and Lokahi finished with 81 points apiece to cap a series of momentum swings. Hui Lanakila was a formidable part of the mix, finishing with 77 points.

Kailua’s Men 40, a crew of veteran paddlers, had been one of several top-quality groups in its division all summer. In the 37th and final event of a sunny day, Hui Nalu, Hui Lanakila and Outrigger were also in position to win the race.

“They told us we had to win. Second would tie,” steersman Kamoa Kalama said. “We’ve been in this situation before. So have the other crews. This race is full of experienced paddlers, and there’s a great deal of respect.”

Coming out of the turn, the leading canoes were even. Hui Nalu (7 minutes, 9.15 seconds) eventually pulled away, and Kailua (7:14.52) outlasted Hui Lanakila (7:17.46) down the stretch.

Keahiakahoe won the A Division (1-12 commercials) with 26 points. Healani placed second with 18 points.

Kailua was content with its co-championship. “The coaches and paddlers put a great effort in,” head coach Jimmy Bruhn said. “If you’re gonna share something, it might as well be your neighbor around the corner. I’m satisfied.”

Bobby Puakea, head coach of Lanikai, wasn’t about to complain, either. “Somehow, Friday, I felt really good about how today’s race would go. I’m happy. I’m stoked,” said Puakea, who returned to coaching last year after a seven-year hiatus. Lanikai finished second last year.

Lanikai won four of the first nine races, all in the youth divisions. By the end of event 21—the Sophomore Women race—Lanikai had the lead over Kailua, 49-42.

Hui Lanakila was 12 points behind, but as usual, rallied at mid-day. With wins in the Girls 18, Men’s Novice A, Men’s Sophomore, Men’s Junior, Women’s Junior and Women’s Senior races, Hui Lanakila was back in the hunt. After 30 events, they were eight points behind Lanikai (68). Kailua, scoring across the board, was within one point of Lanikai.

“I saw the numbers and I thought, ‘Holy mackerel. This could be a three-way tie,’” Puakea said.

Kailua took the lead when its Women’s Open Four crew placed third to claim two points and vault head of Lanikai. A few minutes later, Hui Lanakila won the Men’s Open Four race. Suddenly, Hui Lanakila led with 70 points, with Kailua and Lanikai one and two points behind, respectively.

On cue, Lanikai’s mixed crews came to the rescue. The 55 Mixed crew won event 33 with a time of 4 minutes, 31.17 seconds over a half-mile course. Kailua managed to place fourth in the race, but Lanikai had 73 points to 70 apiece for Hui Lanakila and Kailua.

Regaining the lead was a relief, especially for steersman Hoppy Smith. “My son (assistant coach Michael Smith) said, ‘Mom, you gotta win it,’” said Hoppy, who is the club’s scorekeeper. “The crew never asks me the score. Occasionally, they’ll ask who we’re up against, and I just say, ‘Let’s concentrate on the race.’”

The go-ahead win felt destined. “I knew when we came out of the turn, we were ahead. The boat just felt good,” she said, comparing it to the crew’s win at the Waimanalo regatta at Kailua Bay last month. “I think it’s the fastest we did all year.”

Hui Lanakila did not enter two crews in the final five races, leaving Kailua and Lanikai to battle it out.

Lanikai won the 40 Mixed race in a time of 4:02.66, scoring five more points to take the lead—seemingly for good. Hui Lanakila moved up in the point total with a third-place finish, but Kailua came in sixth and did not score.

A resounding rally in the final 100 yards gave Lanikai a come-from-behind win. “We like to kick. We had some strong men on the crew today,” steersman Judy Sanguiliano said. “We came around the turn and hammered it. I didn’t need to poke at all.”

Trailing by nine points, Kailua’s title hopes were in dire straits. The turnaround began with the Men and Women Mixed race, where Kailua crossed the finish with a time of 3:48.46, more than six seconds ahead of Hui Lanakila. Lanikai finished a distant eight and did not score.

Kailua edged into the gap in the Women 40 race, finishing second to Hui Nalu. Lanikai placed third, setting up the final event.

With no Lanikai crew entered in the Men’s 40, Kailua had control of its destiny. Hui Nalu, however, won handily with a time of 7:09.15, more than five seconds ahead of Kailua.

“I saw them making the turn just a little bit ahead of Hui Lanakila,” Bruhn said. “I thought we’d have a chance to win it, but Hui Nalu was just too strong.”

Bruhn, a veteran of paddling battles since the ‘70s, was happy for more than a co-championship. “I was concentrating on qualifying as many crews as possible. It’s almost not even a championship race. If we could’ve pulled off the win, even better,” he said.

Kailua, which placed second in the state last year, last won the state championships in 1997.

Disqualifications in two events cost Lanikai four points, easily enough to have provided a title victory. Puakea, however, remained thoroughly positive.

“A mishap happens to everybody. We still had the rest of the afternoon,” he said. “Every race, we worked hard.”

A few of the hard-working Lanikai paddlers were on the Girls 16 crew, which had not won a single race this summer until yesterday. “It was so frustrating. We’d practice so hard and lose,” stroker Kokee Coscina said.

“It took a while to get our crew together,” steersman Dawn Hunt said. “On the way down, the tail was swinging a lot. We were the last going into the turn. Coming back up, it was all about the power.”

The crew added three new paddlers from the Girls 15 crew this summer. Two of the new ones were in the canoe yesterday: Rachel Orodenker and Dawn Simunovich. Along with the rest of the crew (Coscina, Arianna Grindle, Amanda Moody and Hunt), they won in 4:44.50, less than two seconds ahead of Waikiki Surf.

“Toward the end, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the other boat’s a’ama,” said Ordenker, who was in the No. 4 seat.

“That’s why I told them to kick it,” Hunt said of the final quarter-mile. “I didn’t want to take a chance on getting a DQ.”

Hunt, a veteran with five years of experience, believes the 15-year-olds will be well-prepared for the state championships in two weeks. “They have the strength and attitude,” she said.

Kailua’s Boys 12 crew turned in another stellar performance, winning the title with a time of 2:10.13, more than five seconds ahead of Lanikai. Kailua’s crew is comprised of Travis Wilhoite, Joshua Dudoit, Kupono Kanehailua, Kainoa Chang, Chas Bautista and Kawai Makuakane.

Already, the crew has been looking toward the state championships. “Maui has times around 1:59 and 2 minutes,” said Makuakane, the steersman. “They have a better time, but they’re not necessarily better than us.”

Dudoit, who mans the second seat, agreed. “They might be paddling with the current (on Maui),” he said.

Chang, who paddles from the third seat, kept it real. “We’ve lost to Lanikai before. That’s our competition,” he said.

Makuakane likes the fact that the state championships will be held at Keehi. “We know how everything is here,” he said. The crew placed eighth last year, while Maui is a two-time champion.

“We have a stronger crew this year,” Makuakane promised. “And a good coach (Charley Kanehailua).”

Hui Lanakila showed strength despite a lack of breadth. Without crews in the 40 and 55 races, Lanakila fell behind in the final races.

“We needed teams like Outrigger to push the leaders in the older brackets,” stroker Raven Alapai said. “We shuffled as many as we could to try and win this regatta.”

Seraphina Eames, for example, moved up from the Sophomore crew to race with her club’s Juniors to help them finish second. “It was a different crew. Our stroker (Pauahi) is really in tune with the water. She’s quick,” said Eames, 26, who paddled in the fourth seat.

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