Hawaiian dominates early

HCC wins first eight events of Moki Kalanikau Regatta

June 21, 2009

By ROBERT COLLIAS, Staff Writer

KIHEI - It was hump day in the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association on Saturday at the Moki Kalanikau Regatta.

On a crowded Ka Lae Pohaku beach - or any outrigger beach in Maui County on any day, for that matter - Hawaiian Canoe Club stood out.

HCC came into the regatta having won exactly 50 percent of the 126 races contested in the first three regattas of the seven-regatta summer calendar.

HCC stayed right with that theme, again batting .500 on Saturday, winning 21 of 42 events. The blue-and-white juggernaut that lives in Kahului Harbor rocketed out of the gate, winning the first eight races of the day, 17 of the first 23, and 20 of the first 28 - a string that included a disqualified win in the girls 16 event after that crew buried the flag on their turn.

HCC ended up with 149 points. Kihei was second with 80, Lae Ula O Kai was third with 67, Kahana fourth with 49, Napili fifth with 39, and Wailea sixth with 33. Na Kai Ewalu (16), Lahaina (14) and Hana (9) rounded out the scoring.

''Wow,'' Hawaiian keiki coach Paul Luuwai said when told of those early numbers. ''I think we won 13 or 14 (of 16) keiki races and our times were really good this morning.''

Being the midway point of the season, solidifying and collecting more state crews is the name of the game for HCC. They came into the day with 32 crews resting in top-two spots in the season-long points race for state, where the MCHCA gets two of the 14 lanes.

And HCC has 22 first-place crews in the standings, which will get preference for the lane draw for the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association state regatta Aug. 1 in Hilo Bay, where the inside lanes are prime real estate.

''We have been doing that from Day One, man,'' Luuwai said. ''Where can we jockey for position, where can we put our athletes? Right now, we are solid at 32 for states. Kailua has 34 and they are the new team to beat now (from Oahu).''

The state regatta has come down to a battle between Hawaiian and Lanikai for the past decade, a fight that HCC has won eight times, but not last season. Luuwai said the defending state champions are in a battle of their own in the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association.

''Right now, Lanikai only has 28 crews qualified for state and Kailua has 34, and that's a lot,'' Luuwai said. ''That is like 30 points, at least, right off the bat, and that is if you finish 10th or so in each of those six races.''

HCC looked dominant on Saturday, and Lanikai appears vulnerable after Kailua upset the defending state champs in the OCRA opener two weeks ago.

''Our depth isn't as good as in past years in certain groups, but we are just trying to make our crews better every week,'' Luuwai said. ''We are just trying our best, training hard, and like everybody else on Maui, we are just jockeying for position.''

Regatta host Kihei Canoe Club also showed signs of strength, grabbing control of a close race for second in the club standings against Lae Ula O Kai with wins in the 32nd and 33rd races of the day - women grand masters 60 and men grand masters 60.

Last week, LUOK rose up to tie Kihei, 81-81, for second, the best finish ever in an MCHCA regatta for Lae Ula.

The win for the Kihei six of Ken Pearsall, Cliff Libed, Bob Brooks, Bill Gearon, John Roberson and Kimokeo Kapahulehua in their 60 age division race was their third victory in four regattas.

''We came in third last week behind Kahana and Lae Ula and we just practiced a little bit harder this week,'' said Libed, who is also the MCHCA race director. ''Losing motivates you and humbles you, and I think that is really good for us in racing, but also in our division.''

Being in ''home waters makes a difference, but the reality is that we practice in the morning, so it is not necessarily the same conditions as it is right now,'' Libed said. ''The wind slowed down a little bit and we were lucky to prevail.''

KCC head coach Kawika Williams was part of the winning mixed masters 40 crew two races later. He teamed with Ryn Hughes, Patti Phillips, Chuck Barrett, Ani Alfaro, and Lei Laanui to edge HCC in their half-mile race in 3 minutes, 54.05 seconds to 3:55.93.

That win came with extra satisfaction after Luuwai said it was a race HCC was targeting, and after three earlier DQ's cost KCC nine points.

''That was our second win,'' Williams said. ''We won the first one and we lost the next two to Lae Ula and then Hawaiian, but now we are back.''

The mixed master 40 victory cemented second place in the regatta for the hosts.

''It sure was, that was our goal this week, whatever race you are in make sure you finish in front of that green and yellow and red boat (Lae Ula O Kai),'' Williams said. ''Pretty much we were pushing today because it was so close last week and they kind of snuck up on us. We were a little bit more prepared and the club, all the work this week, all the work going on (to host), and we were missing people. We just came out and did an awesome job. It went really good. It was a great day.''

* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.

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HCC wins first eight events of Moki Kalanikau Regatta

June 21, 2009

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