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Clubs continue push for states as Lae‘ula hosts Mayor’s Umeke Regatta

By Dakota Grossman 5 min read

KAHULUI -- Holly Dollar is happy to be back paddling for Lae'ula O Kai.

For 19 years, Dollar spent the summers racing with her team and training down at Kanaha Beach Park, except during the COVID-19 pandemic when the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association seasons were wiped out for two years.

"I'm so happy, it's nice to have this in my life because it relieves stress and it's a community feeling again," Dollar said late Saturday afternoon at Kahului Harbor during the Mayor's Umeke Regatta, the annual event that Lae'ula O Kai hosts. "It's just great to be outside and out on the water."

The conditions were "really gusty" as the women's 55 crew of Dollar, Mary Kielty, Tanya Muhle, Jacque Mulleitner, Joyce Skinner and Donelle Zarko battled Kihei Canoe Club for first place with a time of 5 minute, 3.88 seconds.

"It makes the turns a lot harder to come around and it's a hard-fought race in the women's 55 division, so we were stoked that we could come back," Dollar said.

After Saturday, there are just two regattas left for clubs to try and qualify crews for the state championship. The MCHCA gets only two guaranteed lanes in each race for the state regatta at Keehi Lagoon on Oahu on Aug. 6 -- overall numbers have declined since previous seasons when the association would receive three state berths per race.

Their win Saturday most likely solidified a state berth for Lae'ula's 55 women.

"It's right around the corner and we're getting ready for it," said Dollar, adding that the focus will be on fine-tuning their technique from here on out.

"I think timing and togetherness is what's most important," she said.

LUOK's women's 60 crew of Mulleitner, Muhle, Zarko, Emi Alves, Beth Faust and Tanya Raymond won with a time of 5:06.10 on Saturday morning.

In their yellow, green and red canoes, the LUOK men's 50 and women's 50 crews took home gold, too, later in the afternoon.

Hosting the regatta always adds energy to the day, said LUOK head coach Sharon Balidoy, explaining how the Mayor's Umeke Regatta began with a fun sprint, about an eighth of a mile long, between crews from Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino's office and the event's officials.

"So that was really cool to see. Not all of our officials race now, but many of them were racers and paddlers, so it was fun to see them -- our race director steered and head water official paddled," said Balidoy, who, along with the board of directors of Lae'ula O Kai, received a perpetual trophy from the mayor. "So, it was good fun."

The Mayor's Umeke Regatta is also a way to include the county officials and "thank them for all the support they give us as well," she added.

Balidoy, who later paddled with the winning women's freshman crew of Kelly Cua, Emily Smith, Joanna Tablang, Paige Torres and Nani Vickers with a time of 10:14.33 on the one-mile course, said that the club's numbers are almost back in full force since the pandemic.

Though there was a two-year hiatus, some LUOK members stayed busy in other ways.

"It was still kind of fun to do that because we weren't training to race, but you know, we surfed, you learn currents, and we went with Paul (Luuwai) with Hawaiian Canoe Club around Kaho'olawe and we couldn't have done that during the regular season, so it was nice to do that," Balidoy said. "Coming back, it's been steady. We're picking up more kids now."

The highlight for the club this season is obtaining and piecing together a koa canoe.

"We're excited; just waiting to put that canoe on the water," she said. "It's about having fun. I think being out the two years really brought that to the forefront, that it's not just racing."

Still, the mid-sized club has been trying to maintain their numbers and "do the best that we can," she added.

Hawaiian Canoe Club continued to show its strength in numbers during the Mayor's Umeke Regatta, winning with a total of 171 points. HCC crews won 24 total races and presumably secured its 29th lane for the state championship.

"We're just trying to maintain what we have and hopefully gain one here and one there if we can, it's really hard to do this late in the season, but we're just giving it our best shot," HCC keiki coach Luuwai said. "It's a chess match after a while and once we get to states we have to move everybody around where we think they'll be best utilized. ... Even to have 28 crews, that's pretty awesome for us as a club."

While HCC members will still be focused on training and keeping their eyes on their competitors from Oahu's Lanikai, Luuwai said the paddlers are still participating in the club's educational program over the next few weeks.

For over 30 years, it's been a tradition that youth paddlers get involved with dancing hula, learning Hawaiian language and culture, building a hale, fishing, participating in restoration projects, and doing other activities like arts and crafts, Luuwai said.

"We are getting our mana back together," he said. "It's more than just paddling. It's about teaching the culture, teaching respect -- respecting our own club and other clubs. The kids get a lot out of it."

* Dakota Grossman is at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

MCHCA MAYOR’S UMEKE REGATTA

Saturday's Results • At Kahului Harbor

Hawaiian 171, Kihei 92, Lae'ula O Kai 65, Na Kai Ewalu 58, Napili 58, Wailea 40, Lahaina 24, Kahana 3.

SEASON STANDINGS

Through 5 of 7 events

Hawaiian 866, Kihei 472, Lae'ula O Kai 333, Na Kai Ewalu 284, Napili 272, Wailea 183, Lahaina 125, Kahana 20.

Starting at /week.