Leading up to Molokai, so far the word is, Lanikai is still the favorite to win the race. Others who are in contention are as always the Tahitians, Hui Lanakila, Tui Tonga and Outrigger not particularly in that order.
All week reports have been coming in as having the channel pretty sloppy with no consistant pattern, something most experienced Hawaiian teams dislike. They are good at surfing and would rather use their expertise to their advantage, whereas visiting teams tend to prefer battling it out in flatter water, favoring their style of paddling.
California is sending several teams from the northern and southern part of the state. They include two crews from Lanakila - Redondo Beach, Team California -Newport Beach, San Francisco, Kai Elua-San Diego, and two crews from Kilohana-Northern California. Many California teams make an annual trek to the Molokai race, for it is the mother of all outrigger races.
FAST FORWARD TO DAY AFTER THE RACE.
As everyone knows by now the Tahitians swept the top three spots in this Molokai Hoe, considered an incredible feat in the world's superbowl of outrigger canoe racing. Congratulations to Shell Vaa Te Uira Uira 1st, Hiti Toa Era'i Na'u Ke 2nd and Team Raromatai Ai'a Man 3rd.
The Tahitians were very strong from the start and an hour after the start, they began their impatient push to take the lead from Outrigger. Please see the race coverage below.
The channel was flat, hot and calm. Many of the teams went south. Several including Hawaiian canoe club, Mooloolaba and Lanakila California went north toward Makapu'u. All three battled along the wall outside Hanauma bay. With Hawaiian falling back a bit, Lanakila California held a slim lead up to Diamond Head when Mooloolaba slowly slipped by to finish in sixth place- a mere six seconds ahead.
No covers were needed or zipped up except for maybe #1. No clouds graced the sky and the men paddled under a hot sun. Outrigger Masters won their division with Team California taking second and Hui Nalu 3rd.
In the Senior Masters, age 50-55yrs NAMOLOKAMA O HA TAHITI took first, KIHEI HOLU LOA finished second and HAWN KANAKTION took third. WAIMANALO TE URIA TE PA won the Master 55-and up ("UP" Meaning not knowing how old you can really paddle till) KEAUHOU finished second and ANUENUE finished third.
In the KOA division there were only two entries. Finishing first was OUTRIGGER and finally there was PUAKEA HAWN FND finishing second in the beautifully restored HO"OLA. The Ho'ola was restored by Bobby Puakea and staff of the Puakea Foundation. Bobby's foundation's mission is to perpetuate the histories, cultures, and traditional and contemporary folk arts of canoe building. His father raced in the Ho'ola and Bobby felt that it would be a good thing to see it race again. He says, "A Koa boat should be raced, not sit around to be admired." Congratulations to all the paddlers of the Molokai Hoe.
Mahalo AL
PADDLING
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM
Shell Vaa crew members finished off their record run in the the Molokai Hoe yesterday.
Shell Vaa paddles to record in Molokai Hoe
Crews from Tahiti place 1-2-3 in the Molokai-to-Oahu race
By Brandon Lee
Special to the Star-Bulletin
Conditions were about as flat as they get during the 55th annual Molokai Hoe yesterday.
Yet Shell Vaa made huge waves of its own by winning in record-breaking time and leading a Tahitian sweep of the top three spots in the race that is considered the world championship of men's long-distance outrigger canoe paddling.
Top-ranked Tahitian entry Shell Vaa simply dominated the international field of 102 other crews and finished the 41-mile course from Molokai to Oahu across the Kaiwi Channel first in 4 hours, 46 minutes and 4.5 seconds.
Shell Vaa broke the previous race record (4:50:31 by Lanikai in 2000) by more than 4 minutes, and finished almost 15 minutes ahead of runner-up Hiti Toa Erai (5:00:27.8) and third-place Raro Maitai (5:00:43.7).
It also earned $5,000 from race sponsor Anheuser-Busch with the win.
"We're very happy," Shell Vaa paddler Karyl Maoni said. "The team was very strong, and the ocean was good."
Asked if he and his team expected the outcome, owner Richel Moux said: "Not really. We didn't even expect to be first. It was a good surprise, and also that the top three teams are all from Tahiti."
Still, Shell Vaa is not a stranger to success in the biggest paddling events.
Though it did not enter last year, the Papeete-based club placed second in the Molokai Hoe two years ago.
Yesterday's race record was also the third one it has claimed within the last year -- added to those it established in the two most prestigious distance-paddling events in Tahiti that also attract strong international competition.
Shell Vaa's nine crewmembers (six paddled at a time, with rotations made with open-ocean changes) yesterday were David Tepava, Heiarii Mama, Jimmy Pirato, Lucien Tara, Bruno Tauhiro, Jajon Ori, Roland Teahui, Vatea Taraufau and Maoni.
"We came here to (try to) win," Taraufau said. "The Molokai Hoe is a big race."
Besides crews from Hawaii and Tahiti, the field also included ones from other parts of the U.S., Australia, Canada, Japan and Italy, among other countries.
The race began at 7:24 a.m. at Hale O Lono Harbor on Molokai, with the finish at Duke Kahanamoku Beach in Waikiki.
Oahu-based Outrigger initially jumped out to the lead, with Shell Vaa, the other two top Tahitian crews and two-time defending champion Lanikai (Oahu) close behind.
Shell Vaa's paddlers said they were unsure of the approach to take to Oahu and content to follow Outrigger in the beginning.
But after seeing Outrigger's line and also getting its own set with help from its canoe builder -- Hawaii's Sonny Bradley -- Shell Vaa moved up from second place and took over the lead about an hour into the race.
From that point, "we didn't see anybody again," said Taraufau.
Outrigger (5:01:10.9) finished fourth overall, while Lanikai (5:05:56.2) fell short in its quest for a three-peat of Molokai Hoe titles and ended up fifth. Mooloolaba (5:07:53.9) of Australia and Lanakila (5:07:59.9) of California rounded out the top seven spots.
"We had a good run for the first hour," Outrigger steersman Karel Tresnak Jr. said. "Then we slowly started getting passed by Tahitians -- one Tahitian crew, then a second crew, a third crew. ... We're happy with what we did today, but what Shell did was incredible. To beat crews by 15 minutes is unreal."
Shell Vaa's victory marks only the sixth time the winner of the race has finished in under 5 hours and the first Tahitian win since Rai (which did not enter this year) in 2002.
While Tahitians are renowned for their ability to paddle in flat conditions like those found in their home water, there was also a receding tide yesterday that was working against the paddlers.
Flat as it was, the conditions were not exactly ideal for breaking the record, yet Shell Vaa did so convincingly, along with smashing the rest of the field.
It was the best performance turned in by Tahitian crews since a sweep of the top four spots in the 1976 Molokai Hoe.
"We came to win, and Shell won, so it's OK. It's a Tahitian thing," said Hiti Toa Erai's Nena Tauhiti, who is also Tahiti's minister of culture.
Notable among the non-open-division winners, Outrigger won the masters 40-and-older division in 5:29:18.8, good for 19th overall.
The Mooloolaba masters crew had won the division the past three years, but settled for fourth yesterday at 5:40:15.7.
Members of Team Bradley celebrate at Duke Kahanamoku Beach after winning the 41-mile outrigger canoe race from Moloka'i to O'ahu by 16 seconds over Hui Lanakila.
JOAQUIN SIOPACK | The Honolulu Advertiser
The last question always seems to be the hardest one on tests.
But after months of homework, Team Bradley/Coffees of Hawai'i passed the biggest test in outrigger canoe paddling yesterday.
Team Bradley passed one final canoe in the final mile to win the Na Wahine O Ke Kai for the second consecutive year.
The 41-mile race across the Kaiwi Channel is considered the world championship of outrigger canoe paddling for women's teams. Sixty-nine teams participated yesterday.
Team Bradley completed the course from Hale O Lono Harbor, Moloka'i, to Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki, in 5 hours, 41 minutes, 37 seconds.
"It was pass or fail at the end there," Team Bradley steerswoman Denise Darval-Chang said. "And we found it in us to pass."
Hui Lanakila surrendered the lead late in the race, and finished in second place for the second consecutive year. Hui Lanakila's time was 5:41:53, and the 16-second difference was the closest in the 28-year history of the Na Wahine O Ke Kai.
"Closer than I would have liked," Team Bradley coach John Puakea said. "But I was never worried about the conditioning. I knew that would help us in a close race."
Members of the winning crew were Lauren Bartlett, Darval-Chang, Theresa Felgate, Kelly Fey, Darcie Gray, Margie Kawaiaea, Cherisse Keli'i, Mahealani Lum, Dane Ward and Shelley Wilding-Oates.
An unfavorable tide and moderate swells made for a relatively slow race. The winning time was more than 19 minutes off the course record.
Team Bradley led for most of the race, but then took a north course as it approached East O'ahu. Hui Lanakila stayed more to the south.
When the canoes met near Diamond Head, Team Bradley was stunned to see Hui Lanakila ahead by about two canoe-lengths
"We're behind, what are we gonna do?" Keli'i said was the feeling of Team Bradley. "I guess we were running scared after that."
Bartlett added: "I think our adrenaline started taking over. We saw that we were behind and knew we had to give it everything we had left."
After 30 minutes of power paddling, Team Bradley passed Hui Lanakila in the stretch run in relatively calm waters off Waikiki.
"It's like childbirth — you don't think about the pain," Team Bradley's Kawaiaea said. "You reach for whatever is inside of you and use it."
Team Bradley features a unique mix of paddlers from Maui (Bartlett, Felgate, Kawaiaea and Ward), O'ahu (Darval-Chang, Fey and Lum), Kaua'i (Gray), the Big Island (Keli'i) and Australia (Wilding-Oates).
The team prepares for long-distance races by training individually on one-person canoes.
"There's a camaraderie on this team that people might not know about," Keli'i said. "But I think it showed today. We had to work hard as a team to pull this off, and we did."
Eight of the 10 paddlers were also on last year's winning team. The new members were Darval-Chang and Lum.
Darval-Chang was part of Na Wahine O Ke Kai championship crews with Hui Nalu in 1982 and '83. Lum is a first-time winner.
"It's amazing to think that it was 1983 the last time," Darval-Chang said. "But that's why I consider it such an honor to be with this crew. I know how hard it is to win this race."
Team Bradley, which is named after canoe-builder Sonny Bradley, received $5,000 from race sponsor Anheuser-Busch. It is the first time in the history of the Na Wahine O Ke Kai that the winning team received a cash prize.
"They can do what ever they want with it," coach Puakea said. "They can throw a big party if they want. They earned it."
Hui Lanakila was left with the bittersweet feeling of close, but not close enough.
"It's like that apple dangling in front of us was right there for the taking," Hui Lanakila paddler Jane McKee said. "We just ran out of race, that's all. Everything was perfect up to the end."
Members of the Hui Lanakila crew were Jennifer Asano, Mikala Bradley, Jessie Eames, Seraphina Eames, Gail Grabowsky, Arlene Holzman, Jamie Kinard, McKee, Katie Slocumb and Sarah Van DeVanter.
Jessie Eames, who is one of Hui Lanakila's strongest paddlers, was feeling sick in several ways yesterday.
"I missed three days (of practice) last week because I was sick," Eames said. "It's frustrating because I feel like that might have been the difference in that 16 seconds. But this is still the closest we've been to (Team Bradley), so there's some satisfaction in that."
Waikiki Beach Boys finished third — the best showing in the club's history — in 5:47:17.
"For about the first three hours of the race, we were right with Hui Lanakila," paddler Sue Brown said. "Then we had a bad 20-minute stretch and fell behind. We would have liked to have done better, but we're happy with third."
Venus Va'a from Tahiti was fourth in 5:57:46, and Outrigger was fifth in 5:58:52. Outrigger is the only club that has finished in the top five of every Na Wahine O Ke Kai race.
Hawaiian Kanaktion/Kahiau won the masters 40-and-older division for the third consecutive year, and was an impressive sixth overall with a time of 6:05:56.
Hawaiian Kanaktion/Kahiau had a mix of paddlers from O'ahu, Kaua'i, Maui, the Big Island and California.
"The core is from Kaua'i — five of us," team coordinator Laola Lake-Aea said. "But we're starting to get used to each other as a team, so I think that's why we did so well today."
One of the paddlers in the crew was JoJo Toeppner of California. She is the only paddler who has participated in every Na Wahine O Ke Kai race.
Kailua-Wa'akapaemua won the masters 50-and-older division and was 20th overall in 6:26:46. Masters crews could use 12 paddlers; open crews could use 10.
Another Outrigger crew was the first to finish in a koa canoe with a time of 6:47:25.
Need a good photo to go with the story. If you have a great photo you'd like to share with us. Please email it to acelocc@aol.com Since I can't shoot pictures while I''m paddling, you'll notice most of the photos are on land.
Your water shots would be wonderfu to share. Again, Please email it to acelocc@aol.com
