Kai Opua focused

On Aug. 4, Puni Freitas led his Kai Opua crew to a state championship at the Hawaii Canoe Racing Association state regatta on Oahu.

He was looking forward to guiding his crew to a Queen Liliuokalani title this weekend. The 41st edition of the 18-mile long-distance race is Saturday in Kailua-Kona.

But an automobile accident during the early morning hours Sunday put Freitas in the hospital, forcing Kai Opua to change its first seat in its top men’s crew.

However, instead of focusing on the loss, Kai Opua is concentrating on taking care of its ohana and dedicating the race to its injured paddler.

“He’s our focus point,” Kai Opua men’s coach Eddie Hayward said. “Given the situation, our guys are going to use it as motivation, do it for Puni.”

Hayward said Freitas would be missed, and he gave him glowing compliments, both as a paddler and a person.

“He brings a lot to the table,” Hayward said. “He’s very comfortable in the ocean.

“He’s such a young kid. Just shy of 21. He’s a talented young kid, a respectful kid, got so much to offer.”

Hayward did not say who would replace Freitas, only that he had several paddlers able to do so. Race coordinator Mike Atwood suggested the substitute could come from the koa crew, but he said it would be “Eddie’s call.”

Hayward’s role since the accident has been less about being a coach, and more about being a friend.

“I talked to his brother, and his father, and I was able to talk to him about maybe 12 hours after the accident,” Hayward said. “I just wanted to let him know he has many paddling brothers back here supporting him. I told him to get better, and when he gets back, we’ll help him get back to paddling.”

Many are willing and able to take his place, Hayward said, in part because many good paddlers are forced to sit out the race. Since Kai Opua is the host, and all the international and mainland teams rely on the Hawaiian clubs to lend them a canoe for the race, Kai Opua lends out some boats that could be filled with club paddlers.

“We can legitimately put six crews on the water, but because it’s our race, we’re allowed to use five canoes from our club,” Hayward said. “We can put as many as six or seven crews. As much as we try to get our men on the race, we can’t. We’ve got to give up two of our canoes.

“That makes it hard, but we understand that. But when you see all those boats lined up, you want to be out on the water, not on the land, watching.”

There will be many people from many lands on the water this weekend. The women’s race will begin at Kailua Pier at 7:30 a.m., and the women will paddle the 18 miles to Honaunau Bay. Beginning at 11:45 a.m., the men will set out on the return trip.

Atwood, interviewed Tuesday between trips to Kawaiahae to haul canoes from other island clubs, said the participation would be down from the 2011 edition, when 175 men’s and 150 women’s crews participated.

“We’ve got online registration now, which helps us give early indications to what the numbers are going to look like,” Atwood said. “As of (Aug. 24), there were 99 women’s and 87 men’s crews.”

However, Atwood noted that the registration runs through today, and many Big Island crews like to wait until the last day.

“You pay more if you do it on Friday, but most of the Big Island teams don’t seem to mind,” he said.

Atwood said the numbers should be down from last year, because the Queen Liliuokalani Races are generally less well-attended when the International Vaa Federation World Sprints are held because teams generally can only afford to make one trip. Those races are held every two years, and the most recent IVF World Sprints were held Aug. 11-15 in Calgary, Alberta.

Kai Opua president Larry Campos estimated “conservatively” that 140 crews of each gender would participate in Saturday’s races.

The competition should be fierce as always. Big Island crews performed well in 2011, with Kai Opua No. 9 finishing second in the women’s race, and Livestrong No. 1 winning the men’s race.

Atwood said the women’s race would have strong competition, with many teams from the mainland and Canada, as well as state crews from Kai Opua, Hui Nalu (Oahu) and others.

On the men’s side, Atwood mentioned Team Primo, Kai Opua, defending champions Livestrong and several others as legitimate contenders.