KAILUA-KONA — There is a familiar feeling to the start of the Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe racing season. Kai Opua, known for its strong starts, has claimed the first two meets of the year after clinching Keauhou’s Founders Regatta on Saturday.
Kai Opua claimed the title with 177 points, besting Puna — the Big Island’s four-time reigning champion — which finished right behind in second with 169 points.
Puna also finished second in the first regatta of the season, but the east side club has a habit of stepping up when the season matters most.
“We always start out well with the west side regattas and then we see what happens when we go to Hilo,” said Kai Opua head coach Mike Atwood. “Puna usually starts to build up momentum once we go over there. It will be an interesting season.”
This year Puna might not be the only club Kai Opua has to worry about if it wants to reclaim its place at the top of the local paddling scene.
Competition is fierce this year, with clubs such as Kai Ehitu (152 points), Keoua Honaunau (135) and Kawaihae (130) all battling for a spot at the top of the podium.
“Across the board the competition is there and it is going to make us all a little bit stronger,” Atwood said. “We know everyone is working hard so we have to work harder than they are. The coaches are putting in a lot of time and, so far, we are happy with the results.”
Kai Opua managed to clinch this week’s regatta thanks to a strong performance in the women’s open four division.
The team of Misty Ellis, Melanie Kelekolio, Maile Leslie and Kristin Old managed to rebound from a third place finish last week to claim first by a slim margin over Kawaihae with a time of 4 minutes and 41.40 seconds. Kawaihae finished in a time of 4:44.05.
Kai Opua’s time during the second regatta was 13 seconds faster than their time in the opening regatta.
“We decided to make a change this week and it is amazing how one little switch can make a big difference,” said Kelekolio, a member of the winning crew and Kai Opua’s women’s coach. “There are some really tough women out there and you can never take them lightly. Today we talked strategy before the race and we were able to regroup, but we barely got it.”
Kai Opua topped the medal table at the Founders Regatta with 23 crews making the podium — nine were gold medal performances.
Hosting Keauhou gets on the board
Though the hosts Keauhou finished ninth overall in Divison A with only 20 crews competing, the silver lining for the club was two gold medal victories. Its women masters (40) crew of Cortney Akana, Emma Chandler, Corrine Convery, Ramona Crivello, Christina Kovach and Kyle Malinoff claimed their second victory of the season in a time of 9:54.07, while the mixed masters (60) crew of Vern Bieraugel, Sherri Carney, Suzanne Jarvinen, Mel Pauole, Terry Trinidad and Leslie Woods topped the field with a first place time of 4:45.65.
“The regatta went really well today and we had a lot of great participation,” said Jane Bockus, Keauhou’s membership secretary and a founding board member. “We had two wins and it was a really exciting day of racing. It has been a great feeling.”
Record falls, again
Keaukaha entered 34 events on Saturday, but it was one event in particular that stood out — the freshman mens race. For the second week in a row, the crew of Nate Kaluhiwa, Kyle Keamo, Kama Leeloy, Jose Lizardi, Tyler Makaiwi and Keahi Warfield broke the Moku O Hawaii record for the race.
The record first fell at the Papa Kimitete regatta where the Keaukaha crew completed their race in a time of 7:32.24. They topped that time this week, finishing in 7:24.02.
“We have paddled together for the past three or four years and we have our own jive going. We are able to read each other and we know how each other reacts,” Leeloy said. “It is those small things that start to add up.”
There’s a week off for the clubs to recover before picking up the season for the final west side regatta of the season. Kai Opua’s Kamehameha Day event will be held at Kailua Bay on June 9.