One paddle, two paddle, 3,000 paddles...

The State Regatta

The promised entry on the island of Lanai will have to wait. Instead, here's a post about Saturday's HCRA State Outrigger Canoe Championships.

Flying from Maui to Oahu last Friday, we noticed very full flights and lots of different people with something in common. Travelers, all packing paddles, much like woman pictured here, from Hanalei Canoe Club on the north shore of the island of Kauai.

Oahu ("the gathering place") was living up to its name as 3,000 paddlers, plus coaches, family and friends all headed to Honolulu for the annual championship regatta.

The race season goes from April to August, when seas are calmer, with many smaller regattas during that time.

This was the grand event. A sprawling spectacle, featuring a total cross-section of Hawaii's people. Where the old blends with the new, to perpetuate key elements of Hawaiian culture.

The outrigger canoe was essential throughout all of Polynesia. Pre-western contact, the canoe was car, train, plane and water-sport recreational craft wrapped in one. The 6-man outrigger canoe has survived (and now thrives) in modern canoe clubs. Locally, this includes competing leagues and club rivalries that go back for decades. Paddling is also international, with teams from the mainland U.S., Tahiti, Australia and more.

Every major island has numerous clubs, open to all for a nominal fee. These are organized like a sport and social club--with a family focus. Members include young singles, with sculpted bodies, to whole families, including Tutu and Tutu Kane (Grandma and Grandpa). Paddlers try out for seats on competitive teams, made up of men, women or mixed gender crews. Age divisions start at 12 and go to 55 and up.

Ohana is Hawaiian for family. It's a broader concept than the nuclear family, or one based on blood kinship. For example, in Hawaii, it is customary for children to address all close adult family friends as "Uncle" or "Aunty". When you join a group based on Hawaiian culture, such as a hula halau (school), or a canoe club, you have instant "cousins".

This means many warm and fuzzy moments, and lots of flower leis. It also brings obligations. Kokua is expected. Show up, share, be helpful and take responsibility for the group.

Over 20 years ago, I paddled for 3 years with a Maui club, Na Kai Ewalu (meaning the eight seas, or channels, between the major Hawaiian Islands.) I was attending Maui Community College by day and working at night. I joined crews who paddled as an early morning fitness regime. Lots of fun, but the time commitment was exhausting. It left me wishing for some recreational league instead of doing competitive racing. Attending another state meet was a real blast from my past!

The flat-water regatta race course consists of lanes 1/4 mile in length, marked by buoys. Regatta races can be as short as 2 minutes for the quarter mile with no turns. Or as long as 11 minutes for 1.5 miles with five turns, where races may be won or lost.
Open-ocean races are also popular. They include what is considered the world championship for outrigger canoes, the 41-mile race across a rough channel from Molokai to Oahu. This takes 5 hours for first place crews and 10 hours or more for last place. Channel crossings are also done by kayakers and people paddling surfboards--even "stand-up" surfboards!

Ke'ehi Lagoon, close to the state's main airport, is just about perfect for a big flat-course event like this. Demand for parking was such that the playing fields were pressed into service. Some race sites, such as Waikiki beach, have lanes impacted by breaking waves. Ke'ehi is sheltered. The shore is long enough for everyone's tarps to go up and to allow for lots of good viewing.

There are different divisions, based on club size. In the AAA division, Maui's Hawaiian Canoe Club was the winner, for the 6th straight year. (Click here for full results.)

The race that had the crowd roaring was the women's senior event, where the ladies from the working-class Waikiki Beach Boys club held off clubs which operate with more money and better equipment. The underdogs prevailed, and here they are. Imua!