What is traditionally a “who’s who” of the best outrigger canoe paddlers in the state at the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship regatta has evoked an additional question by many participants and supporters this year: “Who’s missing?”

As the top crews take to the waters of Hanalei Bay on Kauai’s picturesque North Shore to compete today — including defending HCRA champion Lanikai Canoe Club and perennial power Hawaiian Canoe Club of Maui — the state competition will be missing a handful of recognizable clubs that elected not to send crews to participate.

Hui Nalu and Outrigger of the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association announced in June that they would not participate in the state championships out of respect and concern for the North Kauai communities recovering from the historic floods that devastated the area last year, and a landslide earlier this year that delayed efforts to reopen Kuhio Highway — the thoroughfare that connects North Shore communities on the island.

Later in the summer, additional OHCRA clubs, including Healani, Hui Lanakila and New Hope, decided not to participate.

“It wasn’t much of a decision for us — if Hawaiian was going, we were going,” said Lanikai coach and veteran paddler Scott Freitas when asked earlier this season about the possibility of his club declining to participate in the state races. “As the reigning champions, we want to be able to defend our title against the great clubs across the state.”

Conversely, Na ‘Ohana O Na Hui Wa‘a, Oahu’s other canoe racing association, has full participation from all its member clubs that qualified crews for the state championships. However, some individual crews, such as the keiki teams from Hui Wa‘a power Na Keiki O Ka Mo‘i, are not participating due to the added cost involved with making the trip and staying on the Garden Isle.

In 2013, the last time the state races were held on Kauai, the demand for interisland flights caused the price of a round-trip fare to skyrocket higher than some there-and-back jaunts to the West Coast. While the prices associated with travel aren’t quite as high this go-around, the demand for lodging and transportation has steadily increased this week, and the cost of flights, lodging and rental vehicles led to some crews forfeiting lanes within certain state races despite qualifying for them in the regular season.

Kauai prepares

According to the HCRA, it has coordinated with Kauai County officials to help the state regatta run as smoothly as possible, including setting up shuttles to and from the race site, establishing seven auxiliary parking locations and planning canoe caravan windows so clubs can trailer their vessels to the beach and back without causing additional traffic on the main highway, which narrows to a one-lane road at multiple points.

“Our community went through a lot, including 50 inches of rain in 24 hours. … There was a lot of damage, and there’s a lot of sensitivity around holding a race of this magnitude there in such a small community that is still recovering,” said Billy Pratt, a veteran paddler and coach with Outrigger who is also a Kauai native. “(Outrigger’s) decision not to participate was made out of aloha for … the people there. It may sound biased, but Hanalei is the best place to host a race. However, with the current situation from the perspective as a Kauaian, it would be ideal if we could (have held) the race on Oahu and return next year to really celebrate Kauai.”

The Kauai Outrigger Association wrote a letter to the paddling community in June to assure both local participants and visitors that the host organization was making the necessary preparations for the large-scale race.

“Kauai has only one opportunity every six years to host this regatta, and it is one of the largest events of any kind we ever have the opportunity to host,” said KOA, which includes 11 member clubs that unanimously agreed to have the race continue, in the letter dated June 6. “Its success is of extreme importance – not just to Kauai paddlers, but county government, local businesses and cultural practitioners. The member clubs of KOA have committed to hosting the race as planned … all road construction will be paused for the entire weekend of the race, and county personnel will ensure a smooth flow of traffic and an orderly event.”

Trading titles

In the 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017 state championship regattas held at rotating neighbor island sites — Hilo Bay, Hanakao‘o Beach (Lahaina) and Hanalei Bay — Hawaiian tallied victories with winning margins of 60, 59, 24 and 31 points, followed by a 14-point win over Lanikai two years ago.

In the 2008, 2010 and 2012 editions of the state regatta — all at Keehi Lagoon — Lanikai won the first two instances by a combined four points and shared the title with Kailua seven years ago. In 2014, Hawaiian broke through with a 48-point win over runner-up Kailua, and the Maui squad won again in 2016 after dominating the competition that featured a depleted field, as many clubs did not race due to the potentially hazardous water conditions caused by Tropical Storm Darby’s polluted runoff.

Lanikai broke through last year with a dominant 78-point victory over the Maui juggernaut, which led Hawaiian coach Diane Ho to praise the “awesome” performance by Lanikai that “came out to win,” and made it necessary for the club to “go back to the drawing board” in advance of this year’s competition.

“Our mentality is all about prioritizing the betterment of the club, so I told everyone that it goes club, crew, individual,” said Freitas. “You win as a club, and that’s what makes our team special. You can’t win by yourself, it’s all about the team right now, all the way.”

Strength in numbers

More than 3,000 paddlers ranging in age from 12-and-younger to 70-and-older will represent 52 clubs from six outrigger canoe paddling organizations competed in the regatta’s 43 races ranging in length from 1⁄4 to 11⁄2 miles.

Hawaiian, which has won the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association championship for 35 consecutive years, qualified 42 crews for the state competition to match three-time defending OHCRA champion Lanikai in the AAAA Division (21-plus crews entered). Kailua Canoe Club (40 crews), Manu O Ke Kai (27 crews, three-time defending Hui Wa‘a champion) and Puna Canoe Club (21 crews, runner-up to Kai ‘Opua for Hawaii Island’s Moku O Hawaii championship) will look to play spoiler in the large division.

“I don’t think we’re going to make many changes with it being a relatively short race,” said veteran Lanikai steersman Manny Kulukulualani of the preparation his club has put in leading up to today’s sprints. “We only have a few weeks after states before we start competing in the distance races, so we’ve started preparing for that test. If you don’t do your homework for the distance season, it’s way too late at that point to try to catch up.”

For the clubs that do participate today, paddlers have expressed a sense of gratitude as the latest to perpetuate the state sport at such a high level.

“I’m so happy to be paddling, and am thankful that we have been blessed with the health to continue doing this,” said Derek Lee Loy, veteran paddler and women’s coach of Manu O Ke Kai.