Lanikai and Leeward Kai completed perfect runs through the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association season Sunday.
Lanikai won 20 of 44 scoring events to claim the AAA Division and Leeward Kai claimed four races to win AA at the OHCRA Championship Regatta at Keehi Lagoon.
Lanikai won all seven regattas this season by an average of 86.1 points.
“From the beginning of the season, I told everybody, everybody is a soldier. I need all hands on deck,” Lanikai coach Scott Freitas said.
Lanikai finished with 219 points in AAA (31-48 events) on Sunday. Hui Nalu was second with a season-high 140 points and Kailua placed third with 109. Points are awarded on a 7-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Lanikai claimed seven youth, two novice, five open and six masters events.
Leeward Kai finished with 65 points to claim AA (16-30) and Kai Oni claimed A (15-fewer) for the second time with 32.
Lanikai’s girls 16, men novice A and men senior, and Waimanalo men 70 were the only crews to win all six scoring regattas this season.
The Lanikai men senior crew won its 11⁄2-mile race by more than 17 seconds.
“We’ve been paddling together for a number of years now,” Lanikai men senior paddler Jordan Gomes said. “We’re all good friends, we all have each other’s back, we all work together. We put in the countless hours together.”
Said Waimanalo men 70 paddler Dennis Sallas: “We’re very close. In fact, we just threw a luau two months ago just for the fun of it. That’s how close we are. It wasn’t about paddling. It was about being in Waimanalo, how we are together, how we love one another, how we stick together.”
Leeward Kai won two youth races and one open to claim AA. Waikiki Surf Club was second with 62 and Healani placed third with 42.
“We’re pretty much a small club, so we’re always scrambling here and there,” said Leeward Kai keiki coach Anela Kamana, who also paddled on the winning women open four crew. “A lot of times, we have to scratch crews. Usually our kids set the tone for us. They bring us to the first seed in our division. Toward the middle of the day, we don’t have as much crews, so our points drop. Toward the end of the day is where we finish strong and we end up taking our division.”
Kai Oni didn’t win any races, but had runner-up finishes in the mixed novice B and men novice A events. Hui Lanakila was second in A with 16 and Koa Kai was third with 12.
Lanikai had three crews suffer their first losses Sunday: girls 15 (defeated by Keahiakahoe), mixed 18 (Waikiki Surf Club) and men freshmen (Outrigger).
“It makes me feel very happy about that (Lanikai having three undefeated crews). On the negative point, I had three crews that were undefeated that didn’t win today. You take the good with the bad,” Freitas said. “It’s a hard accomplishment, to come undefeated.”
The Keahiakahoe girls 15 crew finished the half-mile race in 4:36.89, which was more than one second ahead of runner-up Waikiki Surf Club.
“We definitely had a good start. We also had a good turn. We were the first ones to the flag and everyone just pushed through and did a good job,” Keahiakahoe girls 15 crew member Mala‘e Martinez-Peapealalo said.
Waikiki Surf Club mixed 18 finished the half-mile race in 4:11.73, which was about a half-second ahead of Lanikai.
“We practice hard. One of my uncles said, ‘Hard practice gives you hard results,’ ” Waikiki Surf Club mixed 18 paddler Jonah Gora-Aina said. “We just had a good finish. First to the turn, we were fifth coming out of the turn, halfway down the quarter-mile back, we just started catching up to everybody.”
New Hope mixed novice B waited until the final regatta to win the club’s first event of the season.
The crew of first-year paddlers had a lot of inspiration going into the race.
A long-time New Hope paddler had heart surgery, then suffered an aneurysm at home. The mother of a mixed novice B paddler is battling stage 4 cancer. The steersman of the crew, Sakurako Halstead, competed in her final regatta Sunday and will be moving back to Saipan.
New Hope mixed novice B completed the quarter-mile race in 2:03.29, which was nearly 3.5 seconds ahead of runner-up Kai Oni.
“It was a tough road. We missed our first two races because of family reasons and we just got together to race and every week we got better,” paddler Kalani Chun said. “It was magical. This season was magical.”
The top 4 OHCRA crews in each event will compete at the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship Regatta on Aug. 3 at Keehi Lagoon.
