School is in session — the Raven Aipa “School of Paddling,” that is.

The crew manning the Hui Nalu-Yellow canoe credited its aforementioned coach as it notched the wire-to-wire victory Sunday at the 38th annual Dad Center Race. The event marked the start of the women’s long-distance outrigger canoe paddling season, and featured 47 crews that traversed a 25-mile course from Kailua Beach to the waters fronting the Outrigger Canoe Club in Waikiki.

Hui Nalu, which became the third crew in as many years to win the race, finished the event in 2 hours, 48 minutes and 14 seconds, and held off Hawaiian Canoe Club-Team Bradley (2:49:15) and the Waikiki Beach Boys No. 1 (2:50:51).

Team Bradley brought a host of experience into the race, having won five consecutive times from 2005 to ’09, while the Beach Boys entered as defending champions of both the Dad Center Race and Na Wahine O Ke Kai.

“It was relatively mellow; there were a few rollers (waves) and a squall near the end that helped push us to the (finishing) buoy,” said Hui Nalu crew member Tayte Brock, when asked about the conditions that led to such brisk finishing times across the board. “We need to remain humble. This doesn’t set us up for anything, we’re still going to fight and scratch. It’s a battle every single race.”

The winning team also included: Lianne Cameron, Tia Brown, Leslie Fabish, Traci Yamada, Violet Carrillo, Dondi Dawson, Jamie Kinard, Maggie Twigg-Smith and Donna Kahakui.

The crew faced an extra challenge throughout the race because one of the zippers that keeps the canoe’s canvas covering secure broke, allowing water to enter the boat near the third seat. Paddlers needed to bail out the excess water regularly while also focusing on fending off the competition.

According to Beach Boys club president and crew member in the third-place canoe Dana Gorecki, Hui Nalu took an “outside” line around the coast, while other crews followed more of an inside track from the get-go.

“Hui Nalu had a phenomenal run, especially going around Makapuu,” Gorecki said.

“Right off the start, they got out really clean. They kept a nice outside line, then swooped inside. It’s a good race for us to check ourselves, and to show how much work we still need to put in. We’ve got a lot of work to do.

“I would assume that we have a target on our backs, coming off an undefeated season last year, and you know that everyone’s gunning for you.”

Sunday’s race was named after David “Dad” Center, a premier waterman in the same era as Duke Kahanamoku who headed the Outrigger Canoe Club’s water programs. Kawika Grant, a member of Outrigger’s paddling committee for more than 20 years, explained that in those times, women were not included in canoe paddling because they were thought to lack the strength or endurance to compete in the same events as men.

In 1943, Outrigger fielded its first women’s crew, and in 1974, the first women’s long-distance race sanctioned by the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association was held in memory of Dad Center and his work in advancing women’s paddling. At the time, the course spanned 8 miles from Maunalua Bay in Hawaii Kai to Outrigger; it was expanded to its current distance in 1979.

Hui Nalu’s victory earned the crew the race’s Thomas H. Richert trophy, which is awarded to the open division winner each year. The cup was donated by Outrigger paddler Tiare Richert Finney, whose mother, Loretta Turnbull, won what was originally deemed the Conte Theo Rossi Cup in 1932 as reward for victory in speedboat racing in Italy.

The distance season consists of four races on Oahu — two men’s and two women’s events — followed by Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe. The women’s and men’s versions of the 41-mile Molokai-to-Oahu race are considered the world championships of the sport.

In distance races, crews are accompanied by motored escort boats and are allowed to substitute paddlers along the way to provide them with breaks.

“This is great, but we have a long road ahead of us,” Brock said.

The women return to action Sept. 9 in the E Lau Hoe race, which follows a course from Maunalua Bay to Nanakuli Beach Park.

The men complete on the same course Sept. 17 in the Henry Ayau Memorial Race.