While its elite paddlers are focused on building for the long distance season and the prestigious Molokai-to-Oahu races to culminate the outrigger canoe paddling campaign, Lanikai Canoe Club continues to race collectively toward what would be its first Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association Championship crown in nine years.

Lanikai last won the OHCRA crown in 2008. Since then, it has watched Windward rival Kailua claim the next four association titles followed by three straight wins by Hui Nalu (last year’s championship was vacated when Keehi Lagoon could not be used for the championship regatta due to unsafe water conditions). Winning the OHCRA hardware has proved to be such a daunting task for Lanikai that it has won three state championships (2008, ’10 and ‘12) before winning another league title.

In a positive step toward breaking that trend, Lanikai excelled in its home waters en route to claiming OHCRA’s annual King Kamehameha Regatta held Sunday at Kailua Beach. Lanikai won the AAA division (31-45 crews entered) and overall titles as the club amassed 193 points via a regatta-high 13 victories. Hui Nalu (163 points) claimed nine victories for the day as did Kailua (151 points), while Outrigger (137 points) rounded out the large division.

For the second consecutive week, Lanikai swept the marquee open races as the green-and-white clad paddlers claimed the men’s freshmen, sophomore, junior and senior races. During the senior race, the crowd on the beach showed its appreciation as Lanikai and Outrigger sprinted toward the finish line. In what a photo finish, officials reviewed frame-by-frame video footage and determined that Lanikai crossed the line first, a mere 0.23 seconds ahead of Outrigger.

Lanikai’s victorious crew of Igor Sobreira, Andreas Gaeta, Chauncey Cody, Cheyne Mench, Jesse Hampton and Matt Crowley completed the 1½-mile course in 11 minutes and 29.50 seconds to edge Outrigger (11:29.73) and Hui Nalu (12:00.54).

“Did we get it? That was a photo finish,” said a relieved Gaeta, the winning crew’s stroker after learning of the final result. “It was a battle the whole way, what a fight.”

Gaeta noted that while Outrigger had established a lead out of the race’s fifth and final turn, Lanikai used a steady, powerful pace to slowly creep back ahead.

“We were coming into the turns together, and while they were beating us a bit coming out of them, we pulled things together in the stretches,” Gaeta said. “We’ve been working on a big ‘bite’ stroke and try not to rev too high, and that really helped us in those long stretches. I have a lot of big guys behind me, so I need to set them up and not go too fast, otherwise we can’t utilize that power.”

Gaeta credits the club’s early success to the paddlers’ dedication to training and following the tutelage of coach Karel Tresnak Sr., a former Olympian and World Championship athlete.

“We’re just focusing on ourselves, trying to do well as a club and as a team,” Gaeta said. “We have a great coach, and winning the regattas is important, but the ultimate goal is the Molokai Hoe in October — that’s what we’re fighting for. We have a long season of rigorous training ahead of us, and the OHCRA and state races are definitely benchmarks that serve as stepping stones before the distance season. What we’ve done so far is a nice visual of what is to come.”

Through 24 races Lanikai was ahead in the standings 95-89-79 over Kailua and Hui Nalu, but 10 races later, Hui Nalu battled back to tie Lanikai with 130 points apiece. With seven races to go, Lanikai had pulled ahead of Hui Nalu (139 points) and Kailua (132 points) and would not relinquish the lead after winning six of the final 10 races.

Hui Lanakila (60 points) claimed the AA division (16-30 crews entered), which also included Keahiakahoe (57 points), Healani (46 points) and Leeward Kai (29 points).

Waimanalo (25 points) bested Waikiki Surf Club (22 points) to earn the A division (1-15 crews entered) hardware, while Anuenue (13 points) and New Hope (11 points) were in the running for the small division title.

Paddlers and spectators who packed Kailua Beach braved occasional showers and downpours, and were cooled by consistent cloud cover as nearly 3,000 competitors ranging in age from 12-and-under to 70-and-above represented OHCRA’s 18 member clubs in 45 races spanning a quarter mile to 1.5 miles. Winning crews earned 7 points toward the team standings, while second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-place finishers were awarded 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 points, respectively.

In addition to battling for gold in individual races, crews aimed to earn cumulative points necessary to qualify for the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship regatta scheduled for Aug. 5 at Hanakao‘o Beach Park on Maui. The top five crews from each OHCRA event earn automatic berths in the state competition based on points collected over six regular-season regattas.

OHCRA returns to action on Sunday at Nanakuli Beach Park for the Father’s Day Regatta. Na ‘Ohana O Na Hui Wa‘a also will hold its third event of the season on Saturday with the Windward Kai Regatta at Kailua Beach Park.