Hawaiian Canoe Club’s boys 16 crew (31) powers from the start en route to winning their race Saturday during the John M. and Kealoha Lake Regatta at Kahului Harbor. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos
KAHULUI — The midway point of the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association arrived Saturday with the John M. and Kealoha Lake Regatta at Kahului Harbor.
The chess matches that are race-to-race, season-long dramas on the MCHCA’s 48-race slate have hit full stride.
For Saturday’s host Hawaiian Canoe Club, the emphasis is always on the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association state championship regatta, which will take place Aug. 5 at Hilo Bay.
HCC, a 15-time state overall champion, finished second in the HCRA regatta last year to Oahu rival Lanikai. All of HCC’s state crowns came from 1999 to 2017, so the state title drought is now at six years.
“Last year at this time we had like 28 (crews qualified for state) — right now, we’re at 36, out of 44 (state races),” veteran HCC keiki coach Paul Luuwai said. “And the ones we’re not qualified for, we’re really close, and/or we can purchase them.”
Hawaiian Canoe Club coaches Paul Luuwai and Hiilei Luuwai talk to girls 16 paddlers before their race Saturday.
Luuwai added, “Lanikai is the defending state champs, they should be favored, they have 42 crews qualified. We have 25 first seeds, last year we had 18 or 17 at this time. Lanikai has 22 first seeds (right now).”
HCC won Saturday’s regatta with 189 points, far outdistancing Kihei (71) and Lae’ula O Kai (65). Napili finished fourth with 53, one point more than Na Kai Ewalu. Lahaina was sixth with 43, Wailea had 35, Kahana had four and Hana had two.
HCC, which has won every MCHCA title since 1985, has strongholds in keiki, women’s open divisions and master men this year, but the upper echelon of the boys age groups — usually a big part of that domination — have been remarkably competitive this season.
“So, I feel great about our club this year,” Luuwai said. “Our kids are about the same or maybe a little bit stronger, our novices are better, our women have more athletes. Our men, we’re qualifying three crews, last year we didn’t qualify one.”
The HCC boys 16 crew of Kekai Apana, Cody Frampton, Titus Joaquin, John Kaahui, James McCrystal and Tuloa Smith won their half-mile race for the third time this summer in 4 minutes, 47.97 seconds.
Hawaiian Canoe Club members chant “Imua! Hawaiian!” as a close race comes down the home stretch Saturday at Kahului Harbor.
The HCC boys 16 crew leads the season standings with 17 points, but Kihei is right on their heels with 14.
“You know, up and down, but right now up — we’re in a real battle with Kihei, all year,” Luuwai said.
Frampton, a rising senior at Seabury Hall, said the season is starting to get serious.
“Our 16s are very interchangeable,” Frampton said. “Everyone is all up close to each other, there aren’t any clear outliers. So, it’s just best man gets in and then see how it goes. It’s all good — everyone’s good. The unofficial crew just got us in that race, so it just shows how we’re all so close. It’s fun to be competitive like that.”
Just one step up the age ladder, the boys 18 season standings are crowded after Na Kai Ewalu’s crew of Gage Bailey, Micah Beniamina, Kahiau Carino, Damon Josue, Dorian Josue and Kamaehu Wainui Noa won their race in 4:31.24. Napili was second and Hawaiian was third.
Na Kai Ewalu (from foreground), Kihei and Hawaiian battle to the finish in the men’s novice B race Saturday. Hawaiian won, Na Kai Ewalu was second and Kihei finished third.
In the boys 18 season standings, which are based on the 5-3-2-1 scoring system each week, Napili leads the way with 16 points, while Na Kai Ewalu and Hawaiian each have 12.
“The 18 boys is kind of a crapshoot,” Luuwai said. “Napili has won most of the races, but now Na Kai just won. … It’s a battle. Today the inside lanes are a little bit favored, but that’s no excuse, they beat us.”
Noa, a grandson of the late legendary NKE coach Boogie Wainui, said that being in a competitive division makes it more fun.
The NKE boys 18 crew features five paddlers from Kamehameha Maui, a rival of Luuwai’s Seabury Hall team in the Maui Interscholastic League — most of the HCC boys 18s are from Seabury.
“It’s a lot of fun, they kicked our butts during the MIL season, so it’s good to catch a win out here, especially on home turf,” Noa said. “We had a lot of fun today, it was just cranking it upwind and doing what we had to do.”
Crews from Hawaiian (foreground) and Kihei race in the girls 16 event Saturday. Hawaiian won while Kihei placed fourth.
Noa, a recent KSM graduate who will attend the University of Hawaii at Hilo this fall to major in Hawaiian language, said that to grab one of the two MCHCA lanes to the state regatta is not an easy thing to do in a deep association.
“It’s pretty tough out here, a lot of great canoe clubs, you know Hawaiian Canoe Club, Napili, they got a lot of tough guys out there,” Noa said. “Even Kihei Canoe Club, there’s just a lot of competition out here and it’s nice to get a ‘W.’ It feels really good, yeah.”
Napili boys 18 paddler Kaili Casco is home for the summer.
He now lives in Colorado and attends Colorado State — he moved to Colorado for his senior year to play high school football due to the COVID shutdown here and he played one season of football at Dakota State, an NAIA school located in Madison, S.D., in 2022.
“I paddled for such a long time, I mean I love it here,” Casco said. “I love the people I paddle with, I’ve been paddling with these kids for a long time, since I was like 13 years old. So, it’s a bunch of family, Napili has been treating me well. … These 18 boys races have been super fun.”
* Robert Collias is at rcollias@mauinews.com.
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