By Kyle Galdeira / Special to the Star-Bulletin
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Jul 06, 2009
After going winless in official events throughout the club's 36-year history, the Waikiki Beach Boys have gone from occasional spoiler to serious contender this season.
Waikiki won a regatta-high 12 races and racked up 70 points to win first place overall, and topped the AA Division (13-24 crews entered) in the Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a organization's Koa Kai Canoe Club Regatta yesterday amidst light winds and calm water at Keehi Lagoon. The Beach Boys clinched their third consecutive regatta, and scored 63 of their points in the regatta's final 15 races.
Kaneohe finished with 58 points, good for second place overall and second in the AA Division. Manu O Ke Kai finished third overall with 54 points, and won the AAA Division (25-39 crews entered) ahead of Koa Kai (52 points) and Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i (28 points).
The six-person outrigger canoe event featured more than 1,500 paddlers representing 18 canoe clubs in age divisions ranging from 12-and-under to 60-and-above. The paddlers traversed courses ranging from a quarter mile to 1.5 miles in Hui Wa'a's sixth regular-season regatta.
"Nothing feels better than making a canoe go downwind the way it should," said Patrick Switzer, a member of Waikiki's victorious men's sophomore and senior races, and coach for the men's novice crews.
"It's cool to see them come up, because most of the guys who just won the senior race were in the novice (ranks) two or three years ago and have less than five years of experience. The structure and training are paying off."
The Beach Boys men won the novice B, novice A, freshman, sophomore and senior events. Waikiki's female program continued its dominance as well, as the club claimed victories in the women's novice A, freshman, sophomore, senior and masters-40 races. The club also won the final two events of the day -- the mixed masters-40 and mixed open-6 races -- to solidify the victory.
Switzer came to the Beach Boys in 2006 to coach, and at the time, the women had been dominating Hui Wa'a for a couple of years as a result of their "hard work, technique and conditioning," he said.
Switzer added that the men's program "just had to start from scratch, so the last couple of years we've had a solid core group of guys for (newcomers) to model off of. Last year it all started to come together, and we started to win races. And now, I've even got the novice A's coming out for our one-man (canoe) practices, and are on the water five or six days a week. That's our goal, and last year we had a little taste of that. We've had enough guys train in seat-specific duties where in rough water we can make the boat go instead of just surviving."
Franco Arango, another member of the victorious Waikiki men's senior crew, credits the club's coaching and structure for its burgeoning success.
"By far it all comes from the great coaching," he said. "Good people want to be where good leaders are. And, when you have good coaching, it just trickles down. We all support each other, so that helps to spread the good energy through the club."
Kaneohe surged ahead to lead the regatta with 48 points through the day's first 25 races, but Waikiki -- which does not have a youth program normally responsible for earning points early in the day -- rattled off eight straight victories to put itself in title contention.
"For the past few years that I've been watching them, they've got all the women going, and now the men are developing and coming out strong," said Kaneohe head coach Clint Anderson. "When their boats show up, all you see is first, first, first and once in a while you'll see a second or third. But, they're part of our Hui Wa'a team and I know they're going to do well in the state championship regatta (on Aug. 1 at Hilo Bay)."
North Shore and Kalihi-Kai finished tied in the A Division (6-12 crews entered) with 15 points apiece, while Ka Mamalahoe and Kumulokahi-Elks (13 points) tied for third place.
Hui Wa'a will hold its next regatta on Sunday at Waikiki Beach. The regatta does not count toward organizational standings or state championship qualifying points as clubs can use open steersmen to deal with the wave bumps and varying currents. Crews will race away from and into shore, adding the surfing element to club's strategies.
Absent from the event will be Kaneohe, as the club will instead spend the day in Kaneohe Bay at the sand bars in what has become an annual training session and club get-together. According to Anderson, the club usually forgoes the Waikiki race to keep its paddlers and canoes safe in the sometimes unpredictable ocean conditions.
Waikiki will definitely be there to compete in its home waters and familiar surf breaks.
"We just have a blast, it's so hit-and-miss with the surf," Switzer said. "We're lucky to have several good, experienced steersmen. Some are actual Beach Boys working on the beach who steer the surf canoes, so they'll be out there to help us all day. It's more of a fun day where we get to enjoy the surf."
After going winless in official events throughout the club's 36-year history, the Waikiki Beach Boys have gone from occasional spoiler to serious contender this season.
Waikiki won a regatta-high 12 races and racked up 70 points to win first place overall, and topped the AA Division (13-24 crews entered) in the Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a organization's Koa Kai Canoe Club Regatta yesterday amidst light winds and calm water at Keehi Lagoon. The Beach Boys clinched their third consecutive regatta, and scored 63 of their points in the regatta's final 15 races.
Kaneohe finished with 58 points, good for second place overall and second in the AA Division. Manu O Ke Kai finished third overall with 54 points, and won the AAA Division (25-39 crews entered) ahead of Koa Kai (52 points) and Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i (28 points).
The six-person outrigger canoe event featured more than 1,500 paddlers representing 18 canoe clubs in age divisions ranging from 12-and-under to 60-and-above. The paddlers traversed courses ranging from a quarter mile to 1.5 miles in Hui Wa'a's sixth regular-season regatta.
"Nothing feels better than making a canoe go downwind the way it should," said Patrick Switzer, a member of Waikiki's victorious men's sophomore and senior races, and coach for the men's novice crews.
"It's cool to see them come up, because most of the guys who just won the senior race were in the novice (ranks) two or three years ago and have less than five years of experience. The structure and training are paying off."
The Beach Boys men won the novice B, novice A, freshman, sophomore and senior events. Waikiki's female program continued its dominance as well, as the club claimed victories in the women's novice A, freshman, sophomore, senior and masters-40 races. The club also won the final two events of the day -- the mixed masters-40 and mixed open-6 races -- to solidify the victory.
Switzer came to the Beach Boys in 2006 to coach, and at the time, the women had been dominating Hui Wa'a for a couple of years as a result of their "hard work, technique and conditioning," he said.
Switzer added that the men's program "just had to start from scratch, so the last couple of years we've had a solid core group of guys for (newcomers) to model off of. Last year it all started to come together, and we started to win races. And now, I've even got the novice A's coming out for our one-man (canoe) practices, and are on the water five or six days a week. That's our goal, and last year we had a little taste of that. We've had enough guys train in seat-specific duties where in rough water we can make the boat go instead of just surviving."
Franco Arango, another member of the victorious Waikiki men's senior crew, credits the club's coaching and structure for its burgeoning success.
"By far it all comes from the great coaching," he said. "Good people want to be where good leaders are. And, when you have good coaching, it just trickles down. We all support each other, so that helps to spread the good energy through the club."
Kaneohe surged ahead to lead the regatta with 48 points through the day's first 25 races, but Waikiki -- which does not have a youth program normally responsible for earning points early in the day -- rattled off eight straight victories to put itself in title contention.
"For the past few years that I've been watching them, they've got all the women going, and now the men are developing and coming out strong," said Kaneohe head coach Clint Anderson. "When their boats show up, all you see is first, first, first and once in a while you'll see a second or third. But, they're part of our Hui Wa'a team and I know they're going to do well in the state championship regatta (on Aug. 1 at Hilo Bay)."
North Shore and Kalihi-Kai finished tied in the A Division (6-12 crews entered) with 15 points apiece, while Ka Mamalahoe and Kumulokahi-Elks (13 points) tied for third place.
Hui Wa'a will hold its next regatta on Sunday at Waikiki Beach. The regatta does not count toward organizational standings or state championship qualifying points as clubs can use open steersmen to deal with the wave bumps and varying currents. Crews will race away from and into shore, adding the surfing element to club's strategies.
Absent from the event will be Kaneohe, as the club will instead spend the day in Kaneohe Bay at the sand bars in what has become an annual training session and club get-together. According to Anderson, the club usually forgoes the Waikiki race to keep its paddlers and canoes safe in the sometimes unpredictable ocean conditions.
Waikiki will definitely be there to compete in its home waters and familiar surf breaks.
"We just have a blast, it's so hit-and-miss with the surf," Switzer said. "We're lucky to have several good, experienced steersmen. Some are actual Beach Boys working on the beach who steer the surf canoes, so they'll be out there to help us all day. It's more of a fun day where we get to enjoy the surf."