MORE HOW IT WORKS: PAST CANOE RACES

            So, regatta season was over for 2012.  Well not quite.  Gil was invited to go to World Sprints this year.  Not just from Hawaii, paddlers come from all over the world to compete in V1 and V6 races.  Va'a is Hawaiian for outrigger and the V1 is a one-man, the V6 a six-man.  The V1 is rudderless.  Most one-man competitions around here OC1 boats (outrigger canoe) which has a rudder operated with foot pedals. 

WORLD SPRINTS –  Calgary, Canada  upcoming Aug. 11 – 15, 2012 (see post)

            Qualifying for the World Sprints isn’t done at island level and there is some hope that someday, like the Olympics, local races will feed into the world race.  This year Calgary in Alberta, Canada hosted the races on a large reservoir.  Additional races followed in North Vancouver with both V6 and V1 canoes.  Gil is competed in all of them.  

 Hobie Beck offered his V1 for Gil to train on, same model to be used in Calgary

 OC1 in front with foot pedals for steering

V1 in back

The V1 has a foot well

     On a rudderless, the steering is done by paddling and with shifting body movement, leverage coming up through the feet and legs to power the stroke. 

Still a "sit on top" boat, a whole new technique is involved

          Club fundraising short long distance races resume now and the BIG races start.  Because of the Canada trip, Gil won’t be in the Na Pali this year, but will be back in time for Kona and Molokai.

NA PALI CHALLENGE – 38 mile relay – upcoming August 11, 2012  (see post)

Usually the week after States, the first long distance race is the Na Pali Challenge which leaves Hanalei Bay at 8:00 am (sometimes) and goes down the Na Pali coast 38 miles to Kekaha on the west side where they finish in a nice little boat harbor.  Some years I watch the start from Hanalei, and the finish on the west side; some years I ride along on the escort boat.  These are photos from past races.

Boats ready in Hanalei Bay for start of the Na Pali Challenge '09

 In 2007 there were a couple false starts  
Canoes NEVER turn around to start over!

The officials got so frustrated they used the helicopter to line the canoes up again
for a final fresh start near Lumahai Beach

           The Challenge is relay race along the most beautiful coast in the world.  Each canoe has an escort boat carrying the second team.

This is really what the Na Pali is about, catching  "bumps"

            Each half hour boat captains are told “the window is now open” and the teams have five minutes to switch out in the canoe.  This is called a water change.  The escort team jumps in the ocean, the big boat heads away and the canoe comes up on the team.  The old team jumps out, the fresh team takes off and the team in the water is picked up again by the escort boat.  One team is made of women, the other of men in the same age class.  All canoes have either the men or women paddling at the same time.

 Namolokama 40s team in 2007

The perfect water change

            The ladies jumped in the water, lined up while the escort boat got out of the way

The men will jump out to their right as women get in on the ama side. Once underway, the escort boat will scoop up the guys.  In 25 minutes, they will jump in for the next water change.

            As the boats approach the finish there is a marker where no change can be made beyond it.  Sometimes this a natural change time anyway but more often it is cause for strategy.  If the team approaching has been paddling for 25 minutes they would have to sit and wait for the call, letting other canoes go by.  BUT they would get a fresh team to finish the race.  If they stay in they will more likely fatigue.  If they wait and change, they will have lost the five minutes.  Several clubs may be in this situation at the same time and they are all watching and wagering on what the other teams will do.  If one will have a fresh team do they want the five minutes or their own fresh team?  It is wicked fun.  By the time canoes are trailered back to Hanalei, those guys have circumnavigated the entire island of Kauai. 

No small thing to haul 40 foot boats from one side of the island back home

In 2011 for some reason, the finish was past Kekaha at Waimea Pier and Park,  the most disgraceful park on the island with no showers and kiawe thorns poking through everyone’s slippers. 

 This could be called thorn-foot park

not too good for paddlers without shoes!

Waimea Pier

Time for the fat lady to sing, this race was over

Everyone had to shuttle back over to Kekaha for the awards and party

NOTE:  when the State races are on Kauai, the Na Pali Challenge is moved up to the same weekend since canoes and paddlers are already on island – this will be the case in 2013.

QUEEN LILIUOKALANI RACE at Kona – 18 miles – Sept. 1, 2012 (see post)

            This is an 18 mile race that Namolokama Canoe Club does iron which means no team change, no escort boat.  It leaves from the King Kamehameha Hotel at about 8:00 am, usually the women’s race is first and they paddle south to the City of Refuge where they are shuttled back to the King Kam.  The men are waiting to take the boats back out and start their race.



 City of Refuge, a reconstructed cultural site south of Kona, now a National Park

Incredible on many levels

          

 The line up at Honauanu Bay

The finish line is 18 miles away back in Kona

This is the bay in front of King Kam Hotel with the reconstructed heiau

 Gil's first Lilio race was in 2005 with a Maui team

Did I mention there is a koa class to the race?

Paddling a gorgeous and heavy koa boat (750 lbs) has to be a thrill

 There is an awards ceremony, then time for dinner before the torch parade just after sunset

Gil and the Namolokama 60s guys have won gold the last two years: 2010 and 2011

This is 5 of the 6 guys getting their jewelry at the 40th Queen Lilioukalani race last year

(Jeff, Jim, Landis is hidden but holding the photo of the Queen, Gil, Tom)  
the missing guy was in the bar - go figure

The torch parade is an annual event the night of the race

right down the middle of the street in Kona where everyone is cheering

PAILOLO CHANNEL – Maui to Molokai crossing –  September 15, 2102
            We have not taken part in this race as the Molokai Hoe has taken precedence.  All channel crossings are for skilled paddlers.
            This is a 26 mile race and men and women compete the same day.  Apparently the swell is consistent with the wind at their backs and they surf from take off to landing.  If paddlers catch bumps in other races, these guys enjoy the long "sleigh rides."

MOLOKAI HOE channel crossing Molokai to Oahu – 42 miles – Oct. 7, 2012 (see post)

            This is the world class race; teams show up from Tahiti, Australia, Russia, New York, California and elsewhere.  If it could be turned into a spectator sport it would draw big sponsorships and attention for the athletes who compete.  That is difficult since it can only be observed by air. (Internet streaming is improving but is limited, inevitable focusing on the front runners - usually Tahitians).  
            This is a six-man race.  All teams age 55 and under must have nine paddlers.  60s guys are required to have twelve men – just in case.  Every canoe has an escort boat. Typically channels between islands are deep, rough, and unpredictable water – then add the churn of over a hundred fishing boats recruited (and paid handsomely) to escort the canoes. 
            If the water conditions don’t provide enough variables, escort captains with little experience add to the psychological turbulence.  One year a young man was driven over and cut up – severely – by his own escort’s prop.  Other captains have lost track of the canoe they were escorting in the early frenzy. 
            It is because of all these risks it is loved as sport.  Paddlers hope for waves the day of the race; getting bumps to push them across forty miles is helpful to their backs and shoulders. Molokai channel often has cross wind and wave and requires skill.  Last year the question wasn't so much did you huli? but how many times did you huli?  Even the Tahitians had dumped. 

            Once out of the channel, the surf break on Oahu is an unknown until very close to race day. The Oahu teams have a distinct home-court advantage. 

The race ends at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki

(see rainbow tower just left of green flag)

The Molokai Hoe is so big, over 1000 paddlers, that the race for women is two weeks before the men’s race, called the Na Wahine o Ke Kai.  Part of the logistical nightmare is the limitation of accommodations on Molokai.  The race can be streamed – check the website for info.  Just google Molokai Hoe.

There are many other competitions and hard-core watermen travel to races all over the south pacific.  The Liberty Challenge happens in New York and of course there are canoe clubs along the California coast, New Zealand, and Australia.