With one race remaining, OluKai is positioned to earn its 13th overall sailing canoe championship after dominating the 23rd Annual Na Holo Kai Sailing Canoe race, recently. Marvin Otsuji, skipper of the OluKai crew, will be among the sailing canoes
With one race remaining, OluKai is positioned to earn its 13th overall sailing canoe championship after dominating the 23rd Annual Na Holo Kai Sailing Canoe race, recently.
Marvin Otsuji, skipper of the OluKai crew, will be among the sailing canoes when it leaves Kalapaki Beach for the Kendall Pacific 2010 on Sept. 11.
The OluKai crew continued its dominance in the Hawai‘i State Sailing Canoe Association series by paddling and surfing to a near record time during the annual O‘ahu to Kaua‘i race. OluKai touched down in seven hours, 13 minutes following the crossing of the K‘ie‘iewaho Channel.
In a release, Otsuji said with no wind off the start, the OluKai crew battled its way to a lead just off Ka‘ena Point on O‘ahu and was never challenged for the remainder of the cross-channel race.
Otsuji, a veteran of 23 Na Holo Kai races, said this year’s crew saw Tyrus Siale and Chris Piko, both experiencing their first channel crossing, join third-year veteran Scott Wagner, and veteran paddler/sailors Butch Keahiolalo and Jason Dameron make up the well-rounded crew that combined experience with paddling power to create a combination the field could not overcome.
“The conditions and directions of the ocean and wind held all six team members in the canoe for more than four hours,” Otsuji said in the release. “At about the midway mark between the islands, sheet man Keahiolalo was able to make a few sail adjustments and the excitement began.”
Six to eight-foot seas stacked up to make the remainder of the race extremely challenging, Otsuji said.
“At a couple of points in the latter part of the race, Marvin and Jason were steering blind, trying not to get pulled out of the canoe,” Otsuji said. “Paddles were lost, hoops and ama were broken, and at times, a snorkel would have been the tool of choice.”
However, despite the challenges of the sea in paddling more than 90 miles and seven hours, the team is ready to do it, again, Otsuji said.
Following OluKai, the remainder of the fleet, comprised of canoes from Kaua‘i, Maui and O‘ahu, were between five and 30 minutes behind the pace.
With the win, the crew from the OluKai is looking forward to the Kendall Pacific 2010 which will comebine 4- and 6-man outrigger sailing canoes, one-man and 9-man outrigger paddling canoes, standup surfboards and surfski in a 34-mile race which will beach at the Waimea Plantation Cottages.
Kendall Pacific registration open
Registration information can be found on the Pu‘uwai Canoe Club website for the Kendall Pacific 2010 Hawai‘i State Sailing Canoe Championships.
The event will feature six divisions sailing and paddling a 34-mile course from Kalapaki Beach to the Waimea Plantation Cottages, Sept. 11.
Divisions include the OC-6 Iron Long Distance Race, the OC-9/10 Long Distance Changes Race, the OC-1/2 Standup Boards, Paddle Boards, and Relay and Iron Divisions.
An awards banquet along with event shirts, food, music and dancing under the stars follow the event.
The event is sponsored by the Hawai‘i State Sailing Canoe Association, Pu‘uwai Canoe Club, OC16 Ocean Paddler TV, Barefoot Winery, Hawai“i Nui Brewing Co., and the Waimea Plantation Cottages.
For more information, visit www.puuwaioutriggercanoeclub.org, or call Brian Curll at 635-6311.
