NAWILIWILI — Abel Teriitemataua was not going to be beat, Sunday during the Kaua‘i Hoe Wa‘a JP’s Tree Trimming, Race No. 3 that was settled to contest at the Nawiliwili Harbor.
“He can’t be beat,” said John Teschner of Pu‘uwai Canoe Club who watched the paddler aboard a V1 snake out an early lead over the pack of 31 registered paddlers. “He took the Ho‘e Wa‘a, Race No. 2 Long Course, and even the Pu‘uwai Fun Run. He just keeps winning.”
Teriitemataua powered to an early lead on the opening leg that spanned a triangular path from the Bouy No. 6 to the Ninini Point Lighthouse turnaround, back to a buoy stationed waterside of Kalapaki Bay, and back to the No. 6 can. He added to the lead with a smart move, sticking his left leg in the water at the turn marking the second of three legs.
“That’s a smart move, using his leg like a second rudder,” Teschner said. “He’s going to keep building the lead.”
By the end of the second leg where he clocked 47 minutes, 30 seconds, Teriimataua was clearly in command of the lead and stroked to a first overall finish at 1 hour, 10 minutes, 41.6 seconds, nearly three minutes ahead of second overall finisher Bronson Aiwohi who crossed at 1:13:48.3.
“That’s all I got,” said Stephanie Huhn who marked the first overall finisher of the Short Course that eclipsed the Long Course, minus one leg. “It was a lot choppier than I thought outside the wall.”
Huhn finished the Short Course on a 36:29.9, and first in the OC-1 65+ division.
She was followed by Durban Thomas, a first-time racer aboard a surfski in the Under 18 age group, who crossed at 51:49.7, accompanied by his dad Dylan Thomas. Both racers completed just one leg of the two-leg course.
The team of Duke and Aaron Labuguen finished the two legs in third overall at 52:38.4 followed by Kawika Goodale crossing at 58.36.8 marking the end of racers breaking the one-hour mark.
Kristen Foster posted the first female finisher in the Long Course, crossing at 1:16:39.4 followed by Lynette Hazard (1:28:7.4), and Ella Beck, the top finisher in the Under 18 class, at 1:30:27.9.
The next Kaua‘i Hoe Wa‘a race is scheduled for March 8, sponsored by the Aiwohi ‘Ohana (Bronson finished second overall in the Long Course and had his mother cheering from the breakwater wall).
“He’s a good musician, too,” Teschner said. “His group played at our wedding.”
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Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, can be reached at 245-0453 or dfujimoto@thegardenisland.com.
