Kwai-Chang is hosting a raffle to benefit Noah Pila with the winner taking home some nice prices on Christmas Eve.
Text Kwai-Chang to get your tickets to support Noah and maybe ring in the new year with some new gear which includes a custom length paddle, Yeti Cooler and a big pack of Beyond Juice.
Please help spread the word!
Hilo Race Dec. 17 for Noah
This upcoming weekend on Dec 17th there is special race being put on “Head Strong” to help a young Hilo Big Island paddler who has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his head. His name is Noah Pila. His parents Grant and Anna Kaʻauʻa have raced in HIPA races, MOKU paddlers and coaches at Keaukaha Canoe Club as well as high school paddling coaches at Keaʻau high school.
Anna is currently with Noah at Queenʻs on Oʻahu by his bed side while Grant is in Hilo caring for their daughters Kaili, Pakela and Ahonui. Itʻs never easy for family when unexpected situations happen such as this. Noah will be going through a medical procedure to remove the tumor. Some risks included temporary or long term weakness, speech issues and future cancer treatments and procedures.
Therefore, this special race taking place at BayFront is to provide support the Kaʻauʻa ʻohana. Your registration fees will go directly to help the ʻohana for all and any medical and other needs at this time.
The race course will be one course. No long or short. Just one course, but with divisions. Course will be decided upon on race day.
Register on-line at the HIPA website under upcoming races. Check-in begins at 7:30. Race meeting will be at 8:15am down by Official Stand and race start shortly right after (5-10 minutes right after) with a beach start.
*** There is a high school regatta race at Bay Front happening same day at 9am so each paddler is encouraged to have your canoe with you near race meeting, at official stand, so there is no delay, collision, confusion or left behind when race starts :-). BEST to have your vehicle near the official stand grass area to off load and reload your ocean craft.
*** No awards or food will be available as we want to use this time to shower the ʻohana with our HIPA ALOHA.
*** For those who are unable to attend and would like to support the family, here is the GOFund me and VENMO links to donate to.
Noah Pila one of our world sprint champs who just turned 18 was hospitalized December 3rd for what seemed to be a type of seizure or stroke. An MRI was done and to everyone’s surprise a brain tumor was discovered. The nature and treatment of the tumor still needs to be assessed and Noah is on his way to Oahu’s Queen’s Medical Center where there are specialists.
In the meantime, let’s hui up and provide him and his family support as they navigate through these rough dark waters.
How to Help
A gofundme has been created to help them deal with the costs so they have one less problem to worry about. Please give what support you can.
Noah is always quick with a smile and a caring heart
Did anyone find 2 Makana Ali’i paddles with Fearless Hawaiian stickers around Oct. 10th? If so contact Kwai-Chang or use the website contact form to let someone know.
Halloween OC Race
Lots of great costumes this year at the Halloween Fun race. Photos from Michael Carlon.
The Keepers of Rules and TimePeter and Tinker racing for goldTaco TerrifyingJust let the shark pass
The points races will be starting soon for OC1/OC2 races. The first race was moved to Nov. 19, followed by Nov. 26. HIPA hasn’t published the 2023 schedule yet, but we will update our Events page with the races and you can synchronize them with your phone calendar too.
What a better way to start of the season with a fun race dressed as someone or something else? In the past there’s been great costumes like hammers and motors. Just don’t leave the course littered with your costume. More details to be shared soon at https://www.instagram.com/sojuicyhawaii
Word is it’s a free race and will probably have check-in around 8am. But verify @sojuicyhawaii as the date approaches.
Paddle the Pacific Solo?
Think your workouts are long? There’s recently been 2 individuals paddling from California to Hawai’i about 2400 miles.
Carlo Facchino arrived Thursday at Wailoa boat harbor in Hilo after a nearly 2,400-mile solo row across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to the Big Island.
And this week around day 93 Cyril Derreumaux is completing his second attempt to paddle to Hawai’i. There is a paddle out organizing to greet him on his expected arrival around the 21st. Watch his site and live position reports for details. https://solokayaktohawaii.com/
About the time this gets published 12 very worn out paddlers and several exhausted adults are on their way back to Hawai’i from London, and they represented us like champs!
Keaukaha rolled up in force at the custom 2012 Olympic rowing venue in Windsor, England for the International Va’a Federation World Sprints 2022.
We had 5 paddlers qualify for individual V1 races: ‘Ehā, Cother, Ali’i, Tanoa, and Noah. And 6 Jr. men and 6 Jr. women in the V6 1000m and 500m events. The competition was Intense with a capital I.
Heats
The World Sprints race progression is an elimination type of event rather than a single winner takes all. The progression of who advances depends on the number of heats for that category. All of the events for the kids were either 2 or 3 heats and this chart shows how paddlers can advance to the finals. It’s important to understand this flow as they were in many races.
Race Progressions Based on the Number of Heats for an Event
Start Sequence
For the World Sprints there are 2 start lines: a pre-start line with white buoys, and a real start line with colored lane flags.
Once the white flag goes up, crews can move up to the pre-start line. And then when the red flag is raised, crews can approach the start line. If someone is over a black flag is raised. There is no individual warning, crews have to figure it out and back up. As crews settle, a green flag is raised starting the race. If the black flag is still up when the green flag is raised those crews across the line are disqualified.
V1 500 meters
‘Ehā competed in Race 060 Jr. 16 Men. Heat 1 of 2, he paddled into a 4th place, qualifying him for finals. In the Race Jr. 16 finals he put up an amazing fight nearly even with the top paddlers until about midway when the others managed to pull ahead. ‘Ehā finished the final in an impressive 7th on Day 4 Race 147.
Race 147: A few races were archived individually. ‘Ehā’s V1 Final (starts 1:30).
Tanoa in heat two Race 061 Jr. 16 had a blazing start and paddled fiercely down the course. His fellow paddlers pulled slowly out ahead of him towards the mid-field of the course and at the final line placed in 7th and unfortunately not advancing to the finals.
Cother raced in Race 64 Jr. 19 Women, Heat 2 of 3 and padded into a strong 4th place, qualifying her to compete in the next round Race 125 Repechage where 3rds, 4ths and 2 fastest times compete again for the finals. Cother improved to a 3rd place position but with 3 heats, unfortunately only 1st and 2nd in the Repechage advance to the finals.
Noah and Ali’i raced in Race 69 Jr. 19 Men Day 3 heat 3 of 3. The Jr. 19 men moved fast through the water but Ali’i and Noah were a show of force pulling off a 3rd (Ali’i) and 4th (Noah). This qualified them for the Race 144 Repechage round on Day 4 where Ali’i placed 1st to advance to the finals and Noah placed 7th and with 3 heats you have to be 1st and 2nd to move on to the finals. In the Race 154 Jr. 19 Men finals, Ali’i pushed hard and pulled off 7th at the worlds finals!
Race 154 Jr. 19 Men Finals with Ali’i (starts at 1:30)
V6 1000 meters (1 turn)
The Junior 19 Women were the first of our team to do the 6 man race. The 1000 meters requires 1 turn and in these narrow unlimited the turns are very hard. It’s not something they get to practice often but they did well.
Jr. 19 Women
Race 180 Jr. 19 Women in their first race Heat 1 of 3 pulled off a blazing 1st place moving them into the semifinals where they battled it out in Race 202 and got 4th just shy of continuing to the finals.
Race 202 Jr. Women semi-finals (Starts at 1:30)
Race 193 Junior 19 Men raced the 1000m in heat 3 of 3 and the competition was fierce. It was a tight race and tough, they managed a 3rd place moving them into the semifinals.
Jr. 19 Men
Day 5 the Race 234 Jr. 19 men semi-finals was a tough heat with some fast crews. They paddled their way to a 3rd place which was just shy of qualifying for the finals by only 2 seconds.
Race 234 Semi Finals for Junior 19 Men (Race Starts 4:00)
Considering both these crews have never paddled at this level on the world stage, in these canoes and most are nowhere near the 19 year old age limit of some of their competitors, it’s amazing to see such a high level of competitive performance from them. Great racing!
Lanikai was short one paddler for their V6 entry so ‘Ehā jumped in and hammered with them. Race 223 Jr. 16 Men 1000m saw Lanikai accelerate into 3rd place propelling them to the semi-finals. Race 344 Final 1000m and Lanikai (powered also by ‘Ehā) brought the silver home!
Race 344: Jr. 16 Final with ‘Ehā in with Lanikai Canoe Club from Oahu
V6 500 meters
This event is going to be a little more competitive for our crews because of the lack of a turn which they did not have the advantage of being able to practice in an ARE “Matahina” style canoe that’s very hard to turn.
Race 335 Junior 19 women heat 1 of 2 started off fast with some fast paddling all the way down the course. The team battled hard and found themselves just shy of the semi-finals in 5th place.
Race 332 Junior 19 men Heat 2/2 saw Keaukaha paddle to a 4th place finish moving them into the finals. Race 372 Junior 19 Men finals was a fast race. #53 didn’t disappoint as they blazed down the course to a 5th place in the final race a mere 2.73 seconds behind the podium in 3rd. Great job to all of them!
Once again Lanikai needed some help and ‘Ehā stepped up to the plate to help their Junior V6 team again.
Race 380 Junior 16 men with ‘Ehā in the va’a with Lanikai found them paddling like pros dueling it out for a shot at first place against New Zealand. These kids were moving out there on the water and almost caught New Zealand taking 2nd making this ‘Eha and Lanikai’s second silver at Worlds.
Saturday was a day for racing on Big Island. Hilo hosted the popular Da Hui OC1/2/6/Keiki/SupSquatch race with 2 courses. And Miloli’i hosted a OC6 long distance race on the Kona side.
Da Hui Long Course Results
With calm waters and light variable winds, this race was a push for everyone.
For OC1’s Tyler, Kama and Moku all finished inside a second of each other, with Tyler taking home a new paddle as 1st place prize. Congrats to all 3 of them. That’s some intense racing! Good job Tyler, Kama, Kawena, Brandi!
Da Hui 8/13/2022 long course results
Da Hui Short Course Results
The short course had almost twice as many entries and some Keaukaha hammers. Awesome paddling to Grant, TR, Loren, and Clem!
This race is known as good heat training for the Queen Liliuokalani race and it didn’t disappoint. Our 40’s mix crew hammered it out in the current and hot weather on Saturday.
40’s Mix churning and burning the course – They can also testify to the new iPhone’s water resistance. For that story, ask them, haha.
Good job 40’s crew as the 5th place mix and 7th overall!
Congratulations to the 12 crews that represented Keaukaha at the State’s Regatta on Oahu this year. We took all our #1 ranked crews from the Big Island Moku series and they did well. Our club placed #11 out of 58 clubs and #1 in our Division AA.
The big clubs like Lanikai and Hawaiian Canoe club had lots of crews and did well getting them to the podium with Lanikai getting 64% of their crews to a 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
Likewise in the AAA division Puna and Kai ‘Opua got a 3rd and 4th.
And in the AA division we had a large gap to 2nd place Kawahae and Healani Clubs. We had all 12 of our crews make points with about 1/3 getting to the podium.
Our State Champion Crews:
3. 1/2 mile Men (65 years). Lane 3 (Jeff Clemenson, Warren Dela Cruz, Eric Hagiwara, Greg Kane, Clem Kawai’ae’a, Mike Shintaku)
24. 1 mile Men Freshmen. Lane 3 (Kama Leeloy, Jose Lizardi, Tyler Makaiwi, MARIO MAUSIO, Christopher Olayen, Spencer Kamauoha Smith)
25. 1 mile Women Sophomore. Lane 5 (Kahoane Aiona, Mona Durkan, Amy McBride, Brianna Ninomoto, Alexia-Marie Osburn, Liana Prudholm)
38. 1/2 mile Men Open Four. Lane 5 (Brawn Albino, Pati Koehnen-Sua, Lance Oliveira, Jeremy Padayao)
41. 1/2 mile Mixed Men/Women Open. Lane 3 (Kawena Brooks, Anna Kaaua, Keao Kiyuna, Loren Pabila, Brandi Rapozo, ROBERT WHITNEY JR.)
43. 1/2 mile Men Masters (40 yrs.). Lane 4 (Niklas Dahm, T.R. Ireland, Grant Ka’au’a, Kyle Keamo, Kawika Kekuawela, Tyron Nicolas)
London Bound! Races Aug. 10 – 16
The keiki competing at Dorney Lake in Windsor UK (~25 miles west of London) at the IVF World Sprints departed the same day to get ready for their events. Have fun and good luck to everyone!
It’s been a long time coming but we scrapped for every point in every race and came home with the Moku’s championship! Congratulations to everyone for their hard work. We had some tight 2nd places and battles all season long and to pull of a victory at Moku’s is amazing.
We had a great turnout from all our crews from the kids to the 70’s. One of our fellow paddlers made a nice video that sort of captures the feel from Mokus this year.
Now the Hard Work Starts – Keep Training
We have 12 crews going to States on Ohau, all first seated teams from our season of racing. And following that race, the kids are off to London for the IVF World Sprints!
For a lot of paddlers the end of the Regatta season signals the start of the most anticipated part of paddling: LONG DISTANCE!
Even if you’re not planning on doing long distance, it’s great to stay in shape by coming out to paddle and definitely jump in your one-man canoes! Training never stops. Let’s come back for the 2023 season ready to break some records! Crews typically start gearing up and going long after States which is next weekend.
Long Distance Paddling Events
Check our Event’s Schedule for a complete list, but the biggies are Queen Liliu’okalani in Kona and Henry Ayau on Oahu this year. Also note there are some one-man races starting.
2022 Gorge Downwind Championships
Congratulations to Keola, Tyran, Grant and Eric for competing in the Gorge Downwind race in Hood River on the mainland July 16. Over 500 canoes were on the water and it was an exciting event. Here’s a small taste from the race organizer.
Saturday’s regatta started out blustery and windy but the keiki managed to hammer though it pulling off some good race times even though there were a lot of pukas and crew shuffling to fill their events.
By mid-day the weather cleared up and the water flattened out with a slight swell rolling in. As the weather heated up so did the competition as Puna came out with a lot of crews.
In spite of 2 clubs running more races than us, we took home more gold and tied Kai Opua thanks in part to the crews in the last 4 races pulling off 1’s and 2’s in races with a lot of canoes. Those first places were the deciding factor in ranking Keaukaha 2nd over Kai Opua as we racked up 12 gold, more than any other club.
Puna and Kai Opua both completed more events than us with Puna getting into the top 3 about 67% to our 62% of the time. The fact we squeezed out Kai Opua (see how many 2nd’s they got?) was due to every crew pushing hard and getting ahead of them when it counted.
Great paddling! Only 2 more regattas before the Big Island Championship and State competition on Ohau in August.
Congratulations to all the hard working volunteers, paddlers and supporters (family and friends) who made our regatta a great success! We saw a lot of great paddling out there and team work. Even this morning we have paddlers down at bay front working to help clean up anything over looked from last night.
We had a really great set of races taking home the most gold. Just check out the overall race summary of each clubs’ totals.
Keaukaha 2022 Place Totals
That’s 11 golds to Puna’s 8 and Kai Opua’s 7. In fact we had the same number of 1st, 2nd and 3rds as Kai Opua making us tied at 65% of our crews getting a podium place. We came within 4 points of Kai Opua in 1st. which means the overall results were decided by small technicalities of how many crews were in the races and even as little as the difference between a couple 4th or a 5th in a race. Everyone’s efforts added up and we scrapped for every point. It was a great day for Waimāpuna and all the paddlers she carried.
After Race Action
For those who stuck around to help cleanup were given a great treat from the Kekuawela Ohana and their dancers from Merahi Productions. They banged out some great Tahitian style rhythms while the dancers in full costume put on an amazing show. This included pulling up unsuspecting audience members to try the high speed Tahitian moves with them. Keahi fled their efforts to recruit him to the stage faster than anyone has ever seen him paddle.
There was also a group of 4 men who answered the call with several of their own well practiced Polynesian dances.
And for those who hung around long enough to learn about Jose’s newest potential sponsor and try some samples…well you might have been among the luckiest!
Return of Crabbie Paddle
More exciting news is we managed to get Crabbie Paddle the world famous youtuber, Mike, out of retirement. He busted out the gear and painstakingly recorded all of our crews. Big Mahalo!
Watch your crews and your competition. With youtube you can also slow down playback for better slow motion analysis. Click on the “gear” symbol and select a playback speed.
Return of Lost Steering Blade in Kona?
Back in the last Kona regatta a Kialoa paddle was left behind. It has a unique sticker that the owner can identify. Please contact the Kaaua’s or use the website’s contact page if you know anything about the steering paddle. Mahalo.
