April 8, 2017 – Kailua Beach
Kumulokahi raced a Mixed 40 crew of 3 men/3 women around Kailua Bay on this beautiful morning. The course started at Kailua Beach next to the canal and went out around Bird Rock Island, back around Flat Island, and finished at a buoy just outside the canal. The water outside of Bird Rock Island was pretty rough and crew powered through some good sized wind swell around the turn. A few waves came over the gunnels but we didn’t swamp. Back to Flat Island we caught some bumps and made good time. The total race course is approximately 5 miles and we finished in 51 minutes, 56 seconds for an overall finish of 6th place out of 15 canoes. We finished 3rd in our division.
April 15, 2017 – Haleiwa
Kumulokahi raced a Mixed 40 crew of 3 men/3 women on the North Shore. The course started at Haleiwa Beach Park and went out around the last channel marker buoy, then headed toward Waimea Bay. There was a good size north swell that day and we kept our course farther to the outside than most other crews. When a large set rolled in at Puena Point we were able paddle over the waves and accelerate down the back side while the other crews scrambled to turn outside and get over the waves. Our boat gained some valuable distance on the others due to this excellent course chosen by our steersman. We turned on the buoy at Chun’s Reef, then back to Haleiwa Beach. The total race course is approximately 7 miles and we finished in 1 hour, 5 minutes and 4 seconds for an overall finish of 10th place out of 36 canoes. We finished 3rd in our division.
April 29, 2017 – Pokai Bay
Kumulokahi raced a Mixed 40 crew of 3 men/3 women on the beautiful Leeward side of Oahu. We finished in 59 minutes and 54 seconds for an overall finish of 12th place out of 19 canoes and placed 2nd in our division. Heading into the wind was exhilarating and challenging for the first half of the race. With the skillful steering of Guy Larson-Hicks, we overtook a couple of boats right after the buoy turn halfway. It was a very close competition between ours and 3 other boats for the remainder of the race and exciting through the very end. The four boats finished within 54 seconds of each other. Everyone stayed strong and determined through the finish line including a newer member of our crew race for his first race.
May 6, 2017 – Hawaii Kai, sponsored by Kumulokahi Elks.
The Eben “Handsome” Kala’au Hawaii Kai Challenge honors Uncle Eben, the founder of Kumulokahi Elks. Uncle Eben gave the pule at the Hawaii Kai race start and blessed all paddlers for a safe race, 36 crews in all. The race started with a short course around Maunalua Bay of approximately 5 miles. After the completion of the short course the long course took off from Hawaii Kai to Magic Island, a distance of 11 miles. We had 2 crews in the long course, a Mixed 40 crew and a Men’s 40 crew. The Men’s crew finished in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 50 seconds for an overall finish of 9th place out of 24 canoes. The Mixed crew finished in 1 hour, 38 minutes and 56 seconds for an overall finish of 19th place out of 24 canoes. The Men’s crew also got 1st place in the Men’s 40 Division. It was a fantastic race and all clubs participating told us they had the most fun of any race they had paddled in. We also got great compliments on the lunch we served so big Mahalo to Adrianna and the Elks Staff for putting that together! We would also like to extend our appreciation and mahalo to all Kumulokahi members who helped out organizing, setting up the race and serving the food to the hungry paddlers which took many hours of planning, preparing and actually being at separate starting point and finish line. It took more coordination than the other typical races but worth the effort as it was a huge success! Our families and volunteers are all part of this great team – Mahalo Nui Loa to Kumulokahi!
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