Szadovski, Kahookele paddle to victories

Races within races. A $50 gold coin. Dolphins. Cracks of thunder that some mistook for fireworks off the finish line.

There was a little something for everyone — and little wind for all — at Saturday’s Scott Hawaii State Championship. The season finale for the Kanaka Ikaika Racing Association’s Poai Puni series saw close finishes in both the men’s surfski and OC-1 long course, with Zsolt Szadovski winning the surfski division by 15 seconds and Kalei Kahookele by six seconds in the 20-mile course from Makai Pier to Duke Kahanamoku Beach.

Szadovski, coach for the Hawaii Canoe/Kayak Team and former Hungarian national team member, was first overall in 2 hours, 4 minutes, 17 seconds for his seventh victory in as many races. U.S. national team member Brandon Woods of Kaneohe was second in 2:04:32.

Kahookele, a U.S. U-23 flatwater kayak team hopeful, was the wire-to-wire leader in the popular OC-1 division, which had 89 competitors to the seven in surfski. The 20-year-old Mid-Pacific graduate held off defending Molokai 2 Oahu World SUP Champion Travis Grant, finishing in 2:16:59 to Grant’s 2:17:05. Jimmy Austin, who won the Scott Hawaii Gold Series and accompanying $50 gold coin, was third (1:17:57).

"It was a little brutal," said Australia’s Grant, who has been rehabbing from December knee surgery by switching from SUP to OC-1. "All week, we heard it was going to be windy, windy, windy. Then last night it was gone.

"Today was a good training run. Even though there was no wind, the beauty of Hawaii waters is there’s still bumps, something to catch."

Grant, however, could not catch Kahookele, who was quick off the staring line and was gone.

"Right around Makapuu point, I had that vibe that today was ‘the day,’ " he said. "Not every day’s ‘the day,’ but today was. It felt good.

"It actually felt pretty similar to the other race I won (Feb. 1, 14 miles, Kailua to Kualoa). I was really stoked about these conditions, kept the same pace throughout the race to make sure, keep it complete to the end. There’s a lot of good competition out here and I’m stoked to win."

Kahookele said he didn’t see any whales — "but I heard them" — and he had a pod of dolphins around him off Makapuu.

"The naio (dolphins) were around me," he said. "That’s a blessing. I know they’re looking out for me."

Grant ended up as the winner of the Maui Jim Waterman’s Series, which had competitors earn points using different watercraft in designated races: prone paddleboard, surfski, SUP and OC-1. Grant was one of 11 males to qualify for the series title; Rachel Bruntsch, who won last year as the only female, successfully defended her title against four other women.

"I’m really happy how the season has gone," said Kanaka Ikaika owner Jim Foti, "but I’m really happy about the increase in the numbers for the Maui Jim Waterman’s Series. We more than doubled the men and had five times the women. That’s huge.

"For the Poai Puni, it was a record-breaking season. Every race surpassed entries from any previous year. We owe a lot of that to our great sponsors."

One of those was Steve Scott, from Scott Hawaii, who offered a $50 gold coin for the winner of a three-race mini series. As of the close of Friday, the coin was worth $1,350.

"I’ve been to a lot of events around the world — Tahiti, Fiji, Australia — and canoes are a much bigger deal," said Scott, a former coach at Outrigger Canoe Club and member of OCC’s  winning crew in the 1987 Molokai Hoe. "Most paddlers don’t do it for the money, but I think they all like to be part of something that gets recognition. I wanted to support Jim Foti as well as do something that got some attention."

There was heated competition for the gold coin, which was won by Austin. Grant was well positioned until the March 16 Oahu Championship, when he broke his paddle halfway through the race from Makai Pier to Kaimana Beach; he borrowed an extra steering blade from a passing three-man canoe and finished 20 minutes behind the OC-1 leaders.

The most interesting watercraft was the standamaran, a new stand-up design with two hulls that belonged to Ed Wheeler of Hawaii Kai. It costs around $5,000 and is built by Wheeler’s sponsor, SIC Maui.

For complete results, go to pseresults.com.