Canoe contest showcases teamwork

By Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 26, 2012

~~<p>Early Saturday morning, a line of about 140 outrigger canoes stretching a half-mile will form in Kailua Bay for the first competition of the annual Queen Lili‘uokalani Outrigger Canoe Races. Women's crews will paddle the canoes 18 miles south to Honaunau. Men's teams will race the canoes back to Kailua Bay.</p>
<p>"When the horn sounds and the red flag goes down signaling the start of the race, the canoes shoot off like rockets," said Mike Atwood, who has helped organize the event for 28 years, the past 18 as race director. "Depending on the conditions, the fastest crews paddle more than 8 mph. Oahu's Lanikai Canoe Club holds the current record for the race: 1 hour, 52 minutes, which their men's team set in 2006."</p>
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Early Saturday morning, a line of about 140 outrigger canoes stretching a half-mile will form in Kailua Bay for the first competition of the annual Queen Lili‘uokalani Outrigger Canoe Races. Women's crews will paddle the canoes 18 miles south to Honaunau. Men's teams will race the canoes back to Kailua Bay.

"When the horn sounds and the red flag goes down signaling the start of the race, the canoes shoot off like rockets," said Mike Atwood, who has helped organize the event for 28 years, the past 18 as race director. "Depending on the conditions, the fastest crews paddle more than 8 mph. Oahu's Lanikai Canoe Club holds the current record for the race: 1 hour, 52 minutes, which their men's team set in 2006." Login for more...