In the final tune-up for the Na Wahine O Ke Kai, Team Bradley proved it is in prime position to contend for an eighth Molokai-to-Oahu title in nine years.
Team Bradley — a collection of paddlers from Maui, Oahu and Kauai that races under the banner of Maui’s Hawaiian Canoe Club — defended its title at Sunday’s E Lau Hoe Race with a winning time of 4 hours, 37 minutes and 47 seconds. It was more than 14 minutes slower than last year’s winning mark.
Waikiki Beach Boys, the 2011 Na Wahine O Ke Kai champion, kept up with Team Bradley early in the race, but could not overtake its rivals and finished nearly 10 minutes behind (4:46:24) the leaders. Hui Nalu was third for a second consecutive year, and crossed the line in 4:49:42.
In what served as the penultimate race of the distance season, 36 all-female crews from across the state completed the 32-mile trek that started at Maunalua Bay in Hawaii Kai and finished in the waters fronting Nanakuli Beach Park. The women now have a week off to prepare for the Na Wahine O Ke Kai—the Molokai-to-Oahu championship race slated for Sept. 22.
"It’s awesome to win this race, but the main focus is the (Molokai) Channel," said Lauren Spalding, a veteran waterwoman and paddler with Team Bradley. "This is the crew we’ll be running for the channel race, so the most important thing now is not to get sick or injured. It’s all about staying fresh."
Team Bradley’s winning crew featured Claire Townsend, Noelani Auger, Kristin Foster, Mahealani Botelho, Nicole Pederson, Dane Ward, Alana Goo, Lori Nakamura and Arlene Holzman. Because the crewmembers hail from various islands, paddlers train for the most part on one-man canoes, and translate their skills to the six-person canoe during rare group practice runs and races.
Waikiki kept Team Bradley in its sights until the eventual winner took the lead for good just past Diamond Head fronting Kaimana Beach. Paddlers faced "sticky" ocean conditions and choppy surf caused by crosswinds that slowed crews considerably. Near the finish line, the current was so strong that the waves dislodged one of the inflated buoys marking the finish line, and carried it hundreds of feet down shore until a volunteer swam out and secured and reattached it.
"We had some good runs, but it felt like we were slugging it out the entire way. It wasn’t an easy race, but the conditions were mild enough around Barbers Point that it wasn’t too sketchy," Spalding said.
Despite missing out on the victory, a feat that it accomplished at this race in 2011, the Waikiki "Beach Girls" used Sunday’s race as a barometer of what they need to improve on leading up to the Molokai run.
"We were battling with Bradley, and we held (their lead) to a quarter-mile the whole way," said Waikiki’s Chelsea Bizik. "You always want to win, but we were satisfied in knowing that if we had stayed with them from the beginning, we would have been a lot closer."
The Beach Boys were fresh off a Sept. 2 victory at the Queen Liliuokalani Race held in the waters along the Big Island’s Kona coast. Waikiki led the field of 133 female crews, and posted a winning mark of 2:04:43.
"There were 133 crews, and it was a gnarly race — 18 miles of flat water," Bizik said. "We’re just continuing to work hard, and it’s working for us."
The distance season consists of four races on Oahu — two men’s and two women’s events — followed by the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe: the women’s and men’s versions of the 41-mile Molokai-to-Oahu race considered the world championship of the sport. In distance races, crews are accompanied by motored escort boats and are allowed to substitute paddlers along the way to provide them with breaks.
"Just being out in the Kaiwi Channel together is such an awesome experience," Spalding said. "Seeing all these women coming together from around the world and paddling this channel together is such a cool thing."
In the final event of the season leading into the Molokai races, the men will compete in the Henry Ayau Memorial Race on Sunday, and will follow the same course as the E Lau Hoe. Team Primo of Maui is the perennial favorite to take home the hardware, but crews from Kailua, Lanikai, Hui Lanakila and Outrigger have also shown promise in recent years.
