Is this the year?

There are waves of unpredictability when taking on the Kaiwi Channel. It is 40.6 miles of never knowing what one will get, from water and weather conditions to the competition.

Nothing is ever a given. Still, out of the nearly 80 crews entered in Sunday’s 33rd Na Wahine O Ke Kai, there likely are fewer than 10 that have a chance to cross the finish line off Duke Kahanamoku Beach first.

One of those is Waikiki Beachboys, which has finished second the past two years to Team Bradley.

The Beachboys built on its unprecedented success at August’s state regatta — claiming all four upper-division women’s races — by winning the two major long distance races of this season, the Dad Center Race from Kailua to Outrigger Canoe Club, and E Lau Hoe, from Maunalua Bay to Nanakuli Beach Park.

Each time, Beachboys finished less than 20 seconds ahead of Team Bradley, which was comprised of standout paddlers from various clubs. That means nothing Sunday.

"All you can do is give yourself a percentage of a chance to win," longtime Beachboys coach Sean Monahan said. "The way I look at it, we have a 40 percent chance, Bradley has a 40 percent chance and the unknown competition is 20 percent.

"For the most part, the majority of the (first) crew has been together for years. They’ve all worked for the same goal. For some of them it’s been an eight- to 10-year commitment. But any crew who is trying to win makes a commitment, makes the sacrifices."

Distance training requires hours upon hours of paddling and cross-training, as well as putting life on hold.

"In order to train at this level, you have to make the sacrifices," Beachboys club president and paddler Dana Gorecki said. "We’ve had girls who planned their weddings, their honeymoons, even strategic planning of when to have babies, around this.

"We have come close the past few years and our expectation this year is to have the race of our lives. Have a clean, fun race.

"As president of the club, I take it very seriously, wanting us to take pride and respect in who we are when we go into the channel. We represent Beachboys but also Hui Wa’a."

Na ‘Ohana O Na Hui Wa‘a is the younger of the two outrigger canoe associations on Oahu. No club from the organization, established in 1974, has won either the women’s or men’s Molokai races.

The race was important enough that Kelsa Gabehart "commuted" from her new home in Denver twice in the past few months. The molecular biologist, who had paddled with Beachboys since 2003, stayed in competitive shape by paddling an OC-1 on a lake.

"I try to surf as many wakes as I can," said Gabehart, who is competing in her ninth Na Wahine with the club.

The Beachboys have entered four crews of 10, including one with eight first-year paddlers and two veteran steersmen.

"The novices are not there to set any records or win," coach Dave Young said. "They have no expectation, but they’ll gain invaluable experience and be better paddlers next year."

One of the novices is Jo Shung, in her final year at the Richardson School of Law and editor of the law school review.

"I’ve definitely been keeping busy," she said.

NOTES

This year’s race is dedicated to the late Esther "Jake" Hope Kalama, a pioneer in women’s surfing and outstanding paddler, who died in January on Molokai at age 82.

"She has given so much of herself, was always there from the beginning when we started this race in 1979," race director Hannie Anderson said. "She and her entire family have helped us so much over the years and we know they will continue to do so even after her passing.

"She was a very humble, kind person. We paddled together at Waikiki Surf Club and (she) was with us in the ’50s when a group of us women wanted to do the channel but we weren’t allowed to."

» Former Rainbow Wahine volleyball player Sue Hlavenka (1982-85) is competing in her sixth Molokai race for a combined masters team called Ocean’s Ten. The 48-year-old Hlavenka, who lives in Calgary, Alberta, is on the Canadian women’s national dragonboat team.

Also on the crew is JoJo Toeppner, the only paddler to have competed in every Na Wahine O Ke Kai.