In what turned into a game of numbers, Lanikai Canoe Club had all the right equations.

Through 29 of 42 races, Lanikai trailed Outrigger Canoe Club by 18 points, and paddlers all over the beach at Keehi Lagoon could be heard uttering, "Where’d they come from?"

Lanikai, however, roared back to get seven of its regatta-high 14 victories in the day’s final nine events and claimed victory in the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association’s Clement D. Pa‘aina Regatta on Sunday at Keehi Lagoon. Lanikai finished with 96 points to lead the AAA division (27-39 crews entered), while Outrigger (79 points) and three-time defending OHCRA champion Kailua Canoe Club (75 points) rounded out the top three.

"It just feels great to win the first regatta," said Lanikai’s first-year head coach, Scott Freitas. "Basically, we just played the numbers game. I knew that I wanted to save as much power as I could until the end of the regatta because I wanted to see what everybody else had in the early going. I crunched the numbers, and toward the end, we were able to start attacking."

Lanikai’s late surge allowed the club to take an 81-79 lead over Outrigger with a win in the men’s open four event. With the victory, Lanikai clinched the regatta crown, as Outrigger did not have enough paddlers to compete in the day’s final three events.

"I was worried in the beginning, but I just knew that Outrigger was running out of people," a relieved Freitas said. "It’s a give and take. This week I’ll take, next week I’ll give. This is just one regatta. I’m not getting overconfident at all. It’s going to be a hard-fought battle all season."

Nearly 2,700 paddlers ranging in age from 12 and under to 65 and over represented OHCRA’s 16 member clubs in races spanning a quarter-mile to 1.5 miles. Winning crews earned 5 points toward the team standings, while second-, third- and fourth-place finishers earned 3, 2 and 1 points.

Lanikai, the only Oahu team to win a Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association state championship in the past 11 years (2009 and 2010), continued its dominance in the men’s senior race, winning the 1.5-mile event in 11 minutes, 1.93 seconds. The victorious crew of Kekoa Bruhn, Matt Crowley, John Foti, Aaron Creps, Manny Kulukulualani and Jim Foti built a comfortable three-boat-length lead at the race’s mile mark, and extended that margin in beating Hui Lanakila (11:17.06) and Outrigger (11:22.73).

"It’s a standard Keehi Lagoon, not overly windy, and we were in Lane 1, so the last section was pretty calm," said Jim Foti, veteran steersman for the winning Lanikai crew. "This is the event that you want to establish yourself in and dominate with the goal of distance (season) and Molokai in mind. (The) Molokai (Hoe, considered the world championship of outrigger canoe paddling) is always our ultimate goal, so pushing yourself in these shorter races helps you step into the distance season. That’s our focus."

With two months remaining in the regatta season and four months until the Molokai Hoe, Foti stressed the importance of building steadily throughout both seasons.

"Progression-wise, we just want to stay on an upward trend, and we want to stay under control so we don’t burn ourselves out," Foti said.

Hui Lanakila claimed the AA Division (14-26 crews entered) with 35 points on the heels of four race victories. The medium division winner finished ahead of Keahiakahoe (27 points), Waikiki Surf Club (24) and Healani (21).

One of Hui Lanakila’s wins came in the 1.5-mile women’s senior race, as the crew of Whitney Martinez, Ally Sokei, Kristi Lowry, Arlene Holzman, Pauahi Ioane and Lori Nakamura completed the course in 12 minutes, 55.03 seconds.

Anuenue captured the A Division (1-13 crews entered) with 10 points, while Waimanalo finished second with six points.

OHCRA heads to Kailua Beach for its annual King Kamehameha Regatta on Sunday. The Na Ohana O Na Hui Wa‘a organization returns to Keehi Lagoon Sunday for its third event of the season, the Lokahi Canoe Club Regatta. Both races are scheduled to get under way at 9 a.m.

Na Keiki wins

Na Keiki O Ka Moi won the AAA division in Hui Wa‘a’s Manu O Ke Kai Regatta on Sunday at Haleiwa Beach Park with 73 points.

Manu O Ke Kai scored 63 points to place second.

The Waikiki Beach Boys earned the AA division title, and Ka Mamalahoe Canoe Club took the A division.