After combining to win the last 22 outrigger canoe paddling state championships, it’s fitting that five-time defending Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association champion Lanikai and 37-time defending Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association champion Hawaiian Canoe Club are set to clash again to determine supremacy in the state sport.

The heralded competitors headline the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association State Championship regatta on Saturday at Hilo Bay. The competition marks the end of the summer sprint-racing season and serves as the transition to long-distance races.

Three-time defending state champion Lanikai enters the state race after notching another undefeated season two weeks ago at the OHCRA Championship regatta, while Hawaiian, winners of 15 of the last 22 state titles, dominated its local competition as has been the case over the past four decades.

“The goal is to reach the penthouse, but right now, we’re still ascending,” said Lanikai head coach Scott Freitas. “I’m trying to control the matrix (of crews and paddler combinations) and finalize it the best I can. I’ve told the club that the party is at Hilo Bay, and here we are, so we need to be ready.”

More than 3,000 paddlers ranging in age from 12-and-younger to 70-and-older will represent 55 clubs from six outrigger canoe paddling organizations in the regatta’s 43 races spanning from 1⁄4 to 11⁄2 miles.

Winning crews in each race will earn 15 points, with 13 points going to second place, 12 for third and continuing in descending order with last place earning one point across the 14-lane field. The scoring system rewards clubs for consistently placing high and scoring points across the board, a “quality plus quantity” approach that Lanikai and Hawaiian have mastered over the years.

Veteran Hawaiian assistant coach Paul Lu‘uwai likens the state championship regatta to a “track meet,” as winning early in the regatta is important, but successful clubs need to perform across the full slate of races on Saturday to win it all. Lu‘uwai has led the charge to build and perpetuate the club’s powerhouse youth program, and because keiki race early in the day, Hawaiian is expected to get off to a healthy start.

Hawaiian qualified a regatta-high 44 crews for the state competition, while Lanikai (42 crews), OHCRA runner-up Hui Nalu (37 crews) and five-time defending Na ‘Ohana O Na Hui Wa‘a champion Manu O Ke Kai (35 crews) are also expected to make waves in the AAAA Division (21-plus crews entered). OHCRA member Kailua (29 crews) and Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Racing Association (Hawaii island) champion Puna (33 crews) and runner-up Keaukaha Canoe Clubs (21 crews) will look to pull the upset in the large division.

AAA Division (13-20 crews entered) defending champion Keahiakahoe (20 crews) from Kaneohe will look to defend its division title, while MOKU powerhouse Kai ‘Opua (20 crews) along with Kihei (18 crews) from Maui and Hui Wa‘a member Lokahi (13 crews) are also in the mix.

A combined 44 clubs will compete for the AA Division (7-12 crews entered) and A Division (1-6 crews entered) titles.

Competing in the unpredictable waters of Hilo Bay could prove challenging for clubs, including Lanikai, which has thrived in its home-island waters of Keehi Lagoon. According to Freitas, his club’s steersmen and women have been working on making wider turns to avoid burying the turn flags and subsequently being disqualified in the changing currents in the bay.

In the 2008, 2010 and 2012 editions of the state regatta — all at Keehi Lagoon — Lanikai won the first two instances by a combined four points and shared the title with Kailua 11 years ago.

In 2013, Hawaiian went on a run of five consecutive state titles that rivaled its own streak of seven straight state crowns (2001-2007) and Outrigger Canoe Club’s unprecedented nine championships in a row (1984-1992).

The 2018 state competition at Keehi saw Lanikai triumph with a 455-377 victory over Hawaiian, which it followed up with a dramatic 21-point win over Hawaiian in 2019 at Kauai’s Hanalei Bay.

Last year, Lanikai solidified its state championship three-peat by holding off Hawaiian, 450-400, at Keehi Lagoon in the first HCRA race following the COVID-19 pause that shut down paddling competitions in 2020 and 2021. The test for Lanikai, as well as other top competitors from Oahu, will be if they can take their show on the road and remain successful.

“Now that the regatta season is winding down, all our homework needs to be done for this race,” Freitas said. “What’s everybody else doing, where are they at? I’ve been watching Hawaiian, and they’ve probably been watching us, and it always comes down to how can we outsmart the competition.”