The Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe, after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Lahaina wildfires, are set to make triumphant returns over the next few weeks.

The cancellations of the events weren’t just lost opportunities for elite paddlers to meet in Hawaii and compete in what are considered the world championships for outrigger canoe paddling.

They were also a loss of Hawaiian culture and tradition.

“Canoe paddling is Hawaii’s sport,” said Luana Froiseth, the race director of the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association, which is overseeing both events. “These two races combine people from all over the world. This is how we share our culture. For a lot of us this is like the Olympics.

“We bring our people together, to work together, to play together, and we’re perpetuating the sport of Hawaiian canoe racing. That, to me, is very, very important for yesterday, today and our future generations of paddlers.”

The Na Wahine O Ke Kai will be held Sunday and the Molokai Hoe is set for Oct. 13. The 41-mile races across the Kaiwi Channel will start at Hale O Lono Harbor, Molokai, and end at Duke’s Beach, Hilton Hawaiian Village.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe from 2020 to 2022, and the Lahaina wildfire, which killed 102 people in early August 2023, led officials to call off last year’s races.

“In 2023, when we said ‘OK, COVID is somewhat over. OK, let’s do this race.’ When Lahaina had the wildfire, it’s not about you come from this island, I come from this island. We’re all Hawaiians and all the islands are together,” Froiseth said. “For me as the race director, I felt it was my kuleana (responsibility) to cancel the races and make sure our friends and family were taken care of before we went into the ocean and enjoyed ourselves and laughed.”

According to Froiseth, the Na Wahine O Ke Kai will have a field of 48 crews: one each from Australia, New Zealand and Japan, two from the U.S. mainland and the rest will be from Hawaii, including five from Hawaii Island, three from Maui and one each from Kauai and Molokai.

The Molokai Hoe field is not set. A team from Tahiti has won 13 of the past 14 races.

Long-awaited debut

Na Hoapili O Ke Kai, in its first year in OHCRA, will enter Sunday’s race.

Crew member Jazmine Akamu said she has looked forward to paddling in the Na Wahine O Ke Kai since she was a sixth grader at Aiea Elementary School.

She met the age requirement to compete in the race three years ago, but the world was in Year 2 of the pandemic. Akamu, now 19, is set to make her first crossing of the Kaiwi Channel.

“When I was of age at 16, that was when COVID hit, so I couldn’t do the race for a while,” she said. “Now that it’s back on, I’m not doing it as a junior (paddler) but as an open.”

Akamu, the youngest Na Hoapili O Ke Kai paddler, said her crew went on a 32-mile ride from Hawaii Kai to Nanakuli a few weeks ago.

“We’re all pretty confident just finishing the race,” she said. “Half of us is experienced in this (having paddled for other clubs), but the other half is same as me, first time.”

Akamu added that her father Ahfah Akamu Sr., a race veteran, and 18-year-old brother Ahfah Akamu Jr. will paddle in the same canoe during the Molokai Hoe. Akamu Jr. will be competing in the race for the first time.

Veteran ready to go

Hui Nalu paddler Maggie Twigg-Smith will be competing in her 25th Na Wahine O Ke Kai on Sunday.

“It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to paddle the channel races again,” she said. “It’s been a long time and it’s a very special race — not just the race itself, but the journey leading up to the race. You build friendships, you build camaraderie, you build trust in each other, your teammates, so it’s very exciting and special to have the opportunity and the ability to do a race like this.”

Twigg-Smith’s first Na Wahine O Ke Kai was in 1995. One race was canceled because of high surf, and the event wasn’t held the past four years.

She said her Hui Nalu crew, which is entered in the open division, has a nucleus of six or seven experienced paddlers, some with numerous channel crossings. The crew also has four rookies.

Twigg-Smith’s advice to the first-timers has been simple.

“Have fun first of all, because if you’re not having fun, it’s going to make the physical and the mental (aspect of the race) really hard,” she said. “Enjoy yourself. It’s an honor and a privilege to be able to do this race. If you go into it with a positive attitude like that it makes it a lot easier to overcome everything else.”

Beginning to end

The Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe will both start at 8 a.m. after blessings, prayers and speeches at Hale O Lono Harbor. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen is expected to speak Sunday.

“A lot of emotion at the start of the race,” Twigg-Smith said. “A lot of excitement, nerves, you want to do well. It’s just really special to be there and have everybody together in a circle. The energy is amazing.”

The crews could face possible rough ocean conditions and currents in koa and fiberglass canoes that weigh a minimum of 400 pounds. Six paddlers will be in the canoe, with replacements available on escort boats.

First finishers for the women’s race Sunday will arrive at Duke’s Beach around 1:30 p.m., while the first men’s crews will complete their journey at about 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 13.

For the first time, the top finishers in koa canoes for both races will be awarded prize money.

Both races will be broadcast live on KHII.

A family affair

For Froiseth, the race director of OHCRA, canoe paddling is a way of life.

Her father, Wallace, sailed on the Hokulea and competed in the first Molokai Hoe in 1952, which had three canoes, with one not completing the race.

Wallace Froiseth and his wife, Alice Keali‘ipu‘aimoku Froiseth, helped start the Waikiki Surf Club, which is a member of OHCRA.

Luana Froiseth paddled in the first Na Wahine O Ke Kai in 1979.

“I do this for my mom and my dad. They were my life,” she said. “This is my legacy, this is my kuleana, and I take my kuleana very seriously because it’s my mom and dad.”

Luana Froiseth’s paddling days are over, but her passion to promote the Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe is stronger than ever.

“In our culture, that’s what it’s all about, venturing from one island to another island,” she said. “Kamehameha traveled from island to island and conquered the islands. We’re not conquering anything. If anything, we’re conquering the Kaiwi Channel.”

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Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe

41-mile outrigger canoe paddling races across the Kaiwi Channel starting at Hale O Lono Harbor, Molokai, and ending at Dukes Beach, Hilton Hawaiian Village

>> Start/finish time: Both races will start at 8 a.m. First finishers for the women’s race Sunday will arrive around 1:30 p.m., while the first men’s crews will finish at about 12:30 p.m. on Oct. 13.

>> Format: Six individuals can be in the canoe (koa or fiberglass), with replacements available on escort boats. Crews may have 10-12 padders depending on the division.

>> TV: Both races will be broadcast live on KHII (Ch. 5 on Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom)