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HOOD RIVER Outrigger Canoe Club members pose for a photo in their six-person boats in Hawaii, where they competed in the Queen Lili’uokalani Long Distance Canoe Races.
HOOD RIVER Outrigger Canoe Club members pose for a photo in their six-person boats in Hawaii, where they competed in the Queen Lili’uokalani Long Distance Canoe Races.
The Hood River Outrigger Canoe Club had the opportunity to send 13 members to Hawaii to join more than 2,500 other paddlers from around the world for the Queen Lili’uokalani Long Distance Canoe Races. The race was named after Hawaii’s last monarch, Queen Lili’uokalani, whose birthday is celebrated each Labor Day weekend. The “Queen’s Race” is said to be the most prestigious paddling race in the world. Held in Kona’s Kailua Bay on the big island of Hawaii from Sept. 1-5, this was the race’s 45th year.
Suzi Elle, who spearheads and steers for the Hood River group, said, “We were not disappointed — we prepared for a hurricane, which thankfully missed us, paddled in the beautiful warm ocean with dolphins swimming next to us, and experienced Hawaiian culture firsthand by attending this historic week of outrigger canoe racing.”
In the Queen’s Race, teams can compete with a team of nine paddlers exchanging in and out of the six-person boat or as an Iron team, where no exchanges are allowed over the 18-mile course. Both Hood River teams competed in the Iron division for this competition.
The first women’s crew to complete the 18-mile Kailua Bay to Honaunau run in the Iron Open Division was the Lanikai Canoe Club, eating up the course in 2 hours, 12 minutes, 50 seconds in their Unlimited boat. Only 19 minutes behind Lanikai were the women of Hood River Outrigger Canoe Club in boat 205, one of Timoteo Hapahulehua’s very fast traditional outriggers. Their teammates in boat 204, another Maui boat borrowed from Timo, finished in a very respectable 2:49.38.
With 122 wahine (women) paddling crews leaving Kailua Bay at the same time, the early morning starting line was quite the sight. Against a background of thousands of people launching over a hundred boats to the sounds of traditional Hawaiian drums and singing, light winds and mellow seas made for excellent racing conditions. The Hood River teams took advantage of these conditions to put their heads down and really charge.
In a fun turn of events for friends, family, and club members at home, race organizers provided real-time tracking of the racers this year that let arm-chair paddlers follow their friends’ placement, speed and course live throughout the race. The support of the HROCC club members was pivotal to the Hood River paddlers’ ability to attend this year’s Queen’s race, so the fact that they could watch live was great.
Although the 18-mile long distance race is certainly the most talked about, it is only one of many races held over five days of the Queen Lili‘uokalani Long Distance Outrigger Canoe Races. These races included sprint relay races, a double-hull canoe race, a relay and cultural scavenger race, stand-up paddle board races, teen long distance canoe races, OC1, and OC2 races. Hood River paddlers made a respectable showing on opening day, finishing second in the Sprint Masters race. They had a 38-minute battle with team Mana Wahine during the Double Hull race and one of the Hood River team members raced with a group of Australians in Monday’s Ali’i Challenge, a race inspired by television shows Amazing Race and Survivor. The Challenge includes a team of 12 paddling 17.5 miles and each member of the crew completing a culturally significant course on land. Kassen Bergstrom and the Australians took first place in this race.
“We could not have gotten this far without the support and coaching over the last 10 months from Jonny Davies,” said Elle when reflecting on the week as a whole. “I am so very proud of the accomplishments of our entire team.”
With a little time left before their flight home, members of Hood River Outrigger Canoe Club used the last day of their visit to help de-rig canoes and load them onto trailers for the trip home to Hawaiian clubs throughout the islands as well as to talk with fellow paddlers about their experiences and next paddling challenges to come.
“Seeing paddling clubs from all over the world was inspiring and gave us a good idea of what is possible for Hood River Outrigger Canoe Club in the years to come,” Elle noted. “This is a very exciting time for our club.”
Hood River results:
Boat 204: Heidi Ribkoff, Anne Snelling, Amber Wallace, Karen Sceva, Linda De Jong, steered by Cathy Higgins; 2:48.38; Women’s Open Iron 32nd place/86th overall.
Boat 205: Kassen Bergstrom, Heather Kincaid Murrell, Terese Roeseler, Jen Kroner, Melissa McElderry, steered by Suzi Elle; 2:33.20; Women’s Iron 40-49, first place/31st overall.
Alternate Bonnie Fromm paddled in the sprint races that placed second and competed in the double hull race. She was also on standby in case any of the other paddlers were injured and could not compete in the 18-mile race. More results available at: kaiopua.org/queen-liliuokalani-results.asp.
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