Aloha HSCA Ohana!

What a great weekend we had for our first races of the season! Conditions were favorable and crews did awesome across the Alenuihaha Channel and down the beautiful Maui coastline.

We had a pleasant and uneventful tow up to Upolu Point thanks to our escort boat captains Johnny Mac and Gully Boy. Mahalo to them for taking care of us and helping Alex and Kenji get the fantastic shots of our races for an upcoming Ocean PaddlerTV episode. Once the canoes were free from the towline the captains had no trouble finding the wind and setting their course across the Alenuihaha Channel to Hana, Maui.

Hawai’i Island to Hana Results

1 Olukai 3:02 5 points

2 KBH 3:06 4 points

3 Maui Jim 3:11 3 points

4 Hui Nalu 3:13 2 points

5 Auwahi 3:18 1 point

All paddlers were welcomed to Captain James Freudenberg-Pu and his wife Moeani’s hale for dinner, drinks, singing and camping. Mahalo James and Moe for sharing your amazing home with all of us.

The next day crews set off from Hana Harbor, rested and fed well, to huaka’i down the Maui coastline. After paddling a distance out of the Hana Harbor, crews had light winds as they turned their wa’a down seas and had to paddle for 20+ miles to get to the wind line. Team Olukai, Hui Nalu, Ka’anapali Beach Hotel, and Maui Jim took an inside line while Auwahi Wind opted for a more outside line to possibly catch more of the prevailing trade winds. Early on Olukai was in the lead closely followed by Hui Nalu, Ka’anapali Beach Hotel, and Maui Jim until Maui Jim decided to work their way outside to join Auwahi Wind. Maui Jim and Auwahi Wind battled and were able to push each other and make up some ground on Ka’anapali Beach Hotel who was still working the inside line of the Maliko Run. This made for an exciting battle for 3rd place as Team Maui Jim and Ka’anapali Beach Hotel crossed the finish line outside of Kahului Harbor at a full sprint to finish 2 seconds apart (3 seats). Amazing!

Here are the results from our second day of racing:

Hana to Kahului Results

1 Olukai 3:45 5 points

2 Hui Nalu 3:48 4 points

3 Maui Jim 3:52 3 points

4 KBH 3:52 +2 seconds 2 points

5 Auwahi 3:57 1 point

After our first weekend of racing for the 2023 HSCA Season here are the points standings:

Points Standings

1 Olukai 10 points

2 Hui Nalu 6 points

3 Maui Jim 6 points

4 KBH 6 points

5 Auwahi 2 point

It’s going to be an exciting season, for sure!

We will see you all at our 2nd weekend of racing from Kahului to Ka’anapali on June 2, our community event Wa’a Kiakahi on June 3, and finishing with a 70 miles run from Ka’anapali to Waimanalo, O’ahu on June 4. Race dues for our second weekend of racing will be $1,000 per canoe and Mikala will be texting the Waiver Link for the Wa’a Kiakahi Race weekend soon.

Here are the links to photos and videos that Mikala captured: Day 1 Day 2

Mahalo to Boomer for hauling our gear! And Mahalo to Gary Chow and his wife, Alesia, our caterers in Hana, for all the ono grinds! Also, Mahalo to Alex and Kenji from Ocean Paddler TV for capturing all of the footage both by drone and from the boat!

Here are some links to the Ocean Paddler TV “Impromptu live” Action!

https://fb.watch/kM3xczhEOr/?mibextid=qC1gEa https://fb.watch/kM3zL9Y736/?mibextid=qC1gEa https://fb.watch/kM3BqAjLsf/?mibextid=qC1gEa https://fb.watch/kM3Cq-PwEU/?mibextid=qC1gEa