As the bells rang and the chant – Go Kai Opua! Go Kai Opua! – grew louder and louder, club athletic director Mike Atwood slowly made his way down the beach to get a better view of the finish line.
Atwood usually sends a lieutenant to catch a glimpse of the last race, but he wanted see this one for himself.
And what a view it was Saturday with postcard conditions at Hilo Bay, where Bo Campos, Aunty Maile and Maunakea were on the minds of many canoe paddlers that gathered for the Aunty Maile/Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Racing Association championships.
The dramatic finish befitted the backdrop.
When Kai Opua held on to the last race to overtake Puna by a single point to end four years of championship frustration, Atwood slowly walked back from the officials table, turned left and hugged club president Doug Vera Cruz.
“I’m elated, I’m so happy,” said Atwood, who was carrying a picture of Campos in his bag.
Lovingly known as Uncle Bo, Campos was Kai Opua’s president before dying in December at the age of 71 from pancreatic cancer.
“The picture was there on our organizational desk in the tent,” Atwood said. “His spirit was definitely there. Before the regatta started, we dedicated it to him.
“It’s always exciting when you win the very last one, but I think it’s more exciting when we lost our main leader. To be able to come through as a club and follow in what we know he would have wanted for us.”
Form held during all four races at Hilo Bay: Big Blue grabbed a lead, then Green Pride came charging back and fell just short.
Only this time, four-time defending Puna (227 points, 40 crews, 10 golds) grabbed a one-point lead in the penultimate event, before Kai Opua (228, 40, nine) took it back in the mixed men’s and women’s race.
“Bo is definitely smiling down on us right now,” Vera Cruz said.
Kai Opua’s combined victory margin the last three regattas was nine points, though Atwood said this one took the sting off of losing the 2016 finals by a point.
“We knew Puna was going to bring it, and they brought it,” Atwood said.
Kai Opua’s Kurt Capri, Melanie Kelekolio, Maile Leslie, Kristin Old, Kekaulike Tomich and Jonathan Walsh get the glory of winning the clinching race, and the clubs’ men’s novice B (Ben Olthafer, Kully Kekaula-Basque, Isaac Vincent, John Rodrigues, Jesse Jenkins, Nate Hillermann) and boys 18 (Kala Thurston, Hunter Ellis, Henry Cho, Jake Honl-DeGuair, Ford Stallsmith, Iokepa Aponte) crews capped off undefeated Moku O Hawaii seasons.
Vera Cruz said one of his favorite moments was watching the men’s and women’s 70 races. They are only held at the championships, and Kai Opua won them both.
“It’s a goal for us younger people to look up to,” he said.
Campos left big shoes to fill, and while Vera Cruz was taking “none” of the credit that the club’s first Division A title since 2014 came during the first year on his watch, he was soaking up 100% of the atmosphere.
“I’m overwhelmed,” he said. “I don’t have anything to say right now. Crazy.
“We’re humbled by this win and we’re hoping for more to come. It kind of sets the tone to bring back paddlers that didn’t participate because Uncle Bo (wasn’t here). Hopefully this will make them proud, too.”
Kawaihae claimed Division B (15-29 events). It’s girls 12 (Ciani Macias, Hinamaikalani Wolfgramm, Mahie Kaleleiki, Lili Gambill, Sofina Brose-Stevens, Danica Valera) and sophomore women (Hilary Denison, Nahaku Kalei, Mahea Leialoha, Mahea Gambill, Lora Schroder Sakai, Makalapua Merit) crews stayed perfect on the season, though Puna ended Kawaihae’s bid for perfection in the boys 14 race.
Hui Wa’a O Waiakea won Division C (1-14 events).
In all, nine crews head to the state regatta Aug. 3 on Kauai unbeaten.
Also remaining undefeated were Puna’s men’s golden masters 55, senior women’s 50 and mixed masters 55; Paddlers of Laka’s boys 16 and mixed 18; and Keaukaha’s men’s 65.
Arresting development
Scores of paddlers earned gold medals Saturday, but few had a week that could compare to that of Luana Neff, who was a member of the Kamehameha 55 crew that scored a comfortable victory against Puna.
On Wednesday, Neff was one of 33 opponents of Thirty Meter Telescope who were arrested Wednesday on the Maunakea Access Road.
“Paddling is the most wonderful thing,” Neff said. “You’re up on the mountain at the highest elevation, and when you get down you leave everything on the water.”
She said she was the youngest of the Maunakea kupuna “protectors” to be detained, but she made it down on time Wednesday to practice.
“For me, it was dedicating my paddle to the mountain,” she said. “Everything I do is for the love of the mountain and the love of paddling.”
Crewmmate Pua Mendonca credited the “power of the mountain” for the victory as well, but she said there were other forces at play.
“We wanted to beat Puna with every single things in our hearts,” she said. “We love to beat Puna.”
Moku O Hawaii race secretary Aloha Maile said a Kai Ehitu crew earlier in the day competed with the Hawaiian flag on its canoe, but she asked that flags be taken down for later events.
Maile said she wanted the day “to be about the races and the championship.”
No Aunty Maile
For the first time since the championships were named after her, 85-year-old Aunty Maile missed the finals.
Aloha Maile, her daughter, said Aunty Maile recently suffered an aneurysm in her stomach and is staying at Legacy rehabilitation and nursing center.
“It was hard to keep her away,” Aloha Maile said.
Aloha Maile said Legacy hands out four-hour passes for its residents to leave, but that wouldn’t be enough for Aunty Maile.
The championships started in the early morning and ended after 5:30 p.m.
“There is no way she’d come for just four hours,” Aloha Maile. “There is no way we would get her to go back.”