Kahanamoku Klassic

June 01, 2019

Pale Kai made an impressive showing last weekend at the 2019 Kahanamoku Klassic in Marina Del Rey, reminding canoe clubs up and down the California coast that we are small but mighty.

In the Women’s Open Spec division, with Barker’s intuitive steering, she demonstrated again how competitive this this club’s young ladies can be. Coming off a decisive first place victory in Santa Barbara, the 155 faced significantly more challenge this week with a behind the line start and a beastly boat from Dana Point OCC which took the gold. However, Lanakila’s top open spec boat was only able to fend off Pale Kai for the first half of the race, with the 155 passing at the first turn and holding the lead the remainder of the race for a hard fought second place showing.

In the 170 the Senior Masters Unlimited showed us what masterful technique and deep friendships bring to this sport- along with a little attitude. After pacing Kai Elua for a large portion of this race, a collision and entanglement which rendered Nancy powerless in seat 6 finally gave these ladies the inspiration to find the next gear- sprinting into a bronze finish.

In the coed division both boats also brought home impressive finishes. Conditioning her baby in the womb for paddling, Kristine Slocum steered the 96 for a 4th place finish in the unlimited Division. Congrats also go to the 158 in the open coed division, with special nods to Julie, who stroked her first race, and Denise who steered her first long course with no errors! 158 also came in 3rd in their division.

In the incredibly competitive Men’s Open Unlimited category, our men are slowly climbing the rungs in this category, with a solid top half finish on Saturday in the 170.

Finally our Novices kicked some serious butt with first place finishes in both the men’s and women’s division, and continued their no-huli-streak across the co-ed division. These results are super promising and an exciting portent of a dominant future for Pale Kai - if we can all keep our egos in check!

Nicely done by all!

With perhaps slightly less humility than we should, Pale Kai eagerly awaits the Ventura Outrigger Challenge next week.