HALE'IWA — The Kane'ohe Canoe Club once again rode its youth crews to another Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a victory yesterday.

But Kane'ohe's triumph in the Manu O Ke Kai Regatta at Hale'iwa Beach Park is all the more impressive considering the club entered a lot of its youth paddlers in older age divisions.

Kane'ohe won seven of the 13 youth races and finished with 67 points. Waikiki Beach Boys was second with 60 and Manu O Ke Kai third with 58.

Kane'ohe and the Waikiki Beach Boys were entered in the AA Division (13 to 24 crews), while Manu O Ke Kai was entered in the AAA Division (25 to 39).

"We have good 12s, 13s and 14s (paddlers), but we don't have much in the 15s," said Kane'ohe head coach Clint Anderson.

He added Kane'ohe has only one paddler in girls 15; two each in the boys 15 and 16, and girls 16; and three in girls 18.

The lack of numbers forces some of Kane'ohe's 12, 13 and 14 paddlers to race in the older youth divisions.

Kane'ohe won the girls 12, 13, 14, 16, and 18 divisions, and the boys 12 and 14 divisions. Kane'ohe's youth crews also had three runner-up finishes (boys 13 and 18; and mixed 12) and two third-place finishes (boys 15 and 16).

In all, Kane'ohe scored 48 points in 12 youth races. The club didn't field a crew in the girls 15 division.

Points were awarded on a 5-3-2-1 basis.

Through the first seven events — all youth races — Kane'ohe had 31 points (five victories, two seconds). No other club had more than 10.

"They kicked off a good start in the morning; built up the morale for the club," Anderson said of Kane'ohe's youth crews.

Kane'ohe's youth crews picked up 17 more points (two firsts, one second, two thirds) midway through the regatta.

Anderson is hoping an increase in club membership will allow Kane'ohe to move up in classification soon. The club also was in the AA Division in last week's season-opening regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon.

"I think we might be in the Double A for one more week," he said. "We might get more crews and get up to 25, 26."

Kane'ohe entered 23 crews yesterday, Anderson said.

The Waikiki Beach Boys came on strong late by winning six consecutive events — men's novice A, women freshmen, men freshman, women sophomore, men sophomore and women senior.

Andrea Messer steered the Beach Boys' women's freshmen crew and was in the fifth seat for the women's senior race.

"Both races were really fun today," Messer said. "It was interesting conditions. I steered my first race today so that really made it extra exciting."

In the women's senior race, the Waikiki Beach Boys, who also won last week, completed the 1 1/2-mile course in 13:07.0, and was followed by Kalihi Kai in 14:07.0 and Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i in 14:38.6.

Members of the Waikiki Beach Boys winning crew were Rachel Bruntsch, Messer, Polar Bear Lichowski, Kaui Pelekane, Jen Polcer and Dana Gorecki.

"Coming back we had a couple of (wave) bumps, which is where we put a little bit of distance on the rest of the field," Gorecki said. "It's nice to still finish first today. It's nice to be pushed and not just think about the clock."

The Beach Boys, who don't have a youth program, also won the women's novice B, men's novice B and mixed masters 40.

"Our freshman and sophomore crews over the years we've done well," Gorecki said. "Now it's the rest of the crews that are continuing to step up. You can field even stronger crews as a whole."

With three events remaining, Kane'ohe was leading with 65 points, followed by Manu O Ke Kai with 58 and the Waikiki Beach Boys with 52.

The Waikiki Beach Boys finished second in the men open four and won the mixed masters 40 — the second-to-last event — to rally into second.

Manu O Ke Kai, the host club, won the women's grand masters 60, men's grand masters 60, men's senior and men's masters 40. Manu O Ke Kai also had eight runner-up finishes.

At last week's regatta, Manu O Ke Kai finished tied for third behind Kane'ohe and Waikiki Beach Boys. This time, Manu O Ke Kai closed the gap on the top two.

"We had 11 more points than last week, so there was some improvement," said Manu O Ke Kai head coach Randy Sanborn.

In the 1 1/2-mile men's senior race, Manu O Ke Kai finished in 11:55.5, followed by Waikiki Beach Boys in 11:58.8 and Koa Kai in 12:19.2.

Members of Manu O Ke Kai's winning crew were Brian Amantiad, John Hoogsteden, Greg Pavao, Moku Sanborn, Bobo Tantog and Jay Oku.

"This is our home turf right here at Hale'iwa Beach Park with Manu O Ke Kai, so we were kind of excited about that and wanted to represent," Hoogsteden said.

Kalihi Kai won the A Division (6 to 12 crews) with 21 points.

NOTES

The Na 'Ohana O Na Hui Wa'a organization will hold its Windward Kai Regatta at Waimanalo Beach Park Sunday.

The O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association will open its season with the Clement D. Pa'iaina Regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon Sunday.