Manny Veincent’s Kawaihae Canoe Club is in it’s 50th season and the paddling patriarch will turn 90 this year.
He’s seen it all.
“What I forgot, nobody’s learned yet,” he said.
Veincent had to like the view Saturday at Hilo Bay, and not just because it was the first Moku O Hawaii Outrigger Canoe Racing Association regatta in 34 months. Armed with binoculars to survey the races, Veincent saw his youth crews dominate – particularly the girls – in building up a lead, and his adult paddlers did just enough to hang on, giving the club a rare regatta victory.
“It’s been awhile,” head coach Kahealani Veincent said.
The top-division honor usually goes to Big Blue (Kai Opua) or Green Pride (Puna), but on a pleasant and packed day at the beach with a full slate of races, everyone had to stand in line behind Manny Veincent and his trademark red-and-white palaka shorts.
“We’re supposed to be doing this,” he said. “We just don’t have the personnel like other clubs.
“We don’t draw from big populations like Kona and Hilo. We’re from the bushes. We’re hicks.”
But they don’t give out big trophies to small-timers. Kahealani Veincent did the honors, carrying the Kai Ehitu/Papa Kimitete hardware back to a her cheering club.
There was a sense of normalcy thanks to a return to action after two canceled seasons, but Kahealani Veincent noted her club’s different vibe this season.
“Everybody was very positive, very ready to go,” she said. “They didn’t take anything for granted.”
Improvements have been made in quality and quantity.
“We’re a little bigger than what we had before, but we have a different type of people now,” she said. “They paddle more with their hearts, and they give it their all. They are not out there just to show.”
Kawaihae could hardly have started stronger in edging Kai Opua (the Big Island champ in 2019 and from 2008-14) by three points and Puna (the champ from 2015-18) by 10. It swept the three races for 12-year-olds – Lili Gambill, Nikolao Brose-Stevens, Ahu Maielua and Onipa’a Villanueva-Matsuda, pulled double duty – and got wins in the girls 13, 14 and 15 races. Also finishing first were the women’s novice B, women’s novice A, women’s 65 and women’s open four. Keaukaha also won 10 races but was fourth.
“The kids were unbelievable,” said Kahealani Veincent, who credited a youth program that provides transportation and covers costs for keiki who want to come to practice.
And the club has been hitting the water hard in practice since January, she said, while some crews of other clubs may have only been at it for a few weeks.
The regatta was the first of seven leading up to the Aunty Maile/Moku O Hawaii championships, July 23 at Hilo Bay. Next week, the Keauhou Regatta will be held at Kailua Pier.
“Now there is a target on our back,” Kahealani Veincent. “We have to train even harder, but maybe we’ll get some people who have paddled for us to come back and paddle, and makes it even stronger.”
Honoring Papa
Marking its 40th anniversary, Kai Ehitu, as usual hosted the season-opening regatta and honored the club’s founder, Papa Kimitete.
The club’s race was moved from Kailua Pier, it’s usual spot, to Hilo Bay in part because of logistical issues. Coach Richard Kimitete said he woke at 2 a.m. Saturday morning and couldn’t get back to sleep because he was so excited for the day’s festivities.
“It feels great, this morning when we looked down the line and on the beach, I’ve never seen it so full in a long time,” he said. “I’m not even sure in normal times it’s been this packed. Just to see everyone come down and participate in Papa’s race, it means a lot.”
Keauhou edged Kai Ehitu 85-78 to take Division B, but Kimitete said the club could have a enough crews to participate in A Division as soon as next week. Hoemana, a second club in Kawaihae, made it’s regatta debut and finished fifth in Division B.
As the season goes on, Kimitete can see more keiki turning out to power contending Kai Ehitu crews.
“Papa’s thing was make sure the kids are taken care of, because the adults will take care of themselves,” he said.
Even during the pandemic-induced layoff, the club tried to stay in touch with the sport, club president Puamaile Kimitete said.
“We had workshops, not only through Zoom calls, but taking people to the mountains, understanding where the canoe comes from,” she said. “Just seeing the paddling community coming back, this is a positive energy.
