Hawaii’s premier long-distance paddling events are returning

HONOLULU – The Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe will make a triumphant return in the next few weeks after a four-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Maui wildfires.

The event cancellations weren’t just a missed opportunity for elite paddlers to meet in Hawaii and compete in the so-called World Outrigger Canoe Paddling Championships.

They were also a loss of Hawaiian culture and tradition.

“Canoe paddling is Hawaii’s sport,” said Luana Froiseth, race director for the Oahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association, which oversees both events. “These two races bring people from all over the world together. This is how we share our culture. For many of us, this is like the Olympics.

“We bring our people together to work together, play together, and we continue the sport of Hawaiian canoe racing. This to me is very, very important for yesterday, today and for our future generations of paddlers.”

Na Wahine O Ke Kai takes place on Sunday and Molokai Hoe is scheduled for October 13th. The 41-mile Kaiwi Channel race begins at Hale O Lono Harbor, Molokai and ends at Duke’s Beach, Hilton Hawaiian Village.

COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the 2020-2022 Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe races, and the Lahaina wildfire that killed 102 people in early August 2023 prompted officials to cancel last year’s races.

“In 2023, when we said, ‘OK, COVID is almost over. “Okay, let’s do this race.” When the wildfire broke out in Lahaina, it wasn’t about you being from this island, it was about me being from this island. We are all Hawaiians and all the islands are together,” Froiseth said. “For me as race director, I felt it was my kuleana (responsibility) to cancel the races and make sure our friends and family were taken care of before we went into the sea, had fun and laughed.”

According to Froiseth, the Na Wahine O Ke Kai will consist of 48 crew members: one each from Australia, New Zealand and Japan, two from the U.S. mainland and the rest from Hawaii, including five from the island of Hawaii and three from Maui and one each from Kauai and Molokai.

The Molokai Hoe field is not set. A team from Tahiti has won 13 of the last 14 races.

Long awaited debut

Na Hoapili O Ke Kai, in his first year in the OHCRA, will take part in the race on Sunday.

Crew member Jazmine Akamu said she has been looking forward to paddling in Na Wahine O Ke Kai since she was a sixth-grader at Aiea Elementary School.

She met the age requirement to enter the race three years ago, but the world was in the second year of the pandemic. Akamu, now 19, is about to make her first crossing of the Kaiwi Channel.

“When I was of age at 16, COVID hit, so I couldn’t do the race for a while,” she said. “Now that it’s up and running again, I’m no longer doing it as a junior (paddler) but as an open.”

Akamu, Na Hoapili O Ke Kai’s youngest paddler, said her crew took a 32-mile trip from Hawaii Kai to Nanakuli a few weeks ago.

“We’re all pretty confident about just finishing the race,” she said. “Half of us have experience of it (having paddled for other clubs) but the other half are the same as me the first time.”

Akamu added that her father Ahfah Akamu Sr., a racing veteran, and her 18-year-old brother Ahfah Akamu Jr. will be paddling in the same canoe during the Molokai Hoe. Akamu Jr. will be taking part in the race for the first time.

Veteran ready to go

Hui Nalu paddler Maggie Twigg-Smith will compete in her 25th Na Wahine O Ke Kai on Sunday.

“It’s really exciting to have the opportunity to paddle the canal races again,” she said. “It’s been a long time and it’s a very special race – not just the race itself, but also the journey before. You build friendships, you build camaraderie, you build trust in each other and your teammates. So it’s very exciting and special to have the opportunity and the ability to do a race like this.”

Twigg-Smith’s first Na Wahine O Ke Kai took place in 1995. One race was canceled due to high surf and the event has not been held for the past four years.

She said her Hui Nalu crew, represented in the open division, consists of a core of six or seven experienced paddlers, some of whom have numerous canal crossings under their belt. The crew also includes four rookies.

Twigg-Smith’s advice to first-time visitors was simple.

“First and foremost, have fun because if you don’t have fun, it’s going to be really tiring on both the physical and mental (aspect of the race),” she said. “Have fun. It is an honor and a privilege to be able to take part in this race. When you approach it with such a positive attitude, it becomes much easier to overcome everything else.”

Start to finish

The Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe both begin at 8am after blessings, prayers and speeches at Hale O Lono Harbor. Maui Mayor Richard Bissen is expected to speak Sunday.

“A lot of emotion at the start of the race,” Twigg-Smith said. “A lot of excitement, nerves, you want to do well. There’s just something really special about being there and having everyone together in a circle. The energy is amazing.”

Crews could potentially face harsh ocean conditions and currents in koa and fiberglass canoes weighing at least 400 pounds. Six paddlers will be in the canoe, with replacements available on support boats.

The first finishers of Sunday’s women’s race will arrive at Duke’s Beach around 1:30 p.m., while the first men’s teams will complete their journey around 12:30 p.m. on October 13.

For the first time, the first place finishers in koa canoe in both races will receive prize money.

Both races will be broadcast live on KHII.

A family affair

For Froiseth, OHCRA’s race director, canoe paddling is a way of life.

Her father Wallace sailed on the Hokulea and took part in the first Molokai Hoe in 1952, which consisted of three canoes, one of which did not finish the race.

Wallace Froiseth and his wife Alice Keali’ipu’aimoku Froiseth helped found the Waikiki Surf Club, which is a member of the OHCRA.

Luana Froiseth paddled the Na Wahine O Ke Kai for the first time in 1979.

“I do this for my mother and father. They were my life,” she said. “This is my legacy, this is my kuleana, and I take my kuleana very seriously because they are my mother and my father.”

Luana Froiseth’s paddling days are over, but her passion for promoting Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe is stronger than ever.

“Our culture is about traveling from one island to another,” she said. “Kamehameha traveled from island to island and conquered the islands. We conquer nothing. If anything, we’ll conquer the Kaiwi Channel.”

Breakout box

Na Wahine O Ke Kai and Molokai Hoe

41-mile outrigger canoe paddling race across the Kaiwi Channel, starting at Hale O Lono Harbor, Molokai and ending at Dukes Beach, Hilton Hawaiian Village

>> Start/finish time: Both races start at 8:00 a.m. The first finishers for Sunday’s women’s race will arrive around 1:30 p.m., while the first men’s teams will finish around 12:30 p.m. on October 13.

>> Format: The canoe (Koa or fiberglass) can accommodate six people, replacements are possible on accompanying boats. Depending on the division, teams can have 10-12 padders.

>> TV: Both races will be broadcast live on KHII (Chapter 5 on Spectrum and Hawaiian Telcom)