Pa'a Eono | OCPaddler.com

If Tahitians come down and they contact me I would seriously consider letting them using my boat for free. Does Hawaii have a better chance if there is plenty of surf like this year?

#71 Mon, 05/23/2011 - 5:47pm

Not to take away from those who raced in the 200lb class canoes, but Tahiti would have one in a Spec canoe. No doubt. Is there any talk of sending a Hawaii 200lb canoe to tahiti and race there?

#72 Mon, 05/23/2011 - 9:42pm

Anykine- are you making that statement considering that they will be racing against Kamanu guys or our 6 best paddlers (coached) in an open design boat?

#73 Mon, 05/23/2011 - 10:49pm

Congrats to Kamanu, but hats off to primo. By far the best 6 guys out there. It was impressive surfing next to them knowing our canoe was half the weight of theirs. Drinking beers with them after the race told me that they are a bunch of humble, laid back, good braddahs that can paddle. Thanks for the ride Mapu, wish you was healthy

#74 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 12:31am

Hmmmmm, every time that a team or a crew, regardless of the sport, seems "unbeatable", they get beat! It's a law of nature.

#75 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 6:22am

Does anybody know the speeds that those canoes were traveling during that race? Max? Moving average?

#76 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 7:37am

Healthyearth- This past race with the paddlers that KAMANU and PRIMO had.... Tahiti. Now, to put a " Team Hawaii " together and race in an OPEN design against Tahiti? Haven?t we tried that, Hawaiki nui? Team Primo is by far the best that Hawaii has to offer and should go to Hawaiki Nui as our " Team Hawaii. "
Kai and Kala = Awsome. Add in the other paddlers of Team Primo= Success.

I hope that Team Primo will cross with 9 guys injury free this year and make a run at the title. They got my support!

HPDLR- Cool, down to earth and hangs out with the paddling community after each race. Very humble.

#77 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 7:54am

Hoot Hoot!

Boy oh Boy, after watching these videos I think I may have a new nickname for my good friend Jimmy... Pocahontas!

#78 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 8:25am

Kamanu:
-- S.1 Pace: 06:10 mm | 9.7 mph
-- S.2 Pace: 07:01 mm | 8.5 mph

Primo:
-- S.1 Pace: 06:41 mm | 8.9 mph
-- S.2 Pace: 07:07 mm | 8.4 mph

Considerations for pace differences in stages 1 & 2 :
- Pailolo more favorable line/conditions
- Fresh paddlers in s.1

Considerations for the large margin gap between Kamanu and Primo in s.1:
- Hull speed max potential (can the spec boats reach higher speeds then (x)mph?)
- Strategy (crews saving for s2)
- Primo accident/injury in s.1

damn, these guys were booking...

#79 Wed, 05/25/2011 - 6:57am

Who wants one?
http://kamanucomposites.com/2011/kaapahu

#80 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:12am

i do. so whats the shipping to seattle? :P

#81 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:49am

goto will pick it up in Kailua and paddle it back. 3–5 days for a flat rate of $99.

Did they glass or reinforce the ama? It says "cut out of solid foam" in the description. Or is it dense enough foam like a crash bow on a racing yacht?

#82 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:58am

2500 mile upwind paddles are Goto's forte.

#83 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 6:00pm

Back to what people were saying about which canoes/crews were faster and why etc: I steered the Beach Boys in Kapa'a and I think our line made a huge difference in our performance from one day to the next. It was only my second time in the Pailolo, and I blew it big time Saturday by heading south too early. When we started rounding the corner and sighting down the coastline of Molokai we started getting strafed by these monster gusts that rounded us up broadside to the wind for a couple minutes. We got going again after the wind backed off a bit but for a while we were just sitting there helpless spinning our wheels, watching the tops of the waves get torn off into spindrift. If I had gone into that section further north I could have run off with the wind instead of fighting for control for 20 minutes.

On Sunday, I tried to run a straight shot 1/2 mile north of rhumb line. By the time our escort made contact and gave us a position I was 0.6 miles north of rhumb line, and we kept it between 0.5 and 0.8 miles north the whole way across. About half way through the race I noticed the current setting south to north which required me to point the canoe further and further south to maintain position. When we were passing Sandy's our escort coach spotted Lanikai and Karel's crew way to the north and a little bit behind us running the coastline, looking like they were struggling against current. At the time we were surfing well but only running 6-8 mph on the GPS so I imagine the current we were in was worse closer in to shore. Our line finally closed with Lanikai about halfway down the wall between Hanauma Bay and Portlock and we went wave for wave until we turned the corner into the wind and they smoked us. The reason I think the line made a big difference is that both Lanikai and OC disappeared over the horizon in front of us pretty damn quick at the start, so they must have hit some pretty junk water off to the north for it to be that close at the end.

Anyway I'm curious to hear what the other crews did as far as course selection, and any good stories of course, everyone wants the gossip. For instance I heard Primo flipped on Saturday and basically kept surfing down the wave for a while, but upside down. True? And as far as the double steering blade goes, yeah that would be totally reasonable in Saturday's conditions, my seat 5 was steering almost as much as I was on those wide open walls in the Pailolo, it was pretty nuts.

#84 Tue, 05/24/2011 - 10:22pm

Interesting info, thanks pswitzer.

In the Pailolo if you go straight across you could loose some valuable wind once on the lee of Molokai, if you go south it swoops back towards kaunakakai, and you have bumps for days. A good idea is to get far enough across the channel to see whats happening and where the wind line is in relation to the shore of Molokai as wind turns more easterly, stay in the wind, but don't go too far south/offshore or you will have a harder time coming in and might have to back track, usually happens to at least one 1man in M2M.

Primo huli explains the time lost in stage 1. Those guys like a light ama. The coconut wireless was saying that primo was leading in the first 30 min of stage one. Does anyone know?

Kaiwi north line vs south line is always the gamble yah? Would you say that Kamanu and Primo both took the southerly approach?

#85 Wed, 05/25/2011 - 8:23am

Attached is a map of one Hawaiian Canoe Club crew and one Na Kai Ewalu Canoe Club crew gps tracks from 2010 Pailolo race.

HCC is the light blue.
NKE is the red.

HCC beat NKE's time.
Finish Boat # Time Name Division Place
11 26 0:03:08.47 Hawaiian Canoe Club 1 Open Men 6th
20 38 0:03:17.58 Na Kai 'Ewalu 'Elua Open Men 13th

Results taken from http://www.ocpaddler.com/results/2010/pailolo_challenge_results

I was in the NKE crew and recorded the GPS track. My Friend Tim was in the HCC crew and used his GPS to get the track.

I have an animation of the data but cannot find it right now, but basically NKE went too close to Molokai and didn't get some of the bigger waves and the wind, as far as I can remember. I heard the HCC crew had lots of big waves to ride.

#86 Wed, 05/25/2011 - 10:57am

I was in contact with people during the first leg who were watching the battle between Kamanu and Primo. In the first 40 minutes or so of the race no one reported seeing anyone huli in the lead group of three canoes. Not to say that it didn't happen but no one said anything about it while Primo was leading in the beginning stages of the race or when Kamanu passed them.

#87 Wed, 05/25/2011 - 1:22pm

Lots of great stuff here! Great to hear first hand accounts of the race. Had a conversation with one of the paddlers from the 60's crew today. A "hats off" moment to PA'A was given for their awards presentation and running of the event. He also said Primo did huli and still managed a respectable finish on the first leg.

#88 Thu, 05/26/2011 - 4:31pm

I didn't think I would have as much fun this race since we had so few entries. After doing the race, when I look back and think how it compares to other race, THIS RACE ABSOLUTLY BLEW ALL OTHER 6 MAN RACES AWAY that I've done. A few of the guys that I paddled with have said in various ways; slight depression has set after the big high of that race. I for one felt like something was not right training for regatta and being in a 400lb fishing boat. Those boats are sinful because they don't reward you for your had trainging you've done over the year. We give to the sporty many hours and those boats give nothing back. Like a good father tells a son ,"it's time go on your own and be free and make your own way"; those old canoes need to let us go.

#89 Fri, 05/27/2011 - 11:08am