Big changes for OHCRA reggtas this year!!!

that only looks like 2 changes

#1 Tue, 01/08/2013 - 3:01pm

Good news for us out of shape freshmen

#2 Tue, 01/08/2013 - 9:49pm

no disrespect but this means all masters 40 50 55 60 65 open 4 novice A 16 18 and mixes race longer than freshmen? and same distance as sophmore? if they make all those 1/4 miles too we can finish really early.. this just doesnt make that much sense.

#3 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 8:21am

Unklekahi, if word on the street is true, all those events are shortened also. Bs and 15s cut to 1/4. 18 boys, A men, and 40s cut to 1/2.

#4 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 8:34am

rajah.. masters 50 60 65?... either way i still dont like it.

#5 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 9:01am

IN ALL THERE WHERE 15 NEW RULES THAT PASSED. NONE OF THE VOTES WHERE EVEN CLOSE EVERYTHING WAS PRETTY MUCH UNANIMOUS. THIS NEW FORMAT IS SET FOR: FRESHMAN 1/4 MILE, SOPHOMORE 1/2 MILE, JUNIOR 1 MILE, SENIOR 1 1/2 MILE. EVERY WEEK A PADDLER IS ABLE TO GO BACK DOWN TO FRESHMAN LEVEL. PADDLERS ONLY RACE SENIOR AS THERE SECOND RACE, NO FRESH TO SOPHOMORE IN A RACE DAY. THIS FORMAT IS SIMILAR TO WORLD SPRINTS. THE IDEA IS THAT THE COACHES WILL HAVE TO SEE WHO IS THERE FASTER PADDLER IN A 1/4 MILE SPRINT AND WHO LAST LONGER IN A LONGER RACE. THIS NEW FORMAT WILL SHORTEN THE DAY UP OF THE REGATTAS. RACES WILL NOT HAVE THE 1/2 MILE LENGTH COURSE ANYMORE, ALL 1/4 LENGTH COURSES THAT WILL MAKE THE RACES SPECTATOR FRIENDLY AND HAVE MORE TURNS. THERE WILL BE POINT NOW FOR 1 - 6 PLACE. SO THERE IS MORE INCENTIVE TO RACE EVERY RACE AND NOT STACK A RACE AND THEN NOT RACE IT. THE OUTER ISLAND ALREADY LET THERE PADDLERS MOVE AROUND EVERY RACE WEEK IN THE DIFFERENT OPEN DIVISIONS. IF ANY OF YOU ARE AGAINST THE VOTES HAS ALREADY PASSED, PLEASE GET INVOLVED WITH YOUR CLUB AND GET ON THE BOARD, COME TO THE OHCRA MEETS WITH YOUR REP. THE MEETINGS ARE EVERY MONTH AND YOU ARE MORE THEN WELCOME TO COME. EVERYONE IS EXCITED FOR THE NEW FORMAT AND THIS WILL BE A EXCITING NEW YEAR TO SEE WHAT RACES WILL BE LIKE. "CHANGE IS NOT EASY AND THERE WILL BE PEOPLE THAT DOUBT YOU BUT PRESS FORWARD TO NEW THINGS." me.

#6 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 9:35am

OHCRA NEW RULES:

MENS NOV B - 1/2 TO 1/4 MILE
GIRLS 15 - 1/4 MILE
BOYS 15 - 1/4 MILE
BOYS 18 - 1/2 MILE
MENS NOV A - 1/2 MILE
MEN AND WOMEN FRESHMEN - 1/4 MILE
MEN AND WOMEN SOPHOMORE - 1/2 MILE
WOMENS 40's - 1/2 MILE
MENS 40'S - 1/2 MILE

RACE PONTS FOR 1 - 6 PLACE (7-5-4-3-2-1)
PADDLERS ARE ELIGIBLE FOR FRESHMEN EVERY WEEK. BUT YOU CAN NOT RACE FRESH AND SOPH IN A DAY ONLY SENIOR CAN BE YOUR SECOND RACE OF THE DAY.

#7 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 9:42am

Sorry Mr. OHCRA Official. Didn't mean to get you all riled up. With all those CAPITAL LETTERS you flying around its like you snapping at us. =)

#8 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 10:07am

I never thought I'd say this about regatta. But I like it.

#9 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 10:25am

Indar can you race Sr. and open 4?

#10 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 12:19pm

so we can race short races all year then change up the distance @ states? i understand to make the day shorter, but to cut the highest level of racing in regatta? both men/woman freshman-senior for the most part are the best level of talent.sounds like people are just lazy to me. Whats next the Hoe is gonna finish at Hawaiikai?

#11 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 1:10pm

Ps... on all those "outer islands" u cannot go back to freshman every week. As a matter of fact as soon as an open paddler races a higher classification they cannot go back down til end of the year before states. So as soon as a Maui paddler races sophomore they can never race freshman again for the season. Once you race junior you can no longer race freshman or sophomore... Just sayin. Way to stack the cards in your favor for freshman at states OHCRA.

#12 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 5:20pm

1/4 mile race??? shooots. I usually beat everyone to the 1/4 mile flag first and die out the last 3/4. Get chance to win now. Mahalo OHCRA

#13 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 5:38pm

Good idea Ben!

#14 Wed, 01/09/2013 - 9:18pm

Yes all Caps, you don't know how many question I have been getting about this. If you want to race a longer race and get ready for states then you can race the junior race, it is still a 1 mile race. If you think you are not ready for states because you are only racing a 1/4 mile race, I would look more into your training and train with more sprints and focus on the mile if that is your goal. You thought Fresh and Senior where the best, I thought it was Soft and Senior, No matter now you will have to spread your guys out or maybe now Junior and senior may become the better level. Tim I was more referring to Big island. Who know HCRA may follow suit if this works out good. All I know it will be different and fun to watch or be a part of.

#15 Thu, 01/10/2013 - 9:15am

give us a good training program so we can do 1/4 mile sprint with no turns all season to qualify for states and do a 1 mile sprint with three turns. Then do a 26 mile race a couple weeks after that!!

#16 Thu, 01/10/2013 - 12:02pm

Allow me to rewrite this in terms i hope everyone is able to comprehend. In my last post i put freshman-senior that dash mark means through, so FRESHMAN, SOPHOMORE, JUNIOR, AND SENIOR. just to clear things up.

#17 Thu, 01/10/2013 - 3:44pm

regattas are good for the kids and novices. for the rest, regattas are just plain stupid waste of a sunday. i welcome the change. bah humbug

#18 Thu, 01/10/2013 - 4:03pm

To all, you still need to train like we have in the past for regattas, being able to move guys around week to week you need to prepare everyone for 4 different courses. When I train my guys we go long and short distances, we sprint 2 min. 4 min. 8 min. When you train you break down your races into sections. In Waimanalo we do a 1/4, 1/2, then 1/4 for our mile race, to me not much difference. And mr. Mauitim ohcra has alway open the freshmen race to anyone, soph and jun. could always come down to fresh for states so I don't where you're going with your statement. Prior to this year in ohcra once you go to soph. you were stuck there for life, if you were a jun. You were stuck there for the season, then back to soph. for the next. Ohcra is trying it out, if it doesnt work out theyll change it back, its always good to be open-minded. Better racing and a shorter day!

#19 Fri, 01/11/2013 - 10:51am

@Mauitim: for MCHCA paddlers, the slate in wipe clean for States. So if you raced junior during the regular season, you can still race freshman or sophomore at States.

#20 Mon, 01/14/2013 - 2:24pm

Doesn't this make it more fair to OHCRA actually? In the past it seemed like outer island crews could put their best guys in frosh whereas OHCRA could not.

#21 Thu, 01/24/2013 - 5:48am

@ shurl0ck - initially I was thinking the same thing - 1/4 mile - yeah - that is as long as we hang in the front too ...then I considered that a whole lot of us are on the same page. This will be a game changer for sure. Paddlers who excel at sprints will be able to move to the front of the canoe and shine. Very different strategy at play. Being a coach, steerswoman & previous water official, I can't help but ponder the change in the turn situations we will need to prepare for. If the spread of crews is minimal for shorter length races 1/2 miles in particular, which used to be 1 miles, we will need to be cleaner on all our turns because it will be more crowded like in the open mixed races. This could potentially be a hazardous situation in the making. Respect each other and all equipment. Safety first, avoiding any Koa accidents. We will need to work on this with all our teams. Play fair, have sportsmanship as a priority at all times. Makes life very exciting for water officials and paddlers alike, the finishes are going to be more "photo finish" -ish because of the possibilities of the tight spacings. Hope all our officials are up for that, I don't envy them. We don't need more stalls in the results due to protests and rebuttals of results - that in it's self could cause any race to last long into the evening. Do we know what the State course will be?????? Strange if we have to train for a different course just for that race now. Personally, I think this is all interesting and am optimistic and grateful OHCRA is trying 'something' to make things more progressive for all of us. Change is always difficult - we all must keep our wits about us and stay focused on perpetuating our beautiful culture and why we all love paddling so much. I love turns and am really looking forward to working with my crews and team mates to optimize this new course! See you all on the water. Good luck to all and Hoe Pa'a!!!

#22 Thu, 03/21/2013 - 3:17pm

Anyone have any ideas about how or if this will affect states?

#23 Thu, 03/21/2013 - 3:24pm

I like it! Full on 1/4 mile drag races!

#24 Sun, 03/24/2013 - 8:18am

Now that you've experienced the new format; howzit? Better worse, ending sooner?

Hui Nalu seemed to really do well this past week.

#25 Tue, 06/25/2013 - 10:54am