Kane'ohe Canoe Club's Rich 33 Year History

KCC Brochure

The Kane’ohe Canoe Club was originally established in 1973, along with the organization of the Hui Wa’a under the Hawaiian Canoe

Racing Association, and was originally located at Waikalua Beach Park with 250 to 300 members coming from Kane’ohe to Kahalu’u. The

club was under the direction of its very first head coach, Freeman Allen.

This year is the club’s 34^th year anniversary. The club has come a long way from its humble beginnings of improvised training with 5-gallon

buckets as makeshift canoe seats and PVC pipes as paddles devised by earlier coaches, Vince Gerona and Denna Anderson. Hui Wa’a

provided each original club with two canoes. Kane’ohe Canoe Club named their two canoes “Kapua O Ke Kai” and “Mailailua” after two men

lost at sea, Atta Kapua Allen and Moses Mailailua

Kahiapo.

Currently, Kane’ohe Canoe Club is located at the He’eia Kea Boat Harbor with over 200 members under the direction of President and head coach, Clint Anderson. Clint has been with the club since it was established in 1973 and has served as head coach in 1999, 2002 and

2003. He believes in working hard and having fun at the same time. He finds coaching enjoyable and loves working with the youth who come

from all corners of the island. His home is constantly filled with the sounds of chattering youth including his three sons and one daughter, all

of whom are avid paddlers, and another son still sitting on the side lines, for now.

Since its humble beginnings, the club has added twelve more canoes and most recently, its very first racing Koa canoe. This Koa canoe, the “Nai’a,” was purchased from the Kalama ‘ohana, who is well known to the Kailua community of paddlers. The “Nai’a” is currently being

refurbished by Stu Boy Kalama, Clint Anderson and Bob Perreira to make it ready for future races. Perseverance, determination and pride

are the significant factors that have been the foundation of Kane’ohe Canoe Club’s growth to its current status of a winning club. Past

accomplishments according to the club’s records include 1^st place in the Around the Island Race in 1976, breaking Healani Canoe Club’s time

of (18) hours. In 1977, the club again placed 1^st in the Around the Island Race, breaking their own record established in 1976 of under (17)

hours. Other winnings include the 1982 O’ahu Championship, the 1999 O’ahu Championship, as well as other division

titles. Kane’ohe Canoe Club has managed to maintain itself as a competitive canoe club throughout the years, finishing at least in the “Top 2” in past regattas. In

2002, the Kane’ohe Canoe Club placed 2^nd in the HCRA “AA” division State Races in Hilo. This year, the Kane’ohe Canoe Club proudly

won the 2003 Hui Wa’a Championship and the 2003 HCRA “AA” division title at the State Races at Ke’ehi Lagoon on O’ahu. This year’s

accomplishments are the best record-holding wins in the history of the Kane’ohe Canoe Club, accredited mostly to the Na Keiki.

The spirit of ‘Ohana prevails throughout this club with a very strong standing of being “Drug Free”. The club welcomes anyone interested

in being a part of the ‘Ohana as well as being a paddler, both of which work hand-in-hand. This club is blessed with tremendously talented

youth and adults as well as outstanding individuals, some who assist as coaches for our youth and adults and others who are board members to

run the business of the club. The “Patriarch” of the club is Uncle George “Sunny” Young, who represents youthful endurance and intrinsic

excellence. Na Keiki is the ongoing source of strength for the Kane’ohe Canoe

Club from its early beginnings to the present and with the same stamina of the upcoming adults, the members of the Kane’ohe Canoe Club will

continue to race on with “Ha’aheo” (Pride), “Ho’omau” (perseverance) and “ ’Onipa’a” (determination).