Got New York? Members of the Kaiola Canoe Club do. Team Kaiola members are heading to New York today, Tuesday, June 21, to take part in the Liberty World Outrigger Competition, according to Kathy Kelly. If Kelly’s name sounds familiar,
Got New York?
Members of the Kaiola Canoe Club do.
Team Kaiola members are heading to New York today, Tuesday, June 21, to take part in the Liberty World Outrigger Competition, according to Kathy Kelly.
If Kelly’s name sounds familiar, it should be. Kelly, a former Princeville resident, is a lifetime member of the Kaiola Canoe Club, and recently joined her teammates on an O‘ahu-to-Kaua‘i voyage.
She is sponsoring the team’s trip to New York. They will stay with her in her Manhattan apartment.
“It is all about my ‘ohana and my love of Kaua‘i,” said the publicity-shy Kelly.
Kelly said competing teams are coming from as far afield as Tahiti and Sweden. Kaiola is the only Hawaiian team that will be represented.
“We did it. It’s astonishing. The team is coming to New York. We put this together in three days, believe it or not,” she said.
Kelly said the squad would compete in the mixed team category.
The Kaiola paddling team, which will include Kelly, will also have as members Rick Ham Young, Stephen Gray, Rebecca Pickett, Kahakualii (Haku) Kaiminaauoao, who is 23, and has never been off Kaua‘i, and a woman from New England.
According to the event Web site, this year’s Liberty will be launched in Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.
There are three races throughout the day, the women’s at 7:30 a.m., men’s at 11 a.m., and the mixed event at 2 p.m. According to event spokesman Ed Acker, the mixed race is 11 miles, and passes the Statue of Liberty, up the Jersey side of the Hudson River, cuts across to the Manhattan side by the Intrepid Museum, and comes back down the Hudson River, passing by Battery Park, around the Manhattan Bridge to the finish line.
The mens and women’s races are about 15 miles. They go a bit further down the Hudson River said Acker.
Kelly said Denise Ham Young and Catherine “Cathy” Ham Young would be handling the logistics and the well-being of the team while in the Big Pine-Apple.
Blake Conant, a Kaua‘i native, is the head of Manu‘Iwa Outrigger, located in Milford, Conn.
“We’re excited about the event coming up this weekend, as I’ve always contended that the Liberty challenge outrigger canoe race is the East Coast’s window to the paddling world,” he said.
“The coolest thing for me is to sit back and watch all this Hawaiiana stuff taking place on a pier in Manhattan,” he said, adding he was looking forward to meeting up with his kama‘aina.
Denise Ham Young said she and the team were appreciative to Kelly and Conant for all they had done for the team. She said Rick Ham Young would be helping the New York Outrigger team with some Kaua‘i expertise and, in turn, the Kaua‘i team might find some big-city connections.
Rick Ham Young said he was excited about New York and seeing the Statue of Liberty.
“I’ve never flown farther than California. This is my first trip to the East Coast,” he said. He said he was looking forward to helping the New York team learn the ways of the traditional outrigger.
Rick Ham Young, who has been canoeing for more than 30 years, said the only drawback would be missing his grandfather’s regatta in Hanalei Bay this weekend.
Kelly said the race will provide a number of challenges.
According to Kelly, there will be a press boat, which will include reporters from the New York Times, among others.
The Liberty World Outrigger Competition is one of the highlights of the 2005 East Coast Events, according to the organization’s Web site.
The Liberty competition was established in 1997. It has become one of the most prestigious races in the world. The most competitive paddlers from Europe, Australia, Hawai‘i, Tahiti and all over the continental United States flock to NYC for this event, according to the Web site.
