$8K Grant to Support State Championship Regatta on Maui

The Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association has received an $8,000 ‘Ahahui Grant from the Office of Hawaiian Affairs in support of the 2017 HCRA State Championship Regatta, which will be held on Maui next month.

The regatta is planned for staging at Hanaka‘ō‘ō Beach Park in Kā‘anapali, Maui on Aug. 5, 2017, with the first event beginning at 8 a.m.

Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park. Photo by Wendy Osher.

The 2017 HCRA State Championship Regatta is open to the public at no charge and racing concludes prior to sunset.

A highly competitive day of racing is expected as HCRA crowns individual champions in 41 events and club winners in four divisions.

“OHA has been a resolute and sustaining supporter of the HCRA State Championship Regatta, and we are honored that OHA has chosen HCRA to receive an ‘Ahahui grant. We know OHA receives funding requests for many worthy events and programs from dozens of applicants, and we are pleased to be a grant recipient,” said HCRA President Walter Vierra.

Canoe racing. Courtesy file photo via HCRA by: Ropati Hebenstreit.

“OHA’s mission ‘to mālama (protect) Hawai‘I’s people and environmental resources and OHA’s assets, toward ensuring the perpetuation of the culture, the enhancement of lifestyle and the protection of entitlements of Native Hawaiians, while enabling the building of a strong and healthy Hawaiian people and nation, recognized nationally and internationally,’ complements HCRA’s mission to provide education and instruction in Hawaiian culture through canoeing and to encourage, maintain and perpetuate authentic Hawaiian canoe racing in the State of Hawaiʻi,” said HCRA Race Commissioner Bo Campos.

Both Vierra and Campos noted that OHA’s grant makes it possible for HCRA to stage a well-run regatta, which happens to be on Vierra’s home island of Maui.

Vierra said Hanaka‘ō‘ō Beach Park, “is the only true open ocean regatta venue that can handle a race the size of the annual state championship. Veteran paddlers eagerly return to Maui to test their skill against their fellow paddlers and the ocean conditions.”

2017 marks the 67th annual HCRA State Championship, celebrating Hawai‘i’s team sport.