State canoe regatta returning to Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park, providing a morale boost to still struggling Lahaina

When Kahana Canoe Club president Katie Austin thought about what it would mean for West Maui to host a statewide championship regatta nearly two years after the 2023 wildfire in Lahaina, she fought back tears.

“It’s absolutely monumental, especially regaining some sort of normalcy to battle the chaos that our community is still facing daily,” she said.

On Aug. 2, for the first time in eight years, Maui will host the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association’s annual state championship regatta at Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park, located near the Lahaina Civic Center. It is the only spot suitable on Maui to hold the championship regatta that requires 14 lanes.

The annual regatta rotates among the state’s six island associations, and for 2025, the site scheduled on its 2021-2026 racing calendar was West Maui.

But with the planned location for the event at Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park, just a few miles outside the Lahaina burn zone, state canoe officials were concerned about whether the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association would be able to host the event while West Maui was still recovering from the devastating 2023 wildfire.

But led by the enthusiasm of its three West-Maui based clubs, the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association told the state officials a resounding: “Yes, we can.”

Other than the Hoʻūlu Unity Gathering, a four-mile march that ended with a celebration in January of 2024, this will be the first major community event held in Lahaina since the wildfire.

More than 4,000 paddlers, including 700 or so from Maui, will compete during the 50 races of outrigger canoes at varying distances. The total attendance is expected to be between 8,000 to 10,000 with family, friends and spectators.

“The community on the west side is really happy that states is over here,” said Joey Tihada, the head coach of Napili Canoe Club, one of three West Maui clubs that will be leading the efforts to run the state regatta.

The state regatta will occur just six days before the two-year anniversary of the fire.

Tihada and his fellow coaches from Kahana and Lahaina canoe clubs said the timing is good, with just news of the state regatta giving the Maui paddling community and all of the west side a much needed morale boost.

“There was a big push to get states back to Maui, especially back to Lahaina,” said Kaili Moikeha, club manager for Hawaiian Canoe Club and the race director and race secretary for the association. “Collectively, we had all decided that it’s time for paddling to get back to what it was.”

While the Maui Interscholastic League surfing championships were held May 3 in the burn zone at Lahaina Harbor, only 300 people were invited to attend due to the sensitive location.

And there have been three other major sporting events in West Maui since the wildfire — the Maui Invitational men’s college basketball tournament at the Lahaina Civic Center in November 2024 and the PGA Tour’s tournament The Sentry in Kapalua each of the past two Januarys. But the state regatta is clearly different.

“We’ve had so much tourist influx that we would love to see … more of the local community come and celebrate with us and enjoy Lahaina with us,” said Rose Crichton, head coach for Lahaina Canoe Club.

“States” is the largest gathering of local canoe competitors in Hawai‘i and a yearly festival and celebration of the state sport.

Keone Ball, who is in his 11th year as the president of the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association, which is made up of nine local clubs, said the fact that the event will be back on Maui is a perfect way to end this season.

“I can remember when I was a kid, when school got done, I looked so forward to going to practice and having regatta day,” Ball said. “And just when the season came to an end, I was like, ‘oh, man,’ it was so disappointing. And then you look forward to it the next year. And even as an adult, I feel the same way, especially about states — states is special.”

Austin said it will be positive for the mental health of keiki. It also will support Maui-owned vendors and food trucks, as well as fill hotel rooms on the west side: “That is going to be a huge help for our community that’s still struggling.”

About 70% of the adults who were members of Kahana Canoe Club two years ago lost their homes in the fire. Austin said this year they only have one “uncles crew” among the adults, but “our keiki program is still going strong” with 45.

Ball and other Maui association officials knew the concern expressed by state officials was heartfelt.

“It was very touching because they were concerned about us, right? ‘Are you guys ready? Are you guys ready to host an event like this?’ ” Ball said.

Tihada said: “We had a meeting and then we decided during last season that we could do it. It gave us a year to get things ready.”

The hundreds of expected rental cars will be parked at the Lahaina Civic Center, with paddlers shuttled to the beach park.

Moikeha said about 50 volunteers, 35 or so from Maui, will do the officiating for the event. Ball said “a couple hundred” volunteers will be on the ground, but most of them will be Maui paddlers.

For off-island clubs, one big challenge is shipping their koa wood canoes, the only type allowed in the state regatta.

The event is largely paid for by the state association, although Maui will have a “minimal” expense, according to Moikeha.

On May 31, Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park will get a trial run as the site of the Dougie Tihada Regatta, which kicks off the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association season. The event is hosted by the Napili Canoe Club and named in honor of Joey Tihada’s late father.

On June 7, Kahana Canoe Club will host its Naleieha Regatta and June 28 Lahaina Canoe Club will host its Keiki O Maui Regatta, also both at Hanakaʻōʻō.

Crichton said Lahaina Canoe Club has grown tremendously over the past eight years, and is eager to be able to contribute more this year than it could in 2017.

“At the time we were very, very small,” Crichton said. “I think we had maybe about six adults and barely two kids crews. So we were really such a tiny club, we did what we could with the hands that we had.”

Now, that has changed, with the club currently at 175 members, including 60 keiki.

Crichton said she told the Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association: “We are going to be the boots on the ground for them: ‘Just let us know what you need.’ ”

For the state championships, Hawaiian Canoe Club veteran keiki coach Paul Luuwai said it will be just the third time in his 45-year paddling career that the Maui County association has had three automatic qualifying lanes to state.

Last year, with an eye to hosting the state event this year, the Maui association made a big push to register as many paddlers as possible to try to move up from the two qualifying lanes it had for the 14-lane state races. It worked. The association increased its numbers to 1,926 paddlers registered and competing at the end of last season, enough for the extra lane.

Scoring for each of the 50 races in the regatta is 15 points for first place, 13 for second, 12 for third, all the way down to 1 point for 14th place. There are four divisions that award club championships — the AAAA division is for clubs that enter 21 or more crews, AAA is for clubs with 13-20 crews, AA is for clubs with 7-12 crews, and the A division is for clubs with 6 or fewer crews.

The state docket also has added a manini (10-year-old and under division) that has boosted keiki paddlers participation across Maui County.

Hawaiian Canoe Club, based in Kahului Harbor, has won every Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association overall club title since the mid-1970s and will make a run at the state title again.

It already has 15 state club titles, won between 1999 and 2017, the last time the state regatta was held on the Valley Isle. Last season, Hawaiian was second to Lanikai of O‘ahu.

“We’re excited,” Luuwai said of being the host island. “You can save money, sleep in your own bed, home turf. All that stuff is a big deal for us.”

Last year, the Hawaiian Canoe Club had 420 registered paddlers and is at more than 325 currently this year with the usual late rush to register expected to push the club over the 400 mark again this summer.

Mayor Richard Bissen said Maui is open for business and ready to welcome the rest of the state.

“We look forward to welcoming to Maui precious koa canoes and paddling athletes from every island for this year’s championship,” Bissen said in an emailed statement. “More than a day of racing, it’s a celebration of our cultural history and traditions and highlights a sport that entire families from keiki to kupuna participate in.”

Moikeha said it is time to bring the regatta back to West Maui, but also “to facilitate that in a way where we’re still respectful of everything else that’s going on.”

She said the event has the support of Maui County and its Department of Parks and Recreation. 

“We’re hoping that all the little small pieces from everywhere else can come together so that we can get this up and going,” she said. “But, yeah, it’s been a long time coming.”

Maui County Hawaiian Canoe Association

2025 Regatta Season

Date.       Regatta.                       Host.               Site

May 31    Dougie Tihada               Napili               Hanakaʻōʻo Beach Park

June 7    Naleieha                       Kahana           Hanakaʻōʻō Beach Park

June 14  John Wilmington &        Na Kai Ewalu   Kahului Harbor

                William Boogie Wainui  

June 21   Moki Kalanikau            Kihei                Kahului Harbor

June 28  Keiki O Maui                Lahaina           Hanakaʻōʻo Beach Park

July 12   John M. Lake               Hawaiian         Kahului Harbor

July 19   Kamehameha                Wailea            Kahului Harbor

Aug. 2    HCRA State Championships                  Hanakaʻōʻo Beach Park