Lanakila Is Off to Catalina, but This Is No Cruise

Paddling an outrigger canoe is like walking on water. That's the feeling among members of the Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club.

This weekend, the Redondo Beach-based club will compete in the annual Catalina Channel Crossing U.S. Championships and expectations are high, as they always are one of the top outrigger canoe clubs in the state.

Paddlers spent a few hours Thursday sanding the bottom of their boats with water and fine sandpaper in preparation for the 31-mile race. Like a swimmer shaving his head and legs, less resistance means more speed— the better to walk on water.

"This is the one we're always trying to win," said Danny Ching, paddler and steersman. "This is the one we're gunning for."

Both the women and men have won the race a couple times over the years, with the men still holding the record for the fastest time. The teams have finished second in the race multiple times against about 70 teams from around the world, but mostly from California.

This weekend's race across the Catalina Channel is considered the state championships, with the world championships being held in Molokai, Hawaii.

The Lanakila Outrigger Canoe Club is made up of members from mostly the South Bay. There are about 100 active adults in the club, and another 60 or so who participate periodically throughout the season.

The club also has a junior program with about 100 to 150 kids paddling throughout the season. Ching, 27, is the current world champion for one-man outrigger canoe racing, having won this season's race in Molokai.

Ching's father Al founded the Lanakila club 40 years ago on the shores of Redondo Beach. At 71, he's still considered one of the best steersman around.

Just last weekend, Al Ching raced in Kona, Hawaii, in the 55 and up division and finished second. In this weekend's race to Catalina, Al Ching will be competing in the 45 and up division.

"The adrenaline keeps you going, keeps you young," Al Ching said, while he and fellow paddlers turned over 500 pound boats for sanding.

The race to Catalina Island begins out of Newport Beach Harbor and is a nine-person race. Since the canoes are made for six paddlers, that means three paddlers swap places in the middle of the ocean during the race as fast as they can and as often as necessary, using an escort boat.

This weekend's race caps off a season that began in the spring with the Ironman races up and down the California coast, which lead into regatta season and the junior program.

Typically, outrigger canoe clubs host Ironman races as a fundraiser for their clubs. However, the launch site the Lanakila paddlers share with the Nahoa Outrigger Canoe Club at the end of Marine Way is too steep to host any races, club members said.

The City of Redondo Beach is in the process of redeveloping its harbor areas and it's unclear whether or not the canoe clubs will remain where they have been for the past 40 years. The clubs want to stay, and want approval to upgrade their meager shed facilities as well. They would also like a modern launching site.

The City Council won't decide on the matter of rezoning the parcel of land known as Moonstone Park until next spring, about the time the Ironman races start up again.

Outrigger Canoe races aren't much of a spectator sport, since the race itself begins a few miles offshore. The sport is usually the exclusive property of the participants, who say once you start you never want to stop.

"The ocean just runs in our blood," said Andrea Conrad, who has been an outrigger canoe paddler for 20 years.

Conrad met her husband through the sport and have three children, two of whom love to paddle.

"The one thing about paddling is that you get hooked," Conrad said. "I love the competitiveness. I think one common thread that everyone has is the love of the ocean. We love to compete. We love the 'aloha' spirit."

A boat consists of a stoker setting the pace in the front, a steersman in back and the strongest paddlers in the middle. Usually, it doesn't matter how strong your crew is.

"Your steersperson is finding the line in the current and finding the most direct route. You're only as good as your steersperson," Conrad said.

Besides the camaraderie and competition, paddlers, not unlike fishermen, love to tell stories, such as a wild race in Oceanside last year and the annual World Championship race in Molokai where water conditions can get especially gnarly.

"Sometimes there's no waves, no swell, and it's all about who has the bigger muscles," Conrad said.

Dave Quinn has been a paddler for five months. At 61, Quinn said he became interested in outrigger canoe paddling when he noticed paddlers older than him looking much younger than their age.

Quinn said outrigger canoe paddling is about "the mesh of personalities" in the boat as well as communication and teamwork. So far, he's enjoying all of it.

"I feel like a kid again," Quinn said.

The women paddlers race to Catalina Island on Saturday morning. The men race back to Newport Beach on Sunday morning. There's also a coed division that races on Sunday.