Channel Crossing Has Surprise Winner

The 36th Catalina Channel Crossing outrigger canoe race was as competitive as ever Sunday and not much separated the top nine-man teams in the race from Avalon Bay to Newport Dunes.

After the final lead had been exchanged the winner was a surprise: Team BC, as in British Columbia, as in Canada.

Usually, the winner hails from warmer climes.

“It’s a Polynesian sport, right,” said David Velisek, a paddler on the Team BC boat, “and we don’t have the depth of the paddling community in Canada that a place like Hawaii or Tahiti has. But we love doing it here, and it’s not so cold that we can’t do it all year around.”

Team BC, made up of paddlers from two Vancouver-based clubs, took control of the race at about the halfway point and won in 4 hours 6 minutes 27 seconds. The Hawaii Canoe and Kayak Team finished second in 4:08:07.

Saturday’s women’s race from Newport Beach to Catalina was won by Newport-based Offshore in 4:14:55. Defending champion Hui Nalu of Hawaii finished second in 4:15:56. Hui Wa’a won the coed race in 4:23:51.

A 19-and-under team from the Newport Aquatic Center won the unofficial youth event in 4:36:12 on Saturday. Newport Outrigger Canoe Club also had a 19-and-under team--actually 13 through 17 year olds--that finished in 4:58:58.

WATERSHED HEROES

Saturday is the 16th annual California Coastal Cleanup Day, but in Orange County not all of the volunteer beach-cleaning effort will be taking place on the coast. For the fourth consecutive year, Trails4All is sponsoring projects to clean up inland sites.

The trail-user group expects 1,100 volunteers at nine inland sites and aims to clean up debris that could wash down onto the beach or into the ocean. In 1997, Trails4All had 135 volunteers at five inland projects.

Trails4All cleanup sites this year range from Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park in Laguna Niguel and Centennial Park in Santa Ana to Seal Beach National Wildlife Refuge and the San Joaquin Marsh in Irvine.

Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. and the work will take place from 9 until noon. For more information: (714) 834-3136 or https://trails4all.org. For information on coastal cleanup sites: (949) 509-6684.