Moloka'i Five-O is in the record book for Joseph "Nappy" Napoleon.

Assisted by a crew of family members, Napoleon completed the Bud Light Moloka'i Hoe for an unprecedented 50th consecutive time yesterday.

Napoleon's 'Anuenue Canoe Club completed the 41-mile course from Hale O Lono Harbor, Moloka'i, to Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Waikiki, in 5 hours, 55 minutes, 55 seconds. It finished 56th out of 111 crews.

"Of course, I was dreaming that we would get lucky and win this thing," said Napoleon, 66. "But it really doesn't matter where we finished. I'm still happy because we did this one as a family."

The Moloka'i Hoe is considered the world championship of long-distance outrigger canoe paddling for men's teams.

Tahiti's Shell Va'a won the race in record time for the second consecutive year.

Napoleon was on six championship crews in his younger days, but he said the goal this year was different.

"This one was about having fun as a family, and I think we did that," he said. "I said before, there's some (Moloka'i Hoe) races you remember more than the others. Now, I cannot forget this one."

Napoleon's crew yesterday consisted of sons Joey, Aaron, Darryn, David and Jonah, and grandsons Josh, Sepa and Koa.

The sons and grandsons alternated paddling throughout the course; Napoleon steered the entire 41 miles.

"We just went along for the ride," David said. "He was in control back there."

It is the first time in Napoleon's 50 crossings of the Kaiwi Channel that he got to compete with all five of his sons. Jonah, the youngest son at 31, completed the Moloka'i Hoe for the first time yesterday.

"Everybody did their job," Napoleon said. "Nobody was yelling or complaining."

Napoleon described the conditions across the Kaiwi Channel as "sloppy."

"You could get some (wave) bumps, but it was hard," he said.

As the 'Anuenue canoe made its way to Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Napoleon steered it on a wave. When it was announced to the spectators that it was Napoleon and his family on the wave, the thousands on the beach — including the crews that finished ahead of 'Anuenue — erupted in cheers.

"That was unreal, so emotional," David said. "That's when we knew this was for him."

Even Napoleon's contemporaries were in awe.

Dennis Sallas, a member of the Team Bradley/Waimanalo crew that won the masters 55-older division yesterday, said: "He's a legend. Nobody is going to do that. It's just amazing to think about it because a lot of us have paddled a long time, but not consecutively all these years. You take a year off here and there for whatever reason. But not him. He's incredible."

Anona Napoleon, Nappy's wife and the mother of their five sons, helped coach the team from an escort boat.

"We made it, that's the main thing," she said. "But this was a good one. We'll remember it for a long time."

A banquet commemorating Napoleon's 50th Moloka'i Hoe is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday at the Kapi'olani Community College's 'Ohi'a Room. Tickets are $50, and Napoleon said the money will be used to purchase a koa canoe for his club.

For more information, visit www.anuenuecanoeclub.org.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.