With an emphasis on club, the Lanikai Canoe Club won the O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association Championship Regatta yesterday.

Lanikai received contributions from all of its age groups to score 79 points and win the O'ahu championship for the second time in three years (Lanikai and Kailua tied for the O'ahu title in 2004).

"Our formula this year has been the numbers and the consistency," Lanikai head coach Kalani Irvine said. "We have a lot of paddlers, but the key is to be consistent. I think that was the case today."

More than 1,500 paddlers representing 17 clubs participated in yesterday's 39-race regatta at Ke'ehi Lagoon.

Kailua, the 2005 O'ahu champion, placed second with 74 points.

"Lanikai was scoring points all day," Kailua head coach Kawai Mahoe said. "They definitely deserve to be the O'ahu champs today because they beat us. No doubt about it."

Lanikai won just five races yesterday, but it consistently scored points throughout the day (the top four canoes in each race receive points).

For example, Lanikai won just one youth race (girls 14-younger), but it scored 26 points in the 13 youth races. Kailua's strong youth crews scored 27 points.

"That was key because we countered Kailua's strength," Irvine said. "The last couple of weeks they would jump to an early lead on us behind their kids. But our kids kept up this week and we stayed in it the rest of the day."

Lanikai's women then provided victories in the novice B and freshman races.

In past years, Lanikai was known for its strong youth and men's programs. This year, the women have been providing some crucial points.

"Our women's program was down for a few years and it's slowly starting to get back," Lanikai women's coach David Smith said. "We're still not where we want to be, but at least we're able to help the club here and there."

The Lanikai men scored a win in the junior race, and the masters program provided a victory in the men's 60-older race.

"Our men are not as strong as years past, but we're still scoring points," Irvine said. "That's a good sign for us as a club because we're not just relying on one group."

And unlike last year, Lanikai will take its canoe to the state championship regatta on Aug. 5 at Ke'ehi Lagoon. The club did not participate in last year's state regatta because its canoe was not approved by race officials. The canoe has since been refurbished to comply with the rules.

"Winning O'ahus is a great thing, but to be a state champion is extra special," Irvine said. "Hopefully, some of our kids will get to experience that this year."

The final standings of yesterday's regatta were indicative of a strong season for the top four clubs. Hui Nalu finished third with 68, and Outrigger was fourth with 66, meaning 13 points separated the top four clubs.

"We've beaten each other up all year long," Mahoe said. "Every week, every race, it was so hard to figure out who was going to win."

Kailua won six races yesterday. The women novice A and women 50-older crews led the way for Kailua by capping undefeated OHCRA seasons.

The women novice A crew of Jennifer Perelli, Tayte Brock, Sonia Garcia, Lisa Hyde, Brynn Leake and Kahala Titcomb won their race by six seconds over Lanikai.

"There's a lot of pressure in that we don't want to let the club down and we don't want to let each other down," Leake said. "But we have a good energy and we're always looking to get points for the club."

Mike Willett, coach of the crew, added: "They have talent overall, which is always a good start. But they work well together, and I tell them it's magical, sometimes, how they make it work."

Kailua's women 50-older crew has been strong all season, and yesterday was no exception as the crew of Donna Kohls, Chrystal Hogue, Donna Meyer, Kathy Erwin, Vivian Griffin and Carleen Ornellas won their race by 10 seconds.

Hui Nalu won seven races, and Outrigger won six. Both clubs started slow this season, but were able to stay near Lanikai and Kailua all day yesterday.

"Today was an excellent showing for us," Hui Nalu head coach Reney Ching said. "Because we have such a large membership, we had to try and let everybody paddle during the season. But as we went along, we started to figure things out, and we feel like we have some nice momentum going into states."

The top four OHCRA crews from each race division were awarded a lane for the state regatta (those standings were based on overall results for the entire season).

Hui Lanakila dominated the A division for small clubs once again yesterday, scoring 47 points. Keahiakahoe was second with 24, and Waikiki Surf Club third with 23.

Hui Lanakila tied Hui Nalu for the regatta-high with seven race wins, including a sweep of the prestigious senior races.

The women's senior crew of Arlene Holzman, Gail Grabowsky, Jane McKee, Jessie Eames, Sarah Van DeVanter and Katie Slocumb won the 1 1/2-mile race by an impressive 30 seconds.

After placing second in the opening regatta of the season, Hui Lanakila has won the women's senior race each of the past six regattas.

"We had some people missing earlier in the season, but we've been working together ever since," Slocumb said. "I think it's just about spending more time together."

Making it more impressive, Hui Lanakila has won with a different combination of women each week.

"We always mix things up in practice," Slocumb said. "So we're used to making it work no matter who's in the (canoe)."

The Hui Lanakila men's senior crew of Raven Aipa, Mike Hangai, Chris Tseu, Norm Bradley, Manny Kulukulualani and Scott Hendricks blazed to a winning time of 11 minutes, 4.96 seconds to beat Outrigger by eight seconds in the 1 1/2-mile race.

"We looked outside and saw Outrigger right there; we looked inside and saw Lanikai right there," Kulukulualani said. "So we knew we couldn't let up."

The Hui Lanakila women also won the sophomore, junior and 40-older races. The Hui Lanakila men added victories in the sophomore and junior races.

As proof of the close competition in each race at the OHCRA regattas this year, only three crews went undefeated: Kailua's women novice A, Kailua's women 50-older, and Hui Lanakila's women juniors.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.