Newport Aquatic Center hosts last of races in inaugural Va’a California Series

Tahitian paddlers took the lead in the last and longest race of the Va’a California Series this weekend, with Steeve Teihotaata taking first in the 21-mile sprint between Long Beach and Newport Beach and second in the overall series.

The Va’a California Series is meant for outrigger paddlers of V1 canoes, which are rudderless and lack conventional foot pedals. The sport came about from Hawaii and other Polynesian countries and made its way to California in 1959.

Redondo Beach paddler Danny Ching was unable to attend the final race but still came out on top in the point series, which accounted for race rankings in the previous two races that preceded Saturday’s. Teihotaata finished with a time of two hours and 48 minutes. Newport Beach local Will Reichenstein came out third in the point series and eighth in the final race as the first non-Tahitian paddler to cross the finish line with a time of two hours and 58 minutes.

From right, Steeve Teihotaata and his brother, Kevin Kouider, embrace after finishing Va’a California Series race in Newport Beach on Saturday.

(Drew A. Kelley)

In the open women’s division, Tahitian paddler Iloha Eychenne emerged victorious with three hours and 15 minutes, though Newport Aquatic Center paddler Lynn Milosz was named the champion of the masters’ women’s division of the competition because of her overall point rankings.

“I knew that it was the first time ... we had a lot of Tahitians, no? In the race, from our country and I knew all those guys. I knew they would come and stay in a group and mark each other and see how the levels go and try if they can push in halfway to the finish,” Teihotaata said in an interview recorded by the Newport Aquatic Center after the race. “I knew already that it was going to happen like this. At the time I went to the start line, I saw them already in the same group.”

Steeve Teihotaata of Tahiti leads in Va’a California Series race from Long Beach to Newport Harbor race on Saturday.

(Drew A. Kelley)

Teihotaata said there were only two options to win the race on Saturday: either stay in the group, recover as well as he could and then try to make the gap at a key time, or push as hard as he could from the start.

Fifty-two racers were out on the water, 18 of them from Tahiti. Others hailed from up and down California, Hawaii, the East Coast and the Pacific Northwest. Kelly Schwartz, race director and outrigger coach over at the Newport Aquatic Center, confirmed Monday the plan was to bring the race series back again next year as a new annual tradition.

Competitors in Va’a California’s Long Beach to Newport Harbor race arrive at the Newport Aquatic Center in Newport Beach on Saturday.

(Drew A. Kelley)