Kua Nalu Canoe Club

Great racing at the Kula Anela this weekend… awesome course and solid results.
Thank you Tamalpais Outrigger Canoe Club for being amazing hosts again.
From the santacruzsentinel.com:

OUTRIGGER
Kula Anela Race: Santa Cruz's Kua Nalu Canoe Club competed in the 2026 Kula Anela outrigger canoe race on Saturday and all three of its competing teams earned medals.
The Kula Anela race celebrated its 31st anniversary this year, with a grueling
16-mile course that extended from Fort Baker under the Marin side of the Golden Gate Bridge, north along the rugged coastline, then back under the Golden Gate, around Angel Island and then back to Fort Baker.
Kua Nalu Open men (ages 18 and over) took third place with a crew of Yohei Rosen, Dave Waynar, James Keeble, Mike Rubin, Craig Muirhead and Jared Floodman.
Kua Nalu Master Co-Ed (ages 50 and over) took second place in its division.
The crew consisted of: Nicole Walder, Samantha Garcia, Heidi Laber, Tai Boutell, Sal Contreras and Mike Irete.
Kua Nalu Master men (ages 40 and over) took second place with a crew of Forrest Monroy, Dave Loust-alot, Matt Muirhead, Kyle Samuels, John Hedrick and Brent Culver. Finishing third in the division was another club from Santa Cruz, OSC.
Kua Nalu will compete at the U.S. Championships in Catalina, as well as the Pailolo Challenge in Hawaii, later in September

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When the Gorge winds aren’t happening, KN grabs a few cold ones and does 9 holes of chaos.

Kua Nalu was so stoked for the opportunity to participate in Shared Adventures Day on the Beach, and help take amazing folks with special needs and their families out on the ocean. It is the best day of paddling all year! Thanks to Outrigger Santa Cruz, and Hi'ilani 'O Ke Kai Outrigger Cultural Center, Pu Pu O Hawai'i... And great pics Shmuel Thaler Photographer...nicely captured the joy and good times everyone shared together.

Awesome 2026 Santa Cruz Paddle Classic, and huge shout out to our Kua Nalu paddlers Rob Gibbs, Yohei Rosen and Tai Boutell who all medaled. A new course record for Mr. Gibbs is pretty dang cool, as well. Congrats to all who participated.

Soquel’s Rob Gibbs and Santa Cruz’s Yohei Rosen, who compete for Kua Nalu Canoe Club in Santa Cruz, medaled in the Long Course OC1 division at the 2026 Santa Cruz Paddle Classic at Capitola Beach on Sunday.
Read more below

Double Gold in Monterey! Kua Nalu competed in the Monterey Hoe Wa'a outrigger canoe racing event at Del Monte Beach in Monterey and earned two first place finishes and a fourth.
Senior Master Men won gold in its division, barely edging out the competition in an exciting beach sprint finish.
https://www.facebook.com/reel/26945796551778241
Our Senior Master Co-Ed also earned gold, and the Kua Nalu Open Men crossed the line in 4th.
Huge Mahalo to Hi'ilani 'O Ke Kai Outrigger Cultural Center for another outstanding event.

May 16 was a busy day today for Kua Nalu, participating in outrigger canoe races in two different oceans over 2,500 miles apart, and the Santa Cruz club came up big.

On the island of Kaui, Kua Nalu men participated in the Kauai World Challenge, an annual 32-mile, 4-leg relay race for OC1 (one-person outrigger canoes). Kua Nalu had two teams competing, an Open team (age 20-40) with Robby Gibbs and Craig Muirhead, and a Kupuna team (age 60+) with Matt Muirhead and Kyle Samuels. The course went from Kapa'a to Hanama'ulu to Kalapakī to Po'ipū and finished at Port Allen. The Kupuna team of Matt and Kyle earned an amazing 2nd Place finish, with the Open team of Craig and Robby achieving an impressive 7th place overall.

In the Santa Barbara “Rig Run” Kua Nalu won 1st Place overall in the Co-Ed division and also in its Senior Master Co-Ed age group (ages 50 and over). The six-person crew finished the 12 mile course in 1 hour 28 minutes and 18 seconds.
Next up, Kua Nalu will be competing on Saturday, May 23 in Monterey at the annual Monterey Hoe Wa'a long-distance outrigger canoe race at Del Mar Beach.

Great work today at Santa Barbara Rig Run!
Kua Nalu earned 1st place overall Coed as well as Senior Master Coed. Dolphin pod es**rt to the finish was a nice touch 🤙🏼 congrats!

Kua Nalu Canoe Club had a great time paddling in the 2026 Pig Run put on by Outrigger Santa Cruz. We had a solid 6 person co Ed crew and a bunch of OC1 paddlers make the journey. The festivities at the Moss Landing Yacht Club are next level!

Congrats to Rob Gibbs, recently honored with the 2025 Kua Nalu Ka Pouhana recognition. This award is given to the person who embodies the spirit of Kua Nalu. Who shows leadership, guidance and support – who has the qualities to provide other paddlers with encouragement and drive to become better paddlers, better people themselves.

Its visible symbol is a hand built koa paddle. Looking forward to 2026, Rob!