It was a rough day for paddlers at Waimanalo Beach yesterday.

It's also been a rough season so far for opponents of the Lanikai Canoe Club.

Lanikai took advantage of the rough conditions to win the Waimanalo Regatta in convincing fashion yesterday.

Lanikai won 13 of the 39 races, and finished with a season-high 108 points. Kailua won seven races, and finished a distant second with 79 points. Outrigger had its best showing of the season, scoring 72 to place third.

"Waimanalo is a little rougher than Kailua and Lanikai, but it wasn't to our disadvantage," Lanikai head coach Dave Smith said. "We're still used to the water on this side of the island."

The O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association — the state's largest organization — has held four regattas this season, and Lanikai has won all four.

"I think our strength this year is strength throughout," Smith said. "We're just real consistent at scoring points throughout the day and that's the key."

The Lanikai youth crews, for example, won just two races (boys 12 and boys 18), but still amassed 28 points — more than any other youth program.

Lanikai also received a dominating performance from its novice crews. Of the five novice races in the regatta, Lanikai won four (men's novice B, men's novice A, women's novice B and women's novice A) and placed second in the other (mixed novice B).

"I explain to them from the very beginning how the points work and how it's not just about your crew," Lanikai men's novice coach Mike Smith said. "If they screw up, they're screwing up everybody in the club from the 12 (year old) boys to the 60 (year old) women. That way, they understand how important they are to the club."

At the same time, Lanikai is preparing its novice men to become a part of the vaunted open men's program.

"That's the idea," Mike Smith said. "We try to teach (the novices) the same stroke and get them to use the same technique as the open men. Not all of them will stick with it, but of the ones that do, we want them ready to step in."

The Lanikai open men once again proved their worth yesterday, winning the prestigious men's senior race.

The crew of Kekoa Bruhn, Mike Judd, Ka'ai Bruhn, Aaron Creps, George Leslie and Zane Chess completed the 1 1/2-mile course in 11 minutes, 48.64 seconds to beat Outrigger by 11 seconds.

"This is not your typical regatta conditions," Judd said. "We caught some (wave) bumps and that always helps.

"There's so many good men's crews this year, you never know what's going to happen. It keeps us ready every week."

Hui Lanakila placed fourth in the overall club standings, but got an awesome performance from its open women's crews.

Hui Lanakila won the women's freshman, sophomore, junior, senior and open-4 races.

The crew of Jessie Eames, Mikala Bradley, Jaimie Kinard, Arlene Holzman, Jane McKee and Katie Slocumb won the women's senior race with a time of 13:51.17. Outrigger placed second at 14:22.89.

"We're always trying new personnel and we're working on a new stroke rate, so there's always room for improvement," Bradley said.

Leeward Kai received a strong showing from its youth paddlers to win the AA division for medium-sized clubs with 28 points. The host club, Waimanalo, placed second. 'Anuenue won the A division for small clubs.

The next OHCRA event is the Walter J. Macfarlane Regatta at Waikiki Beach on July 4.

Reach Dayton Morinaga at dmorinaga@honoluluadvertiser.com.