The Leeward Kai Canoe Club will make history at Sunday's Na Wahine O Ke Kai race.

The club is not expected to be among the top 10, but that doesn't really matter to it.

"When we cross that finish line, we're going to be the first ones ever from Leeward Kai, and that's an honor," paddler Tracie Carreiro said. "We know we're not going to win, but this is still something special we're doing."

Leeward Kai - a club based at Nanakuli Beach Park - has been paddling since 1967. The Na Wahine O Ke Kai race was created in 1979.

But until this year, Leeward Kai's women had never participated in the 41-mile race across the Kaiwi Channel.

"Back in the 1970s, we had the women to do it," said Edie Van Gieson, who founded the club with her husband Henry. "But there was no (women's) race back then. And as the years went by, paddlers come and go. The timing was never right where we had enough women to do it until now."

The Na Wahine O Ke Kai is considered the world championship of long-distance outrigger canoe racing for women's teams.

Christine Kekaula-Van Gieson has been paddling with Leeward Kai for 13 years. Sunday will be her first Na Wahine O Ke Kai experience.

"I guess there was never enough women to do it before, and there wasn't really a coaching staff for the women," she said. "All these years, I would just paddle regatta, and then not worry about distance.

"It's super-exciting to be a part of it now. And once we found out we were going to be the first for this club, that made it even more exciting."

Leeward Kai was able to field a crew this year thanks in part to a neighboring club - Na Keiki O Ka Mo'i.

Several paddlers from Ka Mo'i joined forces with Leeward Kai for the long-distance season this year.

"We didn't have a coach for distance at Ka Mo'i, and since Leeward Kai is the next closest (club), we called them," Carreiro said. "We weren't aware at all that they had never done it before. We were taken aback when we found out."

Members of the inaugural Leeward Kai crew will be Carreiro, Kekaula-Van Gieson, Michelle Lee Johnson, Gail Kiaha, Deedee Kila, Kris Lindquist, Mikala Pieper, Blossom Pontes, Kelly Roberts and Brandee Williams.

Another paddler, Maureen Kleaver, was training with the team, but recently found out she was pregnant.

All of the women are from the Nanakuli/Wai'anae area. Some of them are considered novice paddlers, others are eligible for the masters 40-older division.

"We're not like a Hui Lanakila or (Waikiki) Beach Boys," Kekaula-Van Gieson said. "We'll leave it up to those teams to win the channel. We're still new to this, so we just want to be competitive and get our name out there."

Alfred Van Gieson, one of Leeward Kai's top male paddlers and the grandson of the club's founders, agreed to coach the women.

"This is my first year coaching them, so it's like we're all learning together," he said. "Everybody I talk to is surprised that the club never did it before because Leeward Kai has been around for so long. I wish we could have done this earlier, but at least we got it going, and hopefully it leads to something bigger."

He described the crew as "an interesting group."

"We have all shapes and sizes, and they're all various ages," he said. "But the thing I enjoy most is that they don't look at each other in that way. They all look at each other as paddlers, teammates. It's amazing, there's no fighting or anything with this group. They all get along and they're all positive. That's why this is going to be a fun race no matter what happens."

Alfred said he hopes for the crew to finish "in the top 50 percent," which would mean somewhere in the top 35.

"This is just the start," he said. "Hopefully we can build from it."

The Ka Mo'i women have already tentatively agreed to help the Leeward Kai women's program again in future years.

"I think we can paddle with Ka Mo'i for regattas and then come back here (to Leeward Kai) for distance," Carreiro said.

Several businesses have agreed to help sponsor the crew, including Grace Pacific, O'ahu Sealcoating, Aloha Trucking and Island Topsoil.

Edie Van Gieson served as race official for the first 29 Na Wahine O Ke Kai races, but she will stay on the Leeward Kai escort boat this year.

"I don't care where they finish - just finish safely," she said.

The crew is also dedicating the race to Henry Van Gieson, the club founder who died in 1995.