It took a while, but Tapa Worthington finally got his breakthrough paddling victory yesterday.

Worthington won the one-person canoe (OC-1) division of the Kanaka Ikaika State Championship yesterday. It was the first win of his career.

"Hey, I'll take it," said Worthington, 33. "I've never won a Kanaka Ikaika race in all my years of paddling, so this is a good one."

Worthington completed the 24-mile course from Lanikai Beach to Kaimana Beach in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 48 seconds.

Worthington edged runner-up Kaeo'okalani Abbey by 13 seconds, thanks to fortuitous positioning on a final wave outside of Kaimana Beach.

"We were kind of on the same wave and I went left and saw the reef stick up right in front of him," Worthington said. "I just put my head down after that and kept going and I didn't see him so I knew he got caught (on the reef)."

Abbey, 21, was also seeking a breakthrough win.

"To come that close and lose it at the end like that is disappointing," Abbey said. "That patch of reef kind of blocked me and dinged my rudder. But that's how it goes in racing sometimes."

Aaron Napoleon placed third, and Keali'i Pa'iaina was fourth.

Worthington said Napoleon had the early lead off Windward O'ahu, then Abbey got in front off Hawai'i Kai.

"It was a good battle," Worthington said. "We were all surfing, going back and forth."

Several of the state's top paddlers did not enter yesterday's race, including Karel Tresnak Jr., Kai Bartlett and Manny Kulukulualani.

"A lot of the top guys didn't come out, but there was still a lot of really good paddlers," Worthington said. "It really helps my confidence."

Arlene Holzman edged Jessie Eames by seven seconds to win the women's OC-1 division.

"She was in front, then I was in front ... I just caught a little baby (wave) bump at the very end," Holzman said. "They were predicting really high winds, so I'm glad they didn't come. It was manageable and fun."

Zsolt Szadovski won the surfski division with a time of 2:18:55. Steve Kelly was a distant second in 2:22:03.

"Really good size (waves), nothing crazy," Szadovski said. "A push all the way here, so it was fun."

Szadovski is originally from Hungary, but moved to Kailua last year. He has dominated the surfski division all season, and is hoping to contend at the Moloka'i world championship race next month.

More than 140 paddlers participated in yesterday's race, which included an 8-mile "short course" division.

The OC-1 Moloka'i world championship race is scheduled for April 19; the surfski Moloka'i world championship race is scheduled for May 17.

LONG COURSE (24 MILES)

MALE SURFSKI

Overall: 1, Zsolt Szadovszki, 2:18:55. 2, Steve Kelly, 2:22:03. 3, Geoff Graf, 2:26:36. 18-younger: 1, Taylor Hopkins, 2:49:29. 19-29: 1, Kirk Ziegler, 2:42:03. 30-39: 1, Chris Ball, 2:28:54. 40-49: 1, Ray Connelly, 2:28:48. 50-59: 1, Bill Meheula, 2:50:20.

FEMALE SURFSKI

Overall: 1, Maggie Twigg-Smith, 2:49:31.

MALE OC-1

Overall: 1, Tapa Worthington, 2:26:48. 2, Kaeo'okalani Abbey, 2:27:01. 3, Aaron Napoleon, 2:27:37. 18-younger: 1, Kekoa Kau, 2:42:29. 19-29: 1, Carlton Helm, 2:32:29. 2, William Lawson, 2:33:31. 3, Tyson Rodrigues, 2:34:13. 30-39: 1, Kealii Pa'iaina, 2:29:32. 2, Kekoa Bruhn, 2:31:25. 3, Aaron Creps, 2:32:24. 40-49: 1, Jim Foti, 2:35:41. 2, John Foti, 2:40:32. 3, Tim Twigg-Smith, 2:41:31. 50-59: 1, Eckhart Diestel, 2:49:55. 2, Walter Hamasaki, 2:51:37. 3, Fred Delos Santos, 2:53:31.

FEMALE OC-1

Overall: 1, Arlene Holzman, 2:50:23. 2, Jessie Eames, 2:50:30. 3, Jane McKee, 2:56:57. 19-29: 1, Lori Nakamura, 3:00:39. 30-39: 1, Anna Mathisen, 3:15:14. 2, Janelle Jinbo, 3:22:19. 40-49: 1, Mary Smolenski, 2:58:20. 50-59: 1, Catherine Bender, 3:36:24.

SHORT COURSE (8 MILES)

MALE SURFSKI

Overall: 1, Bob Rocheleau, 1:09:47. 2, Jimmy Kincaid, 1:12:58. 3, Mark Buck, 1:16:59. 18-younger: 1, Trenton Dos Santos-Tam, 1:20:54. 50-59: 1, Blane Chong, 1:18:18. 2, Phil Gumbert, 1:21:36.

FEMALE SURFSKI

Overall: 1, Rachel Orange, 1:35:03.

MALE OC-1

Overall: 1, Jason Ignacio, 1:07:22. 2, Kekama Akana, 1:08:31. 3, Kalei Kahookele, 1:09:23. 18-younger: 1, Rusty Goings, 1:15:56. 2, Jantzen Darval-Chang, 1:20:31. 3, Bobby Pratt, 1:21:53. 19-29: 1, Kaihe Chong, 1:13:41. 2, Julian Wicker, 1:14:46. 3, Adam Treinen-Aea, 1:15:50. 30-39: 1, Gavin Hanoa, 1:12:40. 2, Franco Arango, 1:15:06. 3, Dave Randall, 1:18:26. 40-49: 1, Kyle Morioka, 1:16:26. 2, Mike Sur, 1:19:09. 3, Scott Erwin, 1:19:37. 50-59: 1, Lance Anderson, 1:17:43. 2, Jeff Tario, 1:22:22. 3, Peter Roney, 1:23:01. 60-older: 1, Jeff Metzger, 1:19:18. 2, Dennis Campbell, 1:25:21. 3, Kaai Fernandez, 1:29:32.

FEMALE OC-1

Overall: 1, Denise Darval-Chang, 1:25:02. 2, Savannah McCue, 1:26:31. 3, Shien-Lu Stokesbury, 1:29:06. 19-29: 1, Madison Minkel, 1:30:20. 2, Claire Townsend, 1:31:37. 3, Anella Borges, 1:32:12. 30-39: 1, Andrea Wilson-Ignacio, 1:31:00. 2, Jennifer Polcer, 1:33:39. 3, Kuulei McGee, 1:34:57. 40-49: 1, Laura Lapa, 1:29:14. 50-59: 1, Kathleen McGovern-Hopkins, 1:46:46.

OC-2

Female: 1, Richline Fong/Stella McNicoll, 1:37:10. 2, Joelle Foti/Tanya Hall, 1:40:47. Male: 1, Billy Rees/Mike Tosaki, 1:20:24. Mixed: 1, Katie Slocumb/Pat Von, 1:14:43. 2, Laola Lake-Aea/Kamuela Aea, 1:14:55. 3, Laura Birse/Loki Lii, 1:16:20.

STAND-UP PADDLE

Stock board: 1, Robert Stehlik, 1:19:39. 2, Ray Shiraishi, 1:33:59. Unlimited board: 1, Jeff Chang, 1:19:24. 2, James Martindale, 1:22:59. 3, Herbie Titcomb, 1:30:40.