The makahiki season in Waikiki officially ended Sunday with 30 canoe teams racing a quarter-mile to a finish line of flags in the middle of Ala Wai Canal at the 22nd annual Ala Wai Challenge.

Spectators, local and tourist, lined the canal as professional and novice canoe clubs competed in women's, men's and mixed team races. The event marks the end of the traditional Hawaiian makahiki season, which lasts from October to February.

Many of those competing Sunday have been participating for as long as the race has been around.

"Twenty-two years," said Richard "Babe" Bell, of the 'Anuenue Canoe Club. "This is one of the biggest turnouts I've seen."

For the first time, Bell's team was mixed, with three men and three women. For 21 years, it was a male team.

"We all work hard. Once you get in that canoe, you paddle your heart out," he said.

Bell's team, sponsored by Park Shore Waikiki Hotel, raced against three all-male teams in its first heat because there weren't enough mixed groups to hold another full race for them. Bell's team came in second.

"It's a really big confidence boost going into the other races," he said.

This year's event honored big-wave surfing legends Peter Cole and Fred Van Dyke. Both pioneered some of the big-wave-riding contests on the North Shore, and continue to surf and participate in civic and community events, said Jeff Apaka, of the Waikiki Community Center, which puts on the Ala Wai Challenge each year.

Both were honored with oil-paint portraits by artist Mark Brown.

Apaka has organized the race for 15 years and said it has become a tradition to honor Hawai'i's "water legends" during the opening ceremony.

First established in 1985, the Ala Wai Challenge has been a community service and fundraising event for the Waikiki Community Center. The proceeds go toward programs and services for families, children and seniors living, working and visiting Waikiki, Apaka said.

"We are looking to expand, and start a new afterschool program for the youth. We'd like to have something on our grounds after A-plus (the afterschool program) because we have a pretty open area. There are a lot of latchkey children that walk home from Waikiki schools, and they're home alone until their parents get home late at night," Apaka said.

Proceeds from Sunday's event will help support the creation of that new afterschool program, he said.

Many who participated in Sunday's event did so just for pure enjoyment.

Raoul "Pops" Cahurio, of Kailua, has been competing in the event for the past four years but has been paddling for 20.

"We've had a few first-place finishes in the past," Cahurio said of his team sponsored by the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. "We were eliminated in the final heat last year, so we're hoping for a better outcome."

Cahurio said he paddles year-round just to keep active.

"I'm 65. This keeps me in shape," he said.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.