Leighton Look, a popular and successful competitor/coach in the sport of outrigger canoe paddling, died on Monday. He was 52.

Look was a longtime member of the Hui Lanakila Canoe Club.

He was critically injured during a diving accident in October 2004, and was paralyzed from the neck down ever since.

"Being an active person, it was basically torture for him to live that way," said his brother, Les. "He's free now. He can go to Hamilton Island, Moloka'i, Tahiti, Catalina ... he can go to any of those places to paddle when ever he wants now."

Memorial services have yet to be finalized. A scattering of his ashes is scheduled for Sept. 13 at Maunalua Bay at 10 a.m.

Look was one of the original members of Hui Lanakila when the club was created in 1977. He served various stints as club president and head coach, and was always known as a standout steersman.

On July 4, 2004, Look steered Hui Lanakila to an upset victory in the prestigious men's senior race at the Walter J. Macfarlane Regatta at Waikiki Beach.

Mel Pu'u, an avid waterman who was in that victorious crew with Look, described it as "the biggest, most exciting win I ever experienced."

"I have a picture on my wall at my house of that day," Pu'u said. "We're about to drink champagne (out of the first-place trophy) and there's Leighton on the side with a big smile on his face."

In his last canoe race, Look steered Hui Lanakila's masters crew to a second-place finish in the 40-older division of the 2004 Moloka'i Hoe.

"He was like the glue of our crew," longtime teammate Jim Hewitt said. "We put that crew together over the course of a couple of years, and it was all built around Leighton being the steersman."

Look was also known as an innovative shaper of canoes and canoe paddles.

He was primarily responsible for constructing a koa canoe for Hui Lanakila in the late 1990s, and named it "Tarita" after one of his daughters. It remains one of the top koa canoes in the state.

"It was state of the art," Pu'u said. "Everybody wanted to make their boat like that after they saw what he did."

Hewitt said Look — and the koa canoe — played an influential role in Hui Lanakila growing from a small club to a state power in the early 2000s.

Hui Lanakila is considered one of the top current clubs in the state for adult paddlers.

"That canoe was like a magnet — there was such a resurgence in the club once it came out," Hewitt said. "And the way Leighton ran things when he was coaching, it wasn't like other clubs. He was kind of a reluctant leader, but he was so charismatic."

Les Look owns and operates Makana Ali'i paddles, and he and Leighton shaped many of the canoe paddles that are now used by thousands of paddlers. Leighton was also a self-employed commercial fisherman.

"What a neat guy he was," teammate Tomas Schlotman said. "He was very smart, not just in the water. He could do so many things."

Greg Poole, another longtime teammate, added: "He was just so respected by so many people in the sport."

But Look is perhaps best known for being the happy face of Hui Lanakila.

"When I think about Leighton, I think about him laughing, because it seemed like that's what he was doing all the time," Hewitt said. "It was a full-body laugh. He was just such a happy guy all the time."

Look is survived by parents Harold and Janet Look, daughters Noelani Ah Min, Leigh-Taina Look and Tarita Keohokalole-Look, and siblings Laura Schlesinger, Leland Look and Les Look.