In a race where the ocean is said to be the great equalizer, even the waves off Waikiki seemed to favor O'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association juggernaut Lanikai.

The club, undefeated in sanctioned regattas so far this season, scored 126 points to win the AAA (large canoe) division. The point total was the highest in the 66 year history of the storied regatta, named after the late president of the Outrigger Canoe Club, Walter J. Macfarlane.

(Lanikai finished fourth overall in the unsanctioned Leeward Kai Father's Day Regatta, in which Lanikai and several other club's dropped out due to dangerous surf conditions.)

Host Outrigger scored 81 to place second, followed by Kailua (65), Hui Nalu (40) and Healani (26).

Hui Lanakila topped the AA (medium club) division with 16 points, followed by New Hope and Leeward Kai, who tied for second with 14 points each.

Kai Oni (8) won the A (small club) division. Anuenue and Waikiki Surf Club tied for second with six points each.

The Macfarlane Regatta, the oldest continuous canoe race in Hawai'i, is the only sanctioned surf regatta. Staged off of Waikiki Beach, the race features an out and back course that allows skilled (and lucky) crews to catch waves on the return leg back to the beach.

With limited starting space, individual crews had to qualify for the seven spots available for each event. Most of the events allow for a open steersman position, allowing teams to take advantage of their most experienced hands.

For some, like Honolulu Pearl's Al Streck, the Macfarlane is the highlight of the regatta season.

"This is a steersman's race, said Streck, who steered in all seven events his club entered.

"This is the race that as a kid you always look forward to being a part of," Streck said. "This is where it all started. This is where you go up against the best and most experienced steersmen. For a lot of us, nothing else matters."

And, in the end, it hardly mattered that Pearl, a A-Division club, scored just one point (on a fourth-place finish by its Men's Novice A crew).

"I'm proud that we were able to qualify as many crews as we did and it's an honor to be a part of it," Streck said.

Lane position had nearly as much to do with a team's success or failure as the skill of its steersman — as Pearl's Raynell Wilson discovered in the Women's Open 4 race.

Boats in the first three lanes tended to benefit from the biggest and most active surf. Those on the outer lanes had less of an advantage.

The Pearl women were assigned Lane 7. And while they competed well through the first half of the race, holding fifth place at the turn, they fell back on the return as other teams surfed ahead.

"There were no waves to catch where we were," Wilson said. "He had to paddle harder to try and keep up, but it was dead water."

The vibe on the shore was electric, with scores of curious camcorder-armed tourists joining the usual throng of canoe club regulars on the narrow stretch of sand.

With just one race — next week's John D. Kaupiko Regatta hosted by Hui Nalu — left on the schedule before the OHCRA championships on July 20, paddlers and coaches seemed to enjoy the relaxed, festive atmosphere of the day.

"We came to have fun," said Hui Nalu president Bruce Blankenfeld. "It's faster overall and the waves help to equalize things. That makes it fun. I love this race."

On a day when it often felt like Lanikai versus The Field, Hui Nalu came away with painfully close victories in the Boys 13, Boys 16, Women's Novice A, and Mixed Masters 40 races. The club's combined margin of victory in the four races was less than six seconds.

Outrigger recorded impressive wins in the Boys 14, Men Novice B, Men Novice A, Men Senior, Women's Masters (60), and Women's Golden Masters (55) races. They cemented their second-place overall finish with, appropriately, a run of valuable second-place place efforts in the Men's Masters (40), Senior Men's Masters (50), Women's Open 4, Men's Open Four and Mixed Masters (40) events.

New Hope's 14 points yesterday equaled the club's season total in the three previous sanctioned regattas this season. (The club scored 27 points in the Leeward Kai Regatta thanks to mass withdrawals from other clubs.)

"We're pleasantly surprised and blessed," said head coach Blane Gaison. "Unlike most clubs, we're a ministry first and a canoe club second. We know we're going to face the giants like Lanikai, Outrigger and Hui Lanakila every day."

New Hope's breakthrough day featured a heartbreaking .22-second loss to Hui Nalu in the Women's Novice A race, and another second-place finish in Women's Novice B.

Still, the day belonged once again to Lanikai, which grabbed the lead from the start and never looked back.

The Lanikai crew of Gigi Abcarian, Heather Foti, Avery Walsh, Taylor Hackney, Paige Hackney and steersman John Foti narrowly edged out Outrigger — 1:50.27 to 1:50.83 — to take the Girls 12 race.

The club followed that up with a win over Hui Nalu in the Boys 12. Lanikai's winning crew for that event was made up of Scott Freitas, Alakai Freitas, Colin McCreary, Hunter Wasson, Renesh Wainscoat and Cameron Miscovich.

Lanikai earned 14 wins and nine second-place finishes in the remaining 36 races