The Outrigger Canoe Club men turned a rare training session off Windward O'ahu into a familiar result.

Outrigger won the Kailua Bay Men's Iron Challenge in dominating fashion yesterday.

Outrigger crews took the top two places. The first crew finished with a winning time of 2 hours, 1 minute, 12 seconds. The second crew came in second in 2:04:08.

More than 50 crews participated in the race. The 14-mile course traversed off Windward O'ahu, with the start and finish at Kailua Beach.

"We tried to keep the crews somewhat even, with the idea of using this race as a way to test guys out," said Jimmy Austin, who steered Outrigger's first crew. "We usually don't come out to this side of the island, so it was good practice. It was just so rough out there."

The crews faced challenging conditions, including howling onshore winds of 25 to 35 miles per hour, and wind-swells of 4 to 6 feet.

"Just getting out of (Kailua Beach) was tough," Austin said. "When we got out to Mokapu, there were waves out the front that were easily 6 to 7 feet."

The canoes had to race parallel to shore for most of the course, which meant the winds and waves were hitting them from the side.

Austin and Kapono Brown — the paddlers in the back of the canoe — had to lean to the left throughout the course to keep the canoe balanced in the turbulent conditions.

"It was rocky, but not too bad," Brown said. "We were both on the left side about 90, 95 percent of the time to hold it down. And then the other guys did a good job keeping the speed up."

Members of the winning Outrigger crew were Scott Gamble, Craig Gamble, Mike Kane, Deane Salter, Brown and Austin.

Outrigger has won all three long-distance races it has entered this month.

Members of the Outrigger second crew were Simeon Ke-Paloma, Will Estes, Noah Gibson, Kealakai Hussey, Kulani Jones and Billy Lawson.

"We were trying to catch (the first crew), but they were pretty quick," Lawson said. "It was definitely a challenge, especially with the conditions."

Outrigger's two crews had a total of 12 paddlers yesterday, and only nine of them can be selected to race in the Moloka'i Hoe in October.

"Coach (John Puakea) has his work cut out for him figuring this out," Austin said.

Kailua placed third with a time of 2:04:54.

"We battled Outrigger's second crew the whole way," said Kailua's Donovan Leandro. "That (Outrigger) first crew is definitely the team to beat out of (Hawai'i). But there's still time for everybody to improve. This was great practice for Moloka'i."

There was also a 9-mile "short" course for masters and novice crews. Lanikai's 40-older crew had the fastest time in the short course at 1:18:16.

Yesterday's race followed an "iron" format, meaning there were no relief changes for the six paddlers in the canoe.

Women's crews will paddle today in the Dad Center Long Distance Race. It will start at Kailua Beach around 8:30 a.m. and finish at Outrigger Canoe Club around 11:30 a.m.