Shell Va'a from Tahiti once again dominated the Moloka'i Hoe men's championship canoe race.

Shell Va'a won the 41-mile race across the Kaiwi Channel for the fourth consecutive year today. It is the second longest streak in the 58-year history of the Moloka'i Hoe (Waikiki Surf Club won six in a row from 1958-63).

The Moloka'i Hoe is considered the world championship of long-distance outrigger canoe paddling for men's teams. Shell Va'a has won each of the last four in convincing fashion.

The only thing Shell Va'a didn't do yesterday was break the course record.
Its winning time was 4 hours, 40 minutes, 17 seconds — 1 minute, 42 seconds shy of the record it set last year, but still the second-fastest time in race history.

"The weather was not very good and the second team was still way back from us, so we are happy," Shell Va'a president Richel Moux said.

Team Primo from Hawai'i placed a distant second in 4:52:24. Still, it was the best showing by a Hawai'i-based club since 2005. Team Primo is a select crew of paddlers from O'ahu, Maui and California.

Tahiti teams had finished first and second in 2006, ¹07 and ¹08.

Today, Tahiti teams took three of the top four places: Paddling Connection was third in 4:57:51, and Erai Va'a was fourth in 5:02:15.

Hawai'i teams rounded out the top 10: Lanikai was fifth, followed in order by Outrigger, Team Livestrong, Hui Lanakila-1, Kailua, and Hui Lanakila-2.

A record 112 teams participated in the race.