Points, Points, Points!!!
From: Joe Bober
Imua, We had a solid performance yesterday to close out the Ironman Series of racing. There were some very happy people stepping out of the Imua canoes as they told stories of each of their races. The main goal of this sport (as should be in life) is to have fun. And we did! We felt a little empty (and some would say cheated) at the end of the day, as we watched the perpetual trophy leave it's 3-year home with Imua. Dana Point did an awesome job in taking it home this year, and we should all congratulate them on their accomplishment. Make sure we show ourselves as gracious competitors who enjoyed the competition leading up to the final point. Yes, there was some confusion on how the points were to be counted, but that was not on Dana or anyone else in the race for the lead. They just showed up, entered boats, did their best, and enjoyed each race like we did. The points race for next year and beyond will just need to be better clarified by Kai Elua and we'll do our part to make sure that happens. We move on..... More importantly, I hope all of you realize how amazing we did this year! We won this trophy in the past years with point totals in the 60's and 70's, with our highest total for the season being 81. This year, we came into the race with 84 points and if I recall all of the Imua crews I saw marching up to the podium yesterday we probably earned around 100!!!! That is impressive, and is a huge accomplishment and team effort. The whole goal of pursuing this trophy is to build the ohana of our team, and the importance of EVERY crew and EVERY person on it. EVERY BOAT MATTERS, and every person contributed to that awesome talley of nearly 100 or more points. IMUA is a force from top to bottom and all of you make the difference in working towards this goal and any other we choose to pursue. I couldn't be prouder to be a member of this team. This Ironman Series of '08 has been are most successful yet. Enjoy it! Mahalo, -joe

Details, details... and some quotes to ponder.
From: Joe Bober
Imua Men & Women, I think Bill'o already covered the Avila race so no reason to cloud over his work. In case you missed his recap... It was hot! The San Diego State Champs are here! and Imua is ready to defend its' 3-time Ironman State Championship Trophy. Dana Point is fighting us shoulder to shoulder to the finish, and it will all come down to who gets the most points this weekend. I've talked to their Novice coach and Mens coach and they said we should be worried. I told them we are never scared of who's behind us! Use this week in practice to make sure your boats are rigged the way you want them, you have talked about hydrating during the race, you have a race plan, and more importantly a race goal! I will do my best to have crews set prior to Tuesday night practice so you can race in your crews. Almost everyone has confirmed their race status or spoke to me except for Don F., Jung, Scott A., and Per. So each of those guys please let me know now. And ladies, if you haven't confirmed with Heather then please do so now as well. We pretty much have every single person on the team racing this weekend which should make every crew the fastest it can possibly be, however I'm sure all of our competition can say the same too. This race brings out everyone, and demands the best from each of them. I haven't given you guys many quotes this year. I've been saving up till now. Here are a few to ponder as you prepare yourself for the coming race.... “I am a member of a team, and I rely on the team, I defer to it and sacrifice for it, because the team, not the individual, is the ultimate champion.” “I've worked too hard and too long to let anything stand in the way of my goals. I will not let my teammates down and I will not let myself down.” “Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.” “I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” Saturday morning, when you gather together as a crew, look each other in the eyes and somebody strike a match. Winning will always be more about attitude then it is about ability. Aloha, -joe

4 Kinds of Hot
From: Billo
It was just a shimmer on the horizon… the kind of distortion that makes thirsty men crawl the desert thinking that they found water only to dive into endless baking sand… that shimmer can only come for something HOT!!!! Oh and it was one HOT weekend! Race Fans, Avila Beach was smoking HOT. The first kind of hot was the drive up on the stop and go freeway. The second kind of hot was the record breaking heat in Avila – the hottest ever on record by 30 degrees. The third kind of hot was the way our crews ran on the water – can you say medals by the molten ton!!!! And then we had the heroic kind of hot – the reaching into a burning RV to save a teenage boy from a sure death – VERY HOT. However you can describe it, race fans, it was one HOT weekend. To jump to the heroic kind of HOT first – Our very own, always ready to lend a hand, Mr. Big Wave himself literally reached into a burning RV and pulled an unconscious boy to safety. He truly saved this kids life as the RV became fully engulfed in fames literally minutes later. Super hero’s come in all shapes and sizes but none will ever be bigger or stronger than Big Wave. And the great thing about Dave is that he can pull over, save a life, and still make his tee time. Just another HOT moment in the life of a Super Hero. Nice!!! Nice and HOT… so I think you got the picture that it was one hot, Hot, HOT drive and one hot day at the beach… The only place to “escape” the heat was to be on the water – but it was just as hot there! Imua started the day nice and hot with the Novice crew crossing the line first – that’s right – first over the line, first overall!!! Our novice crews all did awesome – in fact they were all so fast that they were back in a flash… hardly had we cooled our feet from cheering them off when we had to race back across the desert hot sands to welcome them back. And then we place 6 crews on the water for the women/ coed race. This race brought a new kind of hot in the heat of a race. We had two of our coed crews paired with husband and wife combo’s (and a fiancé couple) helmed by two top steerwomen – blood sisters at that!!! You can only imagine the pre-race chatter between these two crews – late into the night the two opposing warriors in my tent were shooting the subtle digs. Now it was race time and it was ON!!!! But it was our first women’s crew that was 4th over the line… our coed crews battled neck and neck. And the finishes were all crowd pleasers. The women’s race had quite the finish and our crews added many medals and many perpetual trophy points to the tally. And then the both men’s crews took off… remember how it gets hotter as the day progresses. Well the men’s race was the HOTTEST yet. We (yes I was in this race) had a great HOT run. After the last turn, we headed into winds of Dante, what a HOT dry smack in the face. But we persevered, we pressed on and we finished hard. Both the men’s crews medaled. And the perpetual tally grew. After one baking hot awards ceremony – where I swear every other crew on the podium was IMUA – the clank of Imua medals could be heard all over Avila. Now don’t quote me here folks – but the bleary minded count back in camp appears to have IMUA one point in the lead… And then we had one small, quiet, alcohol free party at the campground… wait that was the bible study group I stumbled upon by accident. The campground rocked with parties from one end to the other – and INTERESTING – the best one was in the cul-d-sac. HMMMM, the cul-d-sac was all populated by Imuans - interesting. For more details check out the attached… naaaa, you’ll have to show up next year if you really want to know happens when you mix the winningest club, great ohana, a few beers, great tunes and – oh yeah – a whole lot’ta HOT. Keep it that way. Imua, I’ll see you on the beach!!! Billo

Keeping it Hot in MDR!
From: Debbie Dierkes
Aloha Imua, If I wasn't part of the hottest team in SCORA I would need a hot iron to press out the wrinkles & kinks from the crazy washing machine on Saturday. No worries though, Imua is keeping it hot and we'll be fresh off the line come this Saturday in Ventura. A quick recap of the days winnings are as follows: Novice Men - Spec - 2nd (2pts) Novice Men - Open - 4th Women - Open - 1st (3pts) Women - Sr. Master - 1st (3pts) Women - Golden Master - 3rd (1pt) Co-ed - Open - 2nd (2pts) Co-ed - Master - 1st (3pts) Co-ed - Master - 3rd (1pt) Men - Spec - 2nd (2pts) Men - Bradley - 1st (3pts) Men - Golden Master - 2nd (2pts) Woohoo, that's a total of 22 points! Can you hear the sizzle? And, that's a lot of beer mugs gang! If we ever get tired of paddling, we could open our own bar. Or maybe we already own Little Knight? Congratulations to our coaches and everyone on the team! I've been hearing a lot of "I don't like competition" from folks outside of Imua. I love paddling with my friends and the challenge of improving my skills. The way I see it, my teammates bring out the best in me. Our teammates inspire us in many ways to take our game to the next level and any success we have as a paddlers belongs to the them too. In turn we inspire others. This exchange of energy between us is the spark that ignites results like the ones we had Saturday. And we all get to be friends and have fun together on the beach! The highlight of my day was when the Open Co-ed passed us, the Sr. Master Women, on the last leg in the ocean. Of course, we don't like to be passed, but when it's your own team, it's all good and when you look up to see your daughter in seat one, it's awesome! What a great crew, Maddie, Michelle V, Julie Way, Mike M, Don & Mauricio, the energy off your boat was motivating, congratulations on a great race. And kudos to the Sr. Master women I paddled with, they fought a strong battle with Kahakai on one side and MDR on the other side with steely determination all the way to the last mark in the harbor. Not once did you let up and I'm proud to have been a part of your team. A big round of applause to the Imua SCORA volunteers! Our very own Cathy V is in charge of the central So. Cal area and helping her unload the SCORA van to set up PA system was Kathy Carter, Mary Trumble and Michele Early. Kathy & Michele then went over to Registration to help Caren Thompson. Mary Trumble (appointed by Bobby, go figure . . . ha, I wish I had that figure) was out on the Safety Boat, with Bobby, for the men's race. Miss V reports that these fantastic folks went above and beyond the call of duty! Marina OCC was very appreciative and very thankful for the help. It's great to know that Imua is doing their share to help make the races go smoothly and I must say, with such a great group of beautiful women, you make us look good too. Thank you all! Mothers Beach is a special boat unloading/loading challenge of it's own, so an extra big thank you to Scott for driving the trailer! Thank you Mary Theresa for the pictures, they are always great to see, no matter if you nap in between or not. Thank you to the MWtE, Bobby & Steve, for your constant care of our racing gear. Thank you to everyone who has remembered their rigging dates and shown up and on time to help out this year. We were done in an hour last Sunday and once you get going, it can be an enjoyable time on the beach with your teammates . . . yet again ;) IMUA! IMUA! IMUA! Keep up the great work team! Mahalo, Debbie D

Crystal Pier Update
From: Debbie Dierkes - 05/13/2008
Aloha again Imua, Congratulations to Heather & Joe! What an incredible set of crews you put together for our race last weekend! Spirits were high, the energy focused and the team was hot! It was wonderful to have everyone together on the beach and out on the water paddling toward a common goal! We were the force to be reckoned with and we backed it up in every division. If you're counting (and I know most of you are), the unofficial point count towards the Perpetual Trophy is at 19. What a great way to kick off the season! I hope you're all beaming from all we accomplished this weekend. Thank you Scott Murdoch for towing the boats!!! Thank you to the teammates who showed up to help unload/rig boats and to those of you stayed to reverse the process at the end of the day. There was a lot of help at our race site too. Thank you to everyone who helped lug the race jerseys back and forth from my car and our race site. Thank you to the teammates that brought pop-ups and food. Thank you to Wave for selling t-shirts and bringing in extra money for the team! Thank you Jen and Denise for keeping us legal! And a big thank you to the teammates who stayed and cleaned up our race site. It looked awesome and as you read in an earlier email, it made a great impression on Hanohano! And MwtE, thank you for all that you do to keep our boats in racing condition! Next up - RIG RUN! - in Santa Barbara. You can view the flyer here http://www.kanaia.org/rigrun08.html and here http://www.kanaia.org/rigrun.html. The list of no is now familiar to you all, no dogs permitted on beach, no alcohol, no glass, no bar-b-ques, no stakes for canopy tent(how would that work in sand anyway?), no vendors, no overnight camping on the beach or in cars or red mini-vans in the parking lot. Let's respect Ka Nai'a OCC and all the work they put into securing a permit and putting on an awesome race. And how about the Novice and their coaches! What an awesome job our newest members did on Saturday! Our Novice men crossed the line first and the women took 3rd in the Bradley division. Congratulations to all the Novice! Sometimes the crew numbers don't work out and I want to say a special thanks to Laura and Kathleen for being such great teammates and sports. Congratulations to the Novice Coaches, Dora and Bobby. I'm sure you're both still beaming with pride! Also Steve Burke sent me a great link with Cheance's recap. It's a good read, however Oceanside Sr. Master women did not take third too. That was Imua, thank you! And yes, SCORA has been contacted on the "little mistakes" that always show up on the posted results. The best part of the article is a paragraph that highlights Dennis & Brent "1st Spec, 2nd overall was from Imua- I find it worth mentioning here that the stern of this crew was Brent Campbell, Dennis Campbell's son! The legacy continues.. For those of you who know Dennis it is extra special to see him beaming with pride over Brent's accomplishments in paddling, and for him to be able to pass along the torch- so to speak. Congrats to both father and son. This is the 2nd father-son combo of SCORA notoriety-Al Ching and Danny have been on the radar for many a year." Read on at http://notes.socaloutrigger.org/2008/05/11/hanohano-crystal-pier-ironman-race--continued.aspx . We're all proud of both Dennis and Brent! Mahalo again to all of Imua for a great day at the races! Debbie D

Crystal Pier Race
From: Debbie Dierkes - 05/05/2008
Aloha Imua, The race season is upon us and we are ready to rock and roll! Be at the race site this Saturday at 6:00 AM to unload canoes and rig. The race flyer is to large to attach so please check it out on our website at http://www.imuaocc.com/ and remember you can always go to the SCORA website http://www.socaloutrigger.org/ for all the latest updates and race flyers. If this does not work for you please email me and I'll send you the flyer directly. Potluck - Yes, we will have a grill fired up and ready to go. Please feel free to bring your favorite breakfast and after race grub to cook up and share. STRENGTH TECHNIQUE HEART We know about STRENGTH, we've been paddling off the winter tires and building the summertime buff for weeks now. We all know about TECHNIQUE and you don't need to hear anymore from me, well, at least not until I'm perfect and I wouldn't hold your breath on that. How about a word on HEART? HEART comes from you! We all make it happen by being good teammates. We're there for each other at 6 AM on race day to prepare our equipment, we're there for each other to load the canoes at the end of a long race day and we're there for each other when we show up for scheduled rigging days. We respect each other and work at celebrating our differences through understanding that each of us brings a unique element to the whole. While racing, we stay focused on the task at hand and support each other all the way to the finish line. Working together keeps the boat up and running. And it keeps the team moving forward to our goals. Most of you would like to see us win the Perpetual Trophy again this year. No sugar coating, it will not be handed to us, but it is possible with the right attitudes and team work. Lets give it our all by showing up on the beach Saturday (6am) ready to go the extra mile and do whatever it takes to make it happen. Let's see the Imua ohana shine! The List of NO! Alcohol - Please be aware that as of January 2008 the City of San Diego has a new city ordinance - No Alcohol on the beach. The ticket is $250.00. Glass on the beach is another big NO! Our host teams could lose their permits due to this problem! I can't even begin to explain how hard they work to secure race sites for us. Let's honor them by being respectful of this simple request and know we'll be able to come back to race next year. NO GLASS ON THE BEACH! Also, no dogs and no smoking! A big thank you to all of our teammates who have helped prepare for this season! The equipment is ready, the dues are collected, the waivers are signed and the rigging list is complete. We have a great looking jersey and an opportunity to order more great clothing from Patagonia. Our new website is up, we have Clif as our first sponsor this year and our SCORA officials are in place. Our coaches have worked hard and worked us. The new paddles are in the mail. Many thanks again to Bobby, Steve, Jen, Denise, Kathy C, Wave, Heather, Dora, Joe, Billo, Dennis, Scott M, Corry, Ruben, Andy, Elaine, Jim G, Jim Perry, Jim Picquelle, Nikki Nus, Stephen C, Cathy W, Cathy V, Stephanie, Mary, Beth, Scott Burrows, Kamalu, Willie, Deena and Maddie. Thank you to all of Imua for helping out with the equipment and the beach clean up! Bring it and keep it hot Imua! Woohoo! Debbie D

Boat Blessing
From: Debbie Dierkes - 04/24/2008
We will begin setting up at 9:30 AM and the Boat Blessing will begin at 10:00. Everyone is welcome; please bring something to share according to your last name: A thru K – Muffins, bagels or breakfast bread L thru R – Fruit S thru Z – Juice, coffee Jerseys & t-shirts will be available for purchase. Corporate Challenge Raffle Tickets & Packets will be available too

Kick-Off Luau 2008
From: Debbie Dierkes - 04/22/2008
5:00 – 10:00 at Rick & Lysanne Sebastian’s. The main course, pork, chicken, rice and macaroni salad will be provided. Please bring your choice of drink & a dish to share according to your last name: A thru L - Dessert M thru Z – Appetizer At 7:30 enjoy our live entertainment performed by The Polynesian Paradise Dancers. Our 2008 Jerseys are here! And will be available for purchase at the Luau. The cost - $25.00 each – COD. In addition to jerseys there will be Imua t-shirts, Imua visors by Big Wave Dave and Imua backpacks by Josh for sale, also COD. Check out our new Corporate Challenge Raffle Tickets – Pick yours up and let’s start selling those babies! Corporate Challenge Packets will also be available.

Ho'ike 2008
From: Debbie Dierkes - 03/25/2008
Aloha Imua, Randy Chang blessed our boats last year and will be doing so again this year. He performs a wonderful ceremony while taking time to enlighten us by sharing some of Hawaii's traditions and customs. Randy's Haulau and their annual ho'ike is this Saturday, March 29 at 7:00 pm and this is their fundraiser which keeps Randy's Haulau open. It sounds like another great opportunity to enjoy the Hawaiian culture and learn more about their traditions! Mahalo, Debbie Wikipedia Translations: A halau is Hawaiian word meaning a school, academy, or group. Literally, the word means "a branch from which many leaves grow." Today a halau usually describes a hula school. A common Hawaiian adage is "?A?ohe pau ka ike i kau halau," which means "Don't think that all wisdom resides in your halau." A ho'ike is an exhibition of Hawaiian songs and hula.

Submit News

Archived News