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Date: Mar 26, 06
From: Written by Jack Christie & Photo by Louise Christi
Club: Georgia Straight Newspaper - 27-Oct-2005
Title: Reprint of Georgia Straight Article from the October 2005 Issue
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Can you tell an ama from an iako? Or a huli from a hut and hoe? If
so, you must be Hawaiian, or at least an outrigger-canoe paddler.
Hawaii calls to outrigger clubs around the world whose members train
year-round for two annual world competitions: the Molokai Na Wahine
for women in September, and the Molokai Hoe for men each October.
An outrigger canoe is shaped like a traditional canoe and fitted
with a spray skirt that keeps water from flooding the boat. Its
design includes parallel spars, or iakos, lashed across the
gunwales. They extend sideways and are affixed to an outrigger, or
an ama. Outriggers provide the stability necessary for canoes to
travel great distances and in a variety of ocean conditions.
Although the exact origin of outrigger canoes is lost in the mists
of Polynesian history, theyve been around for about 3,000 years.
Whether shaped from wood or fibreglass, outrigger canoes are hefty.
A typical six-person competition outrigger can top 15 metres in
length and weigh as much as 200 kilograms. They have to be sturdy to
handle big-wave days. And they need a strong crew to power them
through the swells.
Not that youre likely to find much surf in Burrard Inlet, where
paddlers from three clubsthe Jericho Outrigger Club and False Creek
Racing Canoe Club in Vancouver, plus Burnabys Lotus Sports Club
practise year-round. Still, the open water in the Strait of Georgia
often offers up enough chop to test the mettle of local crews,
particularly in winter. Although men can count on powering their way
through whatever comes along, the challenge for women paddlers who
lack similar upper-body strength is how to finesse their canoes
through the swells. Fortunately, nature has endowed their muscles
with greater endurance than mens.
Outrigger-canoe paddling is the official state sport of Hawaii.
Earlier this month, the Georgia Straight journeyed to the Hawaiian
island of Molokai to cover the mens race, an event that drew 107
outrigger teams from places as diverse as Italy and Hong Kong.
Canada was represented by three teams: two from the Jericho
Outrigger Club and a mixed team of paddlers from throughout B.C.
For Paul McNamara, helmsman in the lead canoe from Jericho, this was
his 12th year in the race. Talk about commitment. Ill come every
year until Im dead. Im even going to bring my baby daughter next
year, he told the Straight before a prerace briefing session for
team captains.
Race director Michael A. Tongg told the assembled captains exactly
what they hoped to hear: forecasts were for two- to four-metre
swells coming at the canoes from three directions, with winds and
tides working against them. Tongg warned that it would be like
a washing machine out there. And thats just the way outrigger
paddlers like it. The gnarlier the conditions, the bigger the
swells. The bigger the swells, the more surfing and, consequently,
less paddling that crews have to do.
Just surviving the 68-kilometre course in the Kaiwi Channel between
Molokai and the island of Oahu, one of the most treacherous bodies
of water in the Pacific Ocean, would be a challenge for many of the
paddlers. Honolulu-based Tongg is an experienced salt who has taken
part in 30 such crossings and won the race six times. When asked to
describe the feeling of riding down the face of a big swell in an
outrigger, he recounted that it was like being on a roller
coaster. You can glide for 150 to 250 yards at top speed. Its one
of the most exhilarating experiences that paddlers can have.
Riding swells gives paddlers arms a much-needed chance to rest. Not
that the six-person teams have to spend the entire race in their
outriggers. Escort boats that accompany each canoe carry three
replacement paddlers. Exchanges typically occur every 15 minutes or
so during a race. In order to accomplish this, paddlers swim between
the canoes and escort boats, hauling themselves aboard in an effort
that can be more exhausting than the act of paddling itself.
On race morning, McNamara summed up his expectations with a sentence
and a smile. The channel is going to get really rough and its
going to beat the hell out of us is what its going to do. He
defined his task of steering the outrigger as trying to keep the
canoe running over little bumps and finding swells that give us
extra speed. Then away we go. In a massive understatement, he
estimated that after six hours on the water, our team should be
really tired by the time we haul the canoe up onto Waikiki Beach.
From past experience, McNamara knew it would take paddlers at least
a week to fully recover from the effort.
Gabriel Somjen captained the senior masters team from Jericho, all
of whom were aged 50 or older. Like a lot of canoe paddlers, he
started in dragon boats before switching to outriggers. Its a
little easier on your back, the 20-year veteran explained, and you
get to go to nice places. That was patently evident as we chatted
at sunrise on a beach called Hale O Lono (Home of the Lord). His
teammates were busily putting the final rigging touches on their
canoe, lashing spare paddles to the iakos and duct-taping a Canadian
flag onto the stern. A lot of how well we do depends on the ocean.
The ocean is our friend, but it can also turn into our enemy really
quickly, so we want to be at one with it. The key to outrigger
racing is to feel the spirit of the ocean through its movements.
That helps you make a fast crossing.
Perhaps what helps most is the feeling of ohana, or family spirit,
shared among the paddlers. Ohana is certainly what we have on our
team, Somjen claimed, with obvious pride. Were a lot like family.
We love each other and sometimes fight, too. In the boat, we have to
keep the positive spirit. Thats very important.
A combination of fitnessthese paddlers typically train three to
four times a week throughout the yearand ohana helped power Somjen
and the seniors masters crew to a second-place finish in their
division and 51st place overall. McNamara and crew finished 22nd, an
improvement over last year and good enough to retain bragging rights
as the fastest of the 21 canoes entered by West Coast clubs, from
San Diego to Vancouver. Watch for them to be back in the waters off
Jericho in November to start all over again. Thats ohana. Thats
outrigger.
ACCESS: To learn a little Hawaiian and get a winter workout, too,
contact the Jericho Outrigger Canoe Club
(www.jerichooutrigger.com/), the False Creek Racing Canoe Club
(www.fcrcc.com/), or the Lotus Sports Club (www.lotussports.com/).
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