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Early Saturday morning, a line of about 140 outrigger canoes stretching a half-mile will form in Kailua Bay for the first competition of the annual Queen Lili‘uokalani Outrigger Canoe Races. Women’s crews will paddle the canoes 18 miles south to Honaunau. Men’s teams will race the canoes back to Kailua Bay.
"When the horn sounds and the red flag goes down signaling the start of the race, the canoes shoot off like rockets," said Mike Atwood, who has helped organize the event for 28 years, the past 18 as race director. "Depending on the conditions, the fastest crews paddle more than 8 mph. Oahu’s Lanikai Canoe Club holds the current record for the race: 1 hour, 52 minutes, which their men’s team set in 2006."
A native of Northern California, Atwood came to Hawaii in 1970 to earn a journalism degree from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. That didn’t happen. But he wanted to stay in the islands, so, hearing jobs were plentiful in Kona, he moved there.
"I really got into surfing when I came to Hawaii," Atwood said. "One day I was surfing in Kona with a friend and saw outrigger canoe crews practicing. My friend’s dad was a paddling coach, and he asked if I wanted to try it. I said sure. That was 40 years ago, and I’ve been hooked on it ever since."
According to Atwood, paddling offers numerous benefits. First, there’s the physical workout, which requires use of the upper body, the legs and buttocks for balancing, and the abs to achieve the arm extension required to put the paddle in the proper position to propel the canoe forward. Equally rewarding are the opportunities to meet ocean athletes from all walks of life, to compete in races around the world and to experience the camaraderie of participating in a team sport.
"When everyone is in sync, the canoe glides fast and smooth in the water," Atwood said. "The job of the steersman in the back is to keep the canoe on course, so he does what he needs to do, but the other paddlers’ strokes should have the same rhythm. When the crew clicks, it’s like the canoe’s ‘engine’ is operating at its optimum. To have that speed and control on a highway as big as the ocean is exhilarating."
The Queen Lili‘uokalani Outrigger Canoe Races honor Hawaii’s last reigning monarch. She was born Sept. 2, 1838, so the event, now in its 41st year, is held on Labor Day weekend, which falls around her birthday.
As the story goes, Louis Kahanamoku, a member of Kona-based Kai Opua Canoe Club, and his wife, Mary Jane, cooked up the idea in their kitchen. Like his famous brother Duke, Kahanamoku was an avid water sportsman. He thought a long-distance race would help prepare Kai Opua’s paddlers for October’s grueling Molokai Hoe, which crosses the 38-mile Kaiwi Channel between Molokai and Oahu.
The couple prepared a proposal, Kai Opua’s board of directors reviewed and approved it, and the first Queen Lili‘uokalani race was held in September 1972. Eight men’s crews from Hawaii paddled in that competition, which went 13 miles from Kealakekua Bay to Kailua Bay. A women’s division was added the following year, and in 1975 the course was extended to 18 miles.
Today, 2,500 paddlers participate in what has become the largest outrigger canoe race in the world. This year’s competitors represent Japan, Tahiti, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Kai Opua still organizes the event, which now features several races, divisions, age groups and vessels (single-hull canoes, double-hull canoes, one- and two-person canoes, and stand-up paddleboards).
According to Atwood, the races showcase top competitors, a wide range of paddling techniques and inspiring displays of courage, perseverance, teamwork and physical and mental strength. He recalled the resounding cheers and applause that greeted blind men’s and women’s teams from California when they finished the 18-mile races a few years ago.
"Outrigger canoe paddling is a metaphor for life," Atwood said.
"Some days everything goes well. Other days the sea is choppy, the wind and currents are working against you and it seems the canoe isn’t moving at all. You learn from those challenges, remember the good times and know if you and your teammates keep working hard, you’re going to experience the thrill again."
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