Click on the cover to see the digitized edition

Na Wahine O Ke Kai
Molokai Hoe
Harrison 'Beanie' Lono Heen
What is tradition?
Paddling Scholarship
SoCal Ocean Racing
Another Dam Race
Canadian National Sprint Champs
Keeping your muscles limber
Canoe surfing challenge

"It was really rough and sloppy, just a lot of stuff coming left-to-right, right-to-left. Lucky the current and wind was pushing us the whole way."
- Molokai Hoe

On the cover Harrison 'Beanie' Lono Heen

2012 IVF World Outrigger Sprint Due Dates
The 2012 IVF World Outrigger Sprint Championships is August 11 thru 15, 2012 in Calgary, Canada. An intent to participate is due October 31, 2011. Information submitted will be used to help in the planning and organization of the Hawaii trials, which will be held on Sunday, January 15 at Keehi Lagoon. The intent to participate fee is $100.00 per Club/Team and $10.00 for each V1 paddler. Trial registration deadline is November 30 with a fee of $30.00 per paddler/person. Late trial registration fee $50.00 per paddler/person.
After the Hawaii Trails, the Hawaii area coordinator will notify each club/team or individual of the results and final payment. The final registration fee is due January 31. Only those who qualify for Hawaii's allotted lanes will be notified. It is mandatory that all Hawaii clubs, teams and paddlers wear the Hawaii Racing Jersey. Hawaii Delegation T-shirts are recommended.
Final registration fee is $60.00 per paddler plus Hawaii Racing Jersey and delegation tee shirt for $45.00.
All forms and payments should be sent to: Luana Froiseth
791 Sunset Ave
Honolulu, Hawaii 96816
Email: LuanaFroiseth@AOL.com
or phone 808-732-2639(H) or 808-330-4774.
Make all payments to: HCRA – World Sprints. All payments are non- refundable.

What is tradition?

Canoe Associations statewide should consider adopting strip-plank koa canoes which have many advantages over canoes made from a single koa log:
1.) Scarcity of 45' koa logs from which a racing canoe can be built.
The DLNR on the Big Island is overwhelmed with requests from canoe clubs for such a log. The DLNR welcomes the idea of strip koa canoes.
2.) Cost to retrieve a log from the forest and shipping to neighbor islands is around $6000+. The cost of construction is an additional $60,000+. A 45' log with a 4' diameter weighs 9 tons - yes, 18,000 lbs. The finished canoe weighs 400 lbs.
3.) Time to carve a canoe may take several years. Time to build a strip-plank koa may only take a month.
4.) Small clubs would be able to afford a koa canoe.
5.) With more koa canoes visible in the public eye, more pressure can be put on the DLNR to make logs available.
6.) A more pronounced and visible effort on our part to further the knowledge, traditions, and culture of the sport.
7.) Strip-plank outrigger canoe, Wa'a humu, is "Traditional".

A Kalai Wa'a who designs and builds a competitive koa canoe from a log, has to know what his ultimate design will be prior to construction. Likewise, the same Kalai Wa'a who designs and builds a competitive koa strip-plank canoe has to know the same. If his end result is a competitive racing canoe, it doesn't matter what methodology he implements to achieve it. He has proven he understands what it takes to build a competitive racing canoe. Moreover, if he only knows one methodology, he can easily apply that knowledge to be applicable to the other. Thus, the art will continue to be perpetuated. If builders only know how to build it from a log, once they all pass over, the art is lost. The scarcity of 45' koa logs promotes this inevitability.
On the subject of unlimited design, it remains our obligation today to continue what our ancestors practiced yesterday. They had no restrictions on design other than meeting the ocean conditions a specific canoe was to endure. It was the ocean that dictated design. To be otherwise, tradition and culture is compromised and stifled.

Composite materials vs. wood canoes:
Hawaii should promote canoe construction utilizing materials used by our ancestors. Hawaii may accommodate canoes made of composite materials, but Hawaii should emphasize canoes built of wood. The traditional art is building with wood. This is another consideration for adopting strip-plank koa or other wood canoes. More koa and canoes of other woods would be on the water bringing higher recognition to both culture and sport. This in turn could make koa trees more available to clubs statewide.

Should there be a weight minimum? Absolutely not. Build it of koa, bring it and race it as a koa, period. Build it of any other wood, race it as non-koa - wood is understood.
Due to lack of information, most in the sport today have been brainwashed in to believing the current spec canoe is traditional and the ultimate 'Hawaiian' canoe. It is not. Hawaiian culture has been in a holding pattern since the inception of the current hull specs. Kupuna looking down upon us are expecting us to do the right thing.

by Bill Rosehill
Born and raised in Kailua, Oahu. Was mentored in the art of koa outrigger canoe design and construction by several kupuna, Hawaiian and Tahitian, beginning 1975 in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.