Discovering stability
Outrigger canoes have made their way from Polynesian shores to the Bay area.
By TERRY TOMALIN
Published June 10, 2005
TREASURE ISLAND - Over the years, Lex Raas has seen his share of watercraft.
"We are a sailing family," the South African native explained. "We have spent our lives on and around the water."
Three years ago, while visiting Tahiti, the 49-year-old saw his first outrigger canoe.
"They were everywhere," he said. "Everybody paddles there."
Then Raas got an idea. Tahiti and Florida are both resort communities whose livelihood depends on the ocean. If outrigger canoeing could be the national sport of a tiny South Pacific nation, it could surely become a popular pastime in the Sunshine State.
John Edwards, a world-class paddler from St. Petersburg, had already introduced dozens of Tampa Bay-area residents to the six-person outrigger canoes several years earlier. Two years ago, Edwards and members of his Outrigger Outreach canoe club paddled a 45-foot long, six-person canoe from Florida to the Bahamas.
But Raas was interested in the OC1: a smaller, single-person version of the traditional Polynesian watercraft.
"They are user friendly," Raas said of the 20-foot long canoes. "Anybody can get in one and start paddling. But if you want to take it to the top level and compete, you need to spend years working at it."
As president of The Moorings, the world's largest sailboat chartering company, Raas has traveled around the globe. But he has a special affinity for the South Pacific, where islanders have long used outrigger canoes as their primary mode of transportation for both commerce and war.
Polynesians were able to navigate vast tracts of ocean in these primitive craft because of a simple device called an "ama" or outrigger, which keeps the boat from tipping over in rough seas.
Traditional outrigger canoes are made of wood. "In Tahiti, the process hasn't changed much," Raas said. "We traveled up river and saw men making canoes the way they have made them for thousands of years: by hand."Today, most outrigger canoes are used only for sport. The outrigger canoes that Raas and his friends race measure 20-feet 6-inches long, 15-inches wide and weigh just 20 pounds.
"They are made of carbon fiber," Raas said. "It's the technology that has moved outrigger canoeing and so many other water sports forward."
Raas, his 26-year-old son Jean, and a former Olympic-class board sailor, Harry Mountain (a 40-year-old from Great Britain), recently returned from Hawaii where they competed in the legendary Molokai Channel race.
"You paddle here and might think that you can hold your own," said Courtland Reilly, a 37-year-old from Tampa who has long been part of the local outrigger canoeing scene. "But you go to Hawaii and it is a whole different class of competitor."
Hawaii is currently considered the international center for outrigger canoeing.
"You go out on the water and you'll see all types of people paddling - male, female, young old," Raas said. "It is a real family sport."
Florida, with its sheltered bays and long coastline, could be the next great paddlesport state, Raas said.
"People come here for the water," he explained. "Why not use it?"
This summer, Raas and Hobie, the company that brought inexpensive catamaran sailing to the masses, will host a three-race paddling series on Treasure Island. "After the races we will have canoes there for people to try out," Raas said. "That is the only way the sport will grow, to get new people out there paddling."
But Raas is confident that outrigger canoeing will continue to grow in Florida.
"It's roots are ancient," he said. "But the technology is modern."
To learn more about Hurricane Outrigger Canoes and the Kialoa Paddles used to make them go, check out www.crazypaddlers.com or call Jean Raas at 727 560-0883.
Hobie Treasure Island ocean paddling seriesWHEN: June 12, July 4 and Aug. 21, 10 a.m.
COURSES: Short (four miles) and long (eight miles)
WHERE: Island Inn Beach resort, 9980 Gulf Boulevard, Treasure Island
REGISTRATION: 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
CLASSES: Sea Kayaks, Sit-on-Top Kayaks, Outrigger canoe Single (OC1), Outrigger Canoe Double (OOC2), Surfski and Paddleboard. All races will be run under the auspices of the Florida Competition Paddlers Association/Outrigger Outreach, Inc.
For more information, contact John Edwards at 727 823-8000, or e-mail him at canoechamp@aol.com