Koa Kulture - Outrigger Canoe Racing Blog

We're back and working..finally!

After being swamped with school, among other things, both DVeci and I have refocused our efforts.  During the off season we have decided to work on the logo for Koa Kulture.  We are almost there as you can tell by the drafts DVeci has created above.  I am also still trying to finalize an appearence by John Wolf of Wolf Fitness Systems on our blog.  We all know in the off season we usually dont get the chance to get on the water as much. John will be able to provide simple excersices to keep up our strenth and flexability  for the upcoming season. Stay tuned.

5th Annual Bay Area Hawaiian Film Festival

Already in its Fifth year, the Bay Area Hawaiian Film Festival is a rare glimpse of Hawaiian perspectives through cinema and will feature films about Hawaiian myths and legends told for the first time in the Hawaiian language; documentaries that explore Hawaiian history through the stories of its monarchy and its people; educational features of modern issues including sovereignty, land rights, and the environment; as well as highlights on cultural traditions of Hula and other native arts & crafts.

 

This year, in conjunction with the annual film festival, Kaululehua HCC is proud to host a three-day long cultural experience like no other here in the Bay Area. Beginning on Friday, September 26 at 8:00pm, the Cultural Center presents Hula 2500 Miles From, a presentation on how hula in the Bay Area has survied in the Bay Area so far from Hawai`i. The Cultural Conference culminates on Sunday, September 28 at 4pm an exciting presentation on Hula. An introspective look into different types of Hula, Oli & Mele (traditional chant & songs), Protocol, Lei Styles and Lole (hula attire) including hula demonstrations and story telling.

 

Kawika Alfiche, Kumu Hula of Halau O Keikiali'i and Director of Kaululehua HCC, states, "This festival provides a voice to the Hawaiian community on the mainland and, through each film and conference event, presents a unique opportunity for Hawaiians to tell their stories, and share their language, culture, and history with everyone."

The Kaululehua Hawaiian Cultural Center was established in 2000 with the mission of preserving and perpetuating all things Hawaiian. The mission of World Arts West is to honor and celebrate culturally diverse dance forms through presentation, education and support of artists and their traditions.

The Kaululehua Hawaiian Cultural Center, Pacific Islander Cultural Association (PICA) and World Arts West (WAW) is pleased to present the 5th Annual Bay Area Hawaiian Film Festival & Cultural Conference starting on Friday, September 26 and concluding on Sunday, September 28, 2008.  The film festival takes place on Saturday, September 27 from 1:00pm – 9:00pm; and the cultural conference events will be on Friday evening and Sunday. All events will take place at the Kaululehua Hawaiian Cultural Center at 423 Baden Avenue in South San Francisco. For more information on purchasing tickets call 650.588.1091, visit our website at www.apop.net, or e-mail your request to info@apop.net

Alcatraz Challenge: Rich Brenner Photos

I heard everyone had a great time running the 12th Annual Round the Rock / Alcatraz Challenge.  It was a beautiful day on the bay and the fog bank did not set in till very late in the afternoon which was surprising for SF.  I wish I was able to participate in the race but my club PuPu O' Hawai'i had a food booth at the San Francisco Aloha Festival wich was also good times. I recently ran across some great photos by Rich Brenner.  There are some awesome shots in there so definitely check it out.

After Race Report: 16th Annual Tony Gora Race

Mahalo to all that came out to the 16th Annual Tony Gora Memorial Race out of Santa Cruz. Before the race I had the chance to ask Linda Dresbach of PuPu O' Hawai'i a couple of questions about this great race. In the future we plan to add video interview but for now you all are just going to have to deal with my typing. =)

Me: Ok Linda I'm not a journalism major by any means so we are just going to wing it. So why do they call the race the Tony Gora Memorial Race?

Linda: Tony Gora was a member of Pu Pu O Hawaii who grew up in Honolulu.  He was the mayor of Galt and came down to the ocean to paddle with a senior master (45+) men's crew who purchased the Team ONeill Force 5 Canoe around 1994 (Dave Dyc would know the date).  He had breast cancer in the early '90's and it recurred in 2001 and he passed away around his 61st birthday in January 2002, he had planned to run the Honolulu Marathon that prior December with his high school buddies.  He had great enthusiasm for the sport and was a great supporter of the club

Me: How many paddlers will we have out on the water for the race?

Linda: Looks like 39 crews so @ 234 paddlers!  A very good turn out.

Me: What is the best thing about this course?

Linda: This is one of the only summer ocean races for NCOCA  as many are on San Francisco Bay. The ocean gives everyone a great experience on the open ocean with some protection of Monterey Bay.  The ocean swell, tides and winds are very different than on SF Bay.

Me: How challenging is it to put together a event like this?

Linda: Working from our home practice site makes this event much easier to host than most.  We also have this distance race incorporated with the Sunday Aloha Day event so Parks & Rec as well as ONeill , our sponsor, help out with advertising, art work for the event logo and ONeill provides the tshirt printing for us.  It helps to have people like Dave Dyc, club member, who lives within walking distance of the harbor and is an old friend of Jack ONeill.

Me: Speaking of challenging events you along with others from the NCOCA helped organize this years 2008 IVF World Sprints.  How was it?

Linda: The World Sprints came off great with alot of hard work by a small group of people.  We had over 1300 racing paddlers from around the world and they all had a good time and an excellent race course.  The various countries participating contributed officials to the event so there was an international flavor to the entire event.

Mahalo Linda once again!

The story of the day was He'e Nalu of Marin 19yr Under Boys setting the pace and finishing 7.4 Mile course 1st overall with a time of 1:04:2 Great job guys!  For race results go HERE .

(Picture courtesy Corrie from Akau Hana Outrigger Club)

And we are off!

The 16th annual Tony Gora Memorial is off to a great start. The swell out of Santa Cruz is about 3-5 ft with a slight drizzle from the fog. We had 8 novice crews out for the 4mile race and 21 boats on the water for the 8 mile race. I was planning on covering more but it looks like I'm in one of the 21 boats! This is my first LD so wish me luck. There will be 8-9 crews for the 12mile as well.

MoBlog Test

 

MoBlog testing from my Palm Centro Smartphone .  The picture resolution is pretty good for such a small phone.  Now I will be to update everyone on the move!

Outrigger as an Olympic Sport?

Now the 2008 Olympics are in full swing I wonder why isn't Outrigger Canoe Racing even considered a "recognized" sport by the Olympic board?  After doing some quick surfing on the web I found a great discussion about this subject on OCPaddler.com  With canoeing as an Olympic sport already I figured it would be simple, but things are not always what they seem.

With the chance of the Olympics being a distance dream for most die hard Outrigger Paddlers what would be the next best thing?  Do we want to keep with the current format of a yearly migration to the Molokai Hoe , bi-annual trip to the International Va'a Federation Sprint Championships, along with our local events?  Personally I feel if we work torward a more orginized format it would bring more international exposure to the sport, right?  A system much like the International Cycling Union with world rankings, national cups, international cup, and etc would be a good starting point.  Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts!

16th Annual Tony Gora Memorial Race

Aloha!

August 16th our club PuPu O' Hawai'i will be hosting this long distance race out of Santa Cruz,CA harbor.  This will be the 3rd race in the NCOCA Summer Long Distance Series.  It is projected to be a sunny day in the low 70's, another great day for paddling! 

Prior to the race I will be speaking with Linda Dresbach, PuPu O' Hawaii's club president and current NCOCA treasurer.  We will be discussing the the background of the Tony Gora Memorial, the challenges of organizing an event like this, and what was her favorite part of the 2008 IVF World Sprints at Lake Natoma last week.

Following the race on August 17th the City of Santa Cruz will be holding the Aloha Days Festival.  This will for all first time paddlers. We provide canoes, strokers and steersmen to crews of 4 novice paddlers.  The crews are put through a single elimination race chart and the top 4 crews race for awards! There is music, crafts, and food as well.

I will be covering each event. I plan on coming back with some great stories and photos! If you are in the Santa Cruz area come out and enjoy a great day on the water!

 

Aloha!

Aloha!

Welcome all to Koa Kulture.  Why Koa Kulture you ask? Koa as a word in Hawaiian can translate into "Brave" "Fearless" or "Warrior/Solidier". Koa wood was used throught the Hawaiian culture in bowls, weapons, and canoes! 

The purpose of this blog is not to only promote the emerging sport of Outrigger Canoe Racing, but also promote the Aloha of the polynesian culture.  There are many great sites, with alot of information, none I find cover the stories behind the sport.  As you all know there is much more to this sport then event dates and race results. I hope to capture this part of our sport that we have grown to love.

Looking forward, I hope to be able to provide great content such as: "Behind the Sceanes" Interviews, New Products, Events, Off-Season Training Tips, Photos, Videos, and much more.  If there is something you would like to see just let me know.

Mahalo,

MikeD