What are the origins behind contemporary outrigger canoe racing?
4.0 Racing Origins The native Hawaiian spirit was immersed in an ocean way of life and a sense of playfulness. The ocean was their lifeblood and playground and their physical needs were being denied what came so naturally to them by the imposition established by the missionaries. This denied their true identity as Polynesians. In 1875 when King David Kalakaua a great lover of water sports came to reign, he instigated the rebirth of canoe paddle and sailing races, surfing and Hawaiian song and dance. The Hawaiians needed little encouragement and in 1908 the first formal outrigger canoe club was founded, the Outrigger Canoe Club of Hawaii by a small group of Haole (European) businessman followed by the Hui Nalu (Surfing Club), formerly chartered by a group of Hawaiian surfers to promote surfing and swimming. By 1910 these two clubs began pitting their canoe crews against one another and so canoe racing was reborn. 4.4 At what point did the sport become “organized” as such? Outrigger cano
