Canoeing
Red Bull Wa'a: The Outrigger Canoe Super-Crew
The story of a fierce group of Hawaiian paddlers who have come together to form Red Bull Wa'a.
3 min
Red Bull Wa'a
Red Bull Wa'a
To say that Hawaii has a deep connection with the outrigger canoe, or "Wa’a" (pronounced Vah-ah) is an understatement. In actuality, the entire existence of the Hawaiian Islands depended on the craft. It’s about more than the sport that paddling has become today — those ancient strokes, the ocean’s unique gravity and men glaring toward some hazy horizon are movements which still harken a very global story of migration.
Team Wa'a training in Hawaiian waters
© Brian Bielmann/Red Bull Content Pool
Before it was recreational, the wa’a was exploratory. These vessels were Polynesia’s spaceships that launched boldly into oceanic outer space, into dark waters the color that birthed all blues. Indeed the men and women on these crafts followed currents, mapped the stars, caught the wind, surfed the swells and chased whales, birds and sharks toward unknown island planets. It was on these ships that they charted, discovered and inhabited Hawaii many, many centuries before the first European sailors.
The crew prepare gifts for Pele
© Kaikea Nakachi
But that was then. Today, "paddling" as it’s plainly called, upon the single-hull outrigger canoes with ama (an outrigger float) connected to the main hull, has become one of Hawaii’s — and many coastal nations well beyond Polynesia — most beloved sports. Evidence of its popularity can be seen everywhere in Hawaii, or at least anywhere one looks toward the sea.
On the island of Oahu alone, there are actually 18 different outrigger canoe clubs with over a dozen more on the neighboring islands. The clubs compete with each other over the course of a six-month season (April-October) culminating in the renowned, massive event called the Moloka'i Hoe, an international open-water outrigger canoe race from Moloka'i to O'ahu across the treacherous Ka'iwi channel.
Introducing: Red Bull Wa'a
Red Bull Wa'a
© Kaikea Nakachi
The helicopter en route to retrieve the canoe
© Kaikea Nakachi
Lava flow ocean entry point | Kalapana, Hawaii
© Kaikea Nakachi
On the west side of Hawaii island (the Big Island), a super-crew of fierce Hawaiian paddlers has banded to form Team Red Bull Wa’a. With more than half its team formerly paddling for Na Koa O Kona, Red Bull Wa’a has already come out of the gates as an indomitable force, placing first at the Hawaiian Airlines Liberty Challenge in New York earlier this summer. Their next target: The Catalina Crossing, an arduous, cold-water, 38-mile-long open ocean race between the California mainland and Catalina Island. And besides treacherous winds, choppy seas and the odd whale, what’s the only thing standing in their way of glory? Maybe a Tahitian or two.
The Hawaiian-Tahitian rivalry …
As close as it gets
© Kaikea Nakachi
Teamwork makes the dream work
© Kaikea Nakachi
Red Bull Wa'a off the coast of Kalapana, Hawaii
© Kaikea Nakachi
So the thing about that is while outrigger canoe paddling is just another watersport in Hawaii, in Tahiti it is THE sport. In Tahiti, there are national beloved teams and paddlers who are as big as celebrities. Paddlers there are fulltime professionals, endorsed by major brands and appearing on television constantly. In Hawaii, of course guys take it seriously, but they also have day jobs and families to take care of.
Not surprisingly, when it comes to a lot of the events, Tahitians have dominated big time. At the Moloka’i Hoe, for instance, (the World Cup of outrigger canoe races) the Tahitians have won it nearly every time since they first entered 10 years ago. Hawaiian crews, however, (namely the boys from Red Bull Wa’a) are catching up and even overtaking the Tahitians now.
The face of a champion
© Brian Bielmann/Red Bull Content Pool
Gym time
© Brian Bielmann/Red Bull Content Pool
Red Bull Wa'a
© Kaikea Nakachi
"Granted, Tahiti has won most of the races for the past 10 years, but as far as being unbeatable? Watching the evolution of our boys, each year they’ve gotten closer and closer to the Tahitians," says Kaikea Nakachi, Red Bull Wa’a team photographer and crew support. "Just four years ago, the Tahitians won the Moloka’i Hoe by 10 full minutes, while just last year our boys were behind them by a minute and a half or two. So we’ve been slowly closing that gap.
In a way it’s kind of an underdog story because there are these professional Tahitians paddling as a job — who are really good at it — against family men and working men from Hawaii who are just as good, if not hungrier.
"What was thought to be unattainable is now possible. Then as far as the Catalina race, you’ve actually got smaller Tahitian groups and California teams mixing with Tahitians, which adds to the rivalry, but not all the Tahitian teams are there. So Hawaiian teams have actually won Catalina before, and we would’ve won it last year but they flipped the canoe and that set them back a few minutes. This year they’re hungry to redeem themselves and get that title.
The team and their gifts, ready to paddle
© Kaikea Nakachi
"In a way it’s kind of an underdog story because there are these professional Tahitians paddling as a job — who are really good at it — against family men and working men from Hawaii who are just as good, if not hungrier."
Meet the boys, read their stories, share yours and get to know the Red Bull Wa'a team firsthand HERE.