SouthernOutriggers is determined to produce craft that offer longevity in
the spirit of outrigger canoeing through the ages. We offer a handcrafted
canoe, built with the same skills applied to the original craft. Although use
of the best in modern materials is not ignored, hand crafting takes
preference over mechanisation - paddling is by physical human power, and our
canoe crafting is by handskills.
Design philosophy is based on a concept allied to the traditional outrigger canoes of Oceania. This implies the adherence to a configuration which has the hull, or waka, comprising the essential
component of the craft itself - as seen on all canoes from the earliest of
times until now, in places like Tahiti, Aotearoa and Hawaii. Paddlers sit in the waka, on a bench seat, which serves as a structural component, rather than sitting on the deck.
Also, in adherence to traditional outrigger canoe design, the kiato are
secured by lashings - as seen on open water canoes of the Pacific.
Reason for adherence to these technicalities, is to stay within the
traditional construct, in order to maintain classification while still
allowing use of modern materials. The genuine Hawaiian
canoe uses the original wooden vaka as the model on which regulation
is based, while allowing the use of modern composite construction materials.
In this regard, a canoe which had the paddlers sitting on raised foam seats
on the deck (a sit-on) and having iako secured by sprung buttons or plastic
plumbers type fittings, would at present not be acceptable within HCRA (Hawaiian Canoe Racing Assoc.) classification for their racing 6's.
Likewise, all SouthernOutrigger canoes have lashed kiato whether they are
made of wood, carbon fibre or aluminium, although our design allows for
quick easy set up and adjustment.
Although traditional type canoes are inherently heavier than surf ski type
craft, due to there being more parts in their structure than decks and hulls
only. Integrity of their structure is enhanced by the inclusion of
bulkheads, seats and heel braces, in the same way that seagoing yachts are
strengthened by their bulkheads.
Like Americas Cup yachts, the new breed of sit-ons are 'stripped out' for
minimum weight, and are likewise engineered for enduring a little more than
predicted racing conditions. For sponsored competitors, this may be good and well, but outrigger canoeing as an ancient and enduring activity, can do better than that.
Of all water-sports requiring equipment, outrigger canoeing can place the
least reliance on environmentally offensive technology. Use
of all wooden paddles has very little negative influence on paddling performance, and canoes made entirely of natural fibres would likewise offer as much. If weight restriction were to effectively level the competition.
