Hiro C.,
I appreciate having a Tahitian Voice and perspective on racing. There are others who have posted over the years, but with your Blog and posts you are certainly connected.
Could you give us some of the news and rumors in Tahiti?
Or maybe others can answer.
Is Shell Va'a expected to dominate in Tahiti this year again? Or are other teams forming and improving to push Shell Va'a? Like OPT or others.
What team does Lewis L. paddle with? Is he expected to win the Super Aito again?
How much is US dollars does one of the top OC-6 canoes in Tahiti cost to build?
Mahalo!
Submitted by Kona J on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 11:09am
I'mn Holydays in New Caledonia. Will try to answer later.
#1 Thu, 03/27/2008 - 1:43pm
Lewis is in New Zealand for a Surf Ski World Cup race on Sat 31 March. Heaps of V1 paddlers are here for that too. Not sure what happened to 'Team Rai' - maybe they trained too hard and got burned out, that was his team.
OPT still has yet to beat Shell but I heard very recently that they are getting closer. The top Tahitian crews are aiming for the Rangiroa Tikehau race which is part of the Arii Matatini on 7-11 May (same time as Kauai), its a huge downwind run, expected to take about 5h.30m in a W6 with change-overs.... im doing it rudderless in an V1... ha ha!
#2 Thu, 03/27/2008 - 3:12pm
Yes I saw the link to this race as well.
http://www.sejour-a-rangiroa.com/RCH.htm
80Kilometers of downwind. I imagine the results will tell us alot about where the teams are over there this year and who is stepping up. Especially with the 9 man change race aspect to it. No doubt the Tahitians have had a huge influence on paddling in Hawaii. It appears from this race we had a little influence on them. Name "Channel Hoe" 9 man changes and all downwind. It means they will be even more ready for Molokai.
Hiro C. I look forward to your thoughts and perspective about the teams and this upcoming year.
Mahalo
#3 Fri, 03/28/2008 - 4:51am
This saturday was held the ABC Cup (formerly RFO Gilette). A two legs race between Tahiti and Moorea.
results here http://www.vaatahiti.com/images/Actus/2008/ABCcup/ABCcup08.pdf
Team OPT won, 4 minutes ahead of Shell. And they set a new record. Matairea Hoe, from Huahine (with Manutea Owen and Maitai Danielson) came third overall, just 20 seconds behind Shell. Nice performance when one consider that they were banned from races for one year...
For this year, it seems that Lewis laughlin's priority is the Surfski Worldcup... Team Rai is HIS team, and if he is not paddling an OC6, then there is no one paddling with that name.... So I guess no Team Rai this year.
A good OC6 can cost more than 15 000 $... too expensive for the small clubs. We sometimes have to buy the naked hull (for a little less than 10 000 $) and then build the seats, the deck, etc. by ourselves !
#4 Wed, 04/09/2008 - 5:39pm
Mahalo, Hiro C. for keeping the paddling junkies who can't parle francais informed of the action. OPT sounds like they're really hungry!
#5 Wed, 04/09/2008 - 3:59am
Hiro C.
Thanks for the info.
It was interesting to hear about just buying the hull and designing from there. I am glad that isn't an option over here.
With our club, to design deck, seats, and canvas/spray skirt it would take 12 meetings and a fight. Just joking Team mates.
Steve West's book only has a brief paragraph in regards to some of the newest boat design in Tahiti. I would be interested to hear your thoughts about where things are headed in Tahiti. Are there still innovations in OC-6 design? I was very intrigued by the design that had a bulb slightly under the nose and waterline. How does that boat feel when paddling?
Finally, do teams in Tahiti build and work on combinations prior to Hawaiki Nui? In other words do the results in the last race give a true picture of Shell Va'as power?
#6 Thu, 04/10/2008 - 6:39am
I can't tell you how it feels to paddle this va'a cause I've never seated my ass in one...
Almost everybody think that Ah-Tak V6 is the best on in the surf. Fare Ara owns 2 of them, a wooden one an a polyester one. They say that the wooden one surfs better and is easier to steer, even if both v6 have the same shape and the same weight.
I know of 2 other clubs who bought the same va'a and had the hull shape modified(width and bow).
Team Hawaii bought one for Hawaiki Nui 2007. They store it somewhere in Tahiti for next time... If you know one of them you can ask them what they think about this va'a.
Shell has been paddling the same va'a for years ! It's no new tech and they still win.
The ABC Cup is the first V6 race of the season. Last year, OPT won it and then Shell won every othner race... So it's hard to tell if this race's result are a good picture of what is going to happen this year.
#7 Thu, 04/10/2008 - 3:49pm
Iaorana Hiro C.,
It was amazing to see that Georges Crosteadt paddled as faahoro with Mike Varney as no.2. From what I understood in French, he paddled in top form. Apparently Eric Deane was the peperu. I don't know who was no. 3 and 4 (?). Teakura, etc. (?).
On the other hand I couldn't understand Shell Va'a team? Matatini as faahoro (?) - where is Moana Mairau? And I saw Bruno Tauhiro in one of the photos at the podium but not on the canoe...I just recognized Lucien Tara as no.3 and very likely D.Tepava as peperu, but what about the veterans Karyl Maoni, and Roland Teahui?
Congratulations Huahine!!!
Mauruuru
#8 Thu, 04/10/2008 - 4:29pm
Thanks again.
Here is a link to photos of the race that Hiro C. was describing-
http://www.vaatahiti.com/index.php?option=com_datsogallery&Itemid=40&fun...
We will look forward to the results of the race on May 7-10.
#9 Sat, 04/12/2008 - 6:19am