122 outrigger canoes due on Oct. 24 Hawaiki Nui Race starting line
(Tahitipresse) - There are 121 outrigger canoes from throughout French Polynesia as well as France, New Zealand and Hawaii due to be on the starting line on Oct. 24 for the 16th Annual Hawaiki Nui Race.
The three-day, three-stage, four-island race is held in the Leeward Islands, covering a total distance of 129 kilometers (80.2 miles), traditionally the biggest and most prestigious outrigger canoe event of the year in French Polynesia.
The race starts on Oct. 24 from the island of Huahine, the first stage covering the 44.5 kilometers (27.7 miles) to Raiatea. The second stage on Oct. 25 begins on Raiatea and churns up the waters of the lagoon shared with the island of Taha'a, covering a distance of 26 kilometers (16 miles).
The final and often the most dramatic stage starts on Taha'a on Oct. 26 for the 58-kilometer (36-mile) course to Bora Bora and the finish line in front of Matira Beach.
Several overseas journalists are due to cover this year's event, according to a special edition of GIE Tahiti Tourisme's Internet newsletter, "e-ve'a". The media to be represented include the France 3 television network's "Thalassa", a popular weekly nautical program; the daily German newspaper "Suddeutsche"; Italy's Mare TV and Sailing Channel; New Zealand's "Adventure" monthly magazine; Japan's "Tarzan" monthly magazine; and Russia's "Octopus" monthly magazine.
GIE Tahiti Tourisme is subsidizing the international media coverage.
French Polynesia Sports Minister Tauhiti Nena signed an agreement Monday to provide an additional 21 million French Pacific francs (US$256,098/€175,980) for organizing the race. The agreement was signed with Elise Maamaatuaiahutapu, the head of the Hawaiki Nui Race organizing committee, and Louis Maiotui, the head of the Tahitian Va'a (outrigger canoe) Federation.
That brings the Ministry of Youth and Sport's total financial support for this year's race to 44 million French Pacific francs (US$536,585/€368,719).
The French Polynesia government also covers a large part of the race's logistical costs. The French state also participates, with the French Navy transporting the canoes to Huahine and the French Gendarmerie manning security boats during the race.
This will be the first Hawaiki Nui Race since the event's conception in 1992 without the presence of Edouard Maamaatua, considered the father of French Polynesia's outrigger canoe racing community. He died in January at the age of 73.
Under Maamaatua's influence, the Tahitian outrigger canoe became known as the "va'a", the Tahitian word for the variety of canoes with extended outrigger balance bars that keep them afloat.