Apr 18-21 - Shell Fiji International Va'a Championship - Fiji

Teams from Fiji, Australia, Samoa, & New Zealand are racing.

Update: :[Results] from all three days of the event

Also Read more for article by Steve West

FIJI SHELL GAMES INTERNATIONAL 18th-21st April 2003



The idea of paddling in Fiji, conjures up images as evocative as that of

paddling in Tahiti or Hawaii. Our sports strong association with the

tropical islands and cultures of the Pacific, makes the venue as alluring

and enticing as the sport itself.



As a travel destination, Fiji has always had its own special appeal. Over

the past ten years, surfing has become a tourist industry in its own right

through out the islands. Surf Camps now proliferate the more popular venues

and best of all, its still relatively cheap which makes it even more

appealing to the travelling surfer.



Outrigger canoe paddlers are not dissimilar to that of surfers in their

desire to travel to exotic locations to paddle unfamiliar tropical waters,

and in this respect, it certainly helps if there is an infrastructure in

place to make this possible. The staging of the 1998 IVF World Sprints in

the capital of Suva did great things to expose the sport and attract new

participation. In June 2003, the biggest and most significant sporting event

in the South Pacific will be staged in Suva, the South Pacific Games, where

outrigger canoeing will be one of the most hotly contested of sports,

involving sprint and marathon races in OC6 and V1 canoes.



The Fiji Shell International event was staged as a means of inviting outside

competition to compete against Fiji's SPG teams preparing for the big event

and to instigate the beginning of an annual event thereafter. With the

significant and generous sponsorship of Shell Fiji, the event has the

makings of a great future, with unilateral support from Shell Tahiti who are

already significant supporters of the sport and with growing interest from

Shell New Caledonia.



IVF delegate and Race Director of the Bora Bora Worlds, Charles Villierme

flew in from Tahiti to oversee the running of the event and to assist with

the preparation of marshalls, time keeping procedures and officials for the

SPG. For my part, I have had the pleasure of acting as technical advisor to

head coach Colin Philp to the SPG Squad. Colin and I had concluded that at

this event, we needed to ensure that the Fiji teams had the opportunity to

race against a hi-calibre crew in order to guage their progress.



For the Fiji Shell Games International, we secured generous support from Air

Pacific and FOCRA in assisting with the bringing over a crew of paddlers

from Outrigger Canoe Club Australia, which included Chris Maynard, Robby

Dorrough, Aaron Bitmead, Jamie Mitchell, Mike Murray and myself. All five

are professional lifeguards with the Gold Coast City Council and between us

there was a fair collection of Molokai and Hamilton Cup winnings, in

addition, Aaron being a past World Paddle Board Champion and Jamie being the

current World Paddle Board Champion; the line up was certainly going to give

the SPG teams the competition it wanted.



I had flewn on ahead of the rest of the crew to arrange things and collected

them from Nadi Airport a few days later. It looked more like a surf trip as

they emerged from arrivals - trolleys loaded with surfboards, surfbags and a

Kanuculture paddle bag stuffed with paddles. Beer was the first request to

numb the 3 hour minivan drive along the coast to Suva and to assist with the

acclimatisation process. A carton of Fiji Bitter took care of that very

nicely and many a story was enjoyed along the way.



It had been arranged that the team would stay at Dave Philp's house, brother

to Colin. When we pulled up at around 8am the boys were in good form and

were very stoked to find themselves in a relaxed beach house, complete with

great sound system, bar, ocean view and fish and chicken curry simmering on

the stove. It doesn?t get much better.



The next few mornings were spent paddling out to reef for extended surfing

sessions using a canoe as the preferred means of transportation. Boards

strapped to the canoe, along with food and water. It was quite an

experience. The afternoons were spent lazing around watching DVD's, swimming

in the pool and drinking duty free Bourbon and cokes, evening dinners at the

Tradewinds Hotel - pre race training of the highest order.



Friday, and day one of racing arrived. The events were to follow the SPG

race format. Mens and womens divisions, 500m and 2500m OC6 and in the

afternoon a V1 [rudderless] marathon; 10km for women, 17km for men involving

both lagoon and open water paddling. Other overseas teams included Samoa and

New Zealand. Teams from California were also to participate, but due to the

SARS outbreak and the War, pulled out.



The level of racing and efficiency with which the races proceeded was very

good as marshalls were trained in preparation for the SPG. The Fiji teams

paddled well and certainly appreciated the extra level of competion which

raised there own performance levels. We finished fastest qualifiers in the

500m in 1:55:80 from Fiji A in 1:56:96. In the 2500m we finished fastest in

11:28:93 to Fiji B?s 12:08:48. Fiji A womens crew finished in 2:15:20 over

500m and 13:18:74 over 2500m.



In the afternoon, Chris Maynard and I took on the challenge of the V1

rudderless 17km marathon, which proved to be one the most painful things we

had ever done. Chris Maynard paddled well and finished 3rd, especially as he

probably paddled an extra 2km or so and on several occassion was thinking of

retiring! I held my own for sometime, but suffered when my hydration system

failed to deliver which I let get the better of me and finished 7th. Local,

Wayne Houng Lee paddled exceptionally well to win from up and coming

challenger Anthony Halapua.



The following day, the 500m and 2500m OC6 finals were held and the 500m V1

sprints. Outrigger Australia won the 500m in 1:58:80 from Fiji A?s 2:00:66

and the 2500m in 11:31:96 from Fiji B?s 12:08:03 and Samoa?s 12:29:34. In

the womens events, Fiji womens A crew won in 2:20:49 and 13:24:10.



The V1 500m events were hotly contested. All the Aussie lads gave it a go

with 2 making it into the final; Aaron Bitmead and Chris Maynard. In the

final Aaron Crossed first but was DQ?d for finishing the wrong side of the

marker allowing Chris to take line honors in 2:25:34, followed by Anthony

Halapua in 2:28:07 then Wayne Houng Lee in 2:31:07. The womens race was won

by Louisa Marama in 2:49:21 who shows great potential, followed by Loretta

St Julian 2:58:25 then Malama Tafunai from Samoa in 2:58:34.



With the racing and presentations out of the way it was back home for a swim

and few beers and some dinner. Later that evening the Aussies went down town

to ?Traps?, the local nightclub to be entertained by some Samoan and Fijian

dancing. Partying went on into the early hours.

Sunday was a rest day prior to the 30km race. The surf was up, so the best

way to cure a hangover was to drop into a few waves. Dave Philp offered a

ride out to the reef in his boat, as a paddle just seemed too hard. By

lunchtime, everyone was exhausted and an afternoon kip was in order. In the

evening we went into town a rigged our canoe and had a quick float, then

back to the Tradewinds for a pre-race meal.



The following day was a little overcast with a moderate sea and swell. The

womens race over 20km set out early at 7.30am as was won by Fiji A in

1:58:47 followed by Fiji B in 2:02:43 then a mixed Kiwi team in 2:07:19.



Our race got under way shortly after. Outrigger Australia took an early lead

and extended it throughout t to the finish line in 2:28:57 followed by Fiji

A in 2:36:57 and Samoa 2:49:35.



The race course is exellent and very scenic. Making your way out through the

passage, the canoes follow the reef for sometime before turning for the

downwind run to the Namuka Passage. Though the seas were small, it was a

great run. Once through the passage, the canoes paddled over shallow clear

waters behind the reefline, back towards Suva, before passing back out

through Rats Tail Passage into open water. Turning around a buoy close to

the reef, the canoes head back along the reef and into Suva Harbour to

finish.



It was great to see the Samoans and New Zealanders at the event which added

to international flavour. I can speak for all of the Australians who

participated, that we truly had a great experience. A great adventure and a

great event. Fiji is a fantastic venue and with added promotion and support,

next years event will only get bigger and better.



Steve West