A local paddle boat club is riding the wave of victory after a successful weekend on the Sunshine Coast.
The Harrison-based Fraser Valley Paddling Club (FVPC) saw three big wins in Gibsons’ Howe Sound at the Canadian Outrigger Association’s (CORA) Cup Series. The group took home the win in the short course mixed open, long course mixed masters 40+ and the long course mixed senior masters 50+.
Outrigger canoe director Greg Kohlruss said the club has been getting more involved in competitions like CORA over the past few years.
“The competition is quite high amongst many of the groups, especially the top teams that are always trying to beat each other,” he said. “It’s fairly intense, most of these people are serious athletes.”
And outrigger canoeing is still relatively new to most Canadian paddlers. Created and built for hostile waters in and around the islands of Hawaii, the six-person boat includes an attachment called an ‘ama’ that ensures stability in high seas.
In the ’80s the boats became increasingly popular in North America, and the sport has since grown significantly in the Pacific Northwest and down into California.
The main difference between the sport of dragon boating and an outrigger canoeing – aside from origin and design of the boats – is the length of the race. Outrigger canoes are stable, but they’re also built for endurance. Typical races can be anywhere from five to ten kilometres in a short-course race to 17-25 kilometres in a long-course race.
“These boats are strictly designed for big water and doing distance races,” Kolhruss said.”We train for endurance. It’s no different than a runner or a cyclist.”
Even with some serious athletes in the club, Kohlruss said the biggest benefit to joining FVPC is the people.
“You meet a lot of people, make a lot of new friends. You surround yourself with a lot of positive people,” he said.
As an outrigger coach, Kohlruss instructs members to “leave all the other crap at home, come in with a positive attitude and be ready to paddle.”
Based out of Harrison Lake, FVPC boasts impressive membership in both dragon boat and outrigger canoe programs, with 150 paddlers training on Harrison Lake. Perhaps best known for the annual Harrison Dragon Boat Regatta, the club brings thousands of paddlers and spectators to local waters every year for the colourful, high-energy event that sees upwards of 60 teams from across North America competing.
The non-profit group has been getting people of all ages out on the brisk, blue waters of Harrison Lake and other B.C. waterways since 2001, and is now focusing on a new junior program to get even more youngsters into water sports.
That means paddlers as young as seven-years-old can try their hand at either sport and enjoy the physical and social benefits of a new outdoor adventure. But the club is open to all ages, as demonstrated by the weekend competition, where the 40+ and 50+ age groups took home some pretty impressive wins.
Anyone interested in joining FVPC can visit the club’s website at fvdbc.com or email Greg Kohlruss at gregk@magnumgd.ca.
This story previously stated that CORA occurred on Vancouver Island, it has been updated to reflect that Gibsons is on the Sunshine Coast.
