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GENERAL
Outrigger Canoeing FAQs
Steve West
UK 07 859 294 188
Overseas + 44 7859 294 188
FACEBOOK
Mandy West
UK 07 859 296 741
Overseas + 44 7859 296 741
FACEBOOK
We've redesigned and reprinted both of our Outrigger Canoeing Books, and in doing so, we've achieved reduced book prices for paddlers in the USA, Canada, Europe, South America, Micronesia, Melanesia and Polynesia including New Zealand. In addition, we've taken a firm environmental stand in the way we have choosen to print and package. 

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"Steve is a fantastic writer and photographer and has been an extension of the KIALOA family for many, many years. Actively involved in SUP and Outrigger Canoeing, we welcome him as an ambassador for KIALOA in the UK." Meg Chun. Kialoa Bend Oregon USA  

"In the context of paddling, KIALOA PADDLES have been a constant companion and essential tool of trade for me for well over a decade, representing thousands of hours and miles of paddling, racing and training throughout the Pacific, Pacific Rim and now the UK. The superlative workmanship and willingness to work with paddlers in the same way a surfer works with a shaper, has resulted in what I consider to be the finest outrigger and stand up paddleboard paddles on the planet, to which end other manufacturers aspire to as their yardstick for excellence. A paddle is not an accessory, it's an essential and should never be a compromise"

Contact Us

Island Paddler
We provide the widest selection of outrigger canoe paddling equipment at the best prices. We take pride in offering genuine Hawaiian and Polynesian items – unique and of limited supply. We also have the latest in contemporary canoe paddles as well as related apparel.
716 Kapahula Av, Honolulu, Oahu
350 Hahani St, Kailua, Oahu
  
Tri Paddle Maui
Providing the paddling community of Maui with the best and latest for their paddling needs. "We can outfit you from head to okole"
92 North Market Street Wailuku Maui


'...deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author's words but for the more intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds. In the quiet spaces opened up by the sustained, undistracted reading of a book, or by any other act of contemplation, for that matter, we make our own associations, draw our own inferences and analogies, foster our own ideas.'
Nicholas Carr




The Forward Stroke

 

Extract from Paddlers Guide to Outrigger Canoeing

KEY PHASES OF THE FORWARD STROKE

The key components of the forward stoke can be broken up into 6 distinct phases;

  1. Set Up / Windup - Maximum rotation and reach prior to blade entry.

  2. Entry - Placement of blade in water.

  3. Catch - Loading of the blade.

  4. Pull Through / Power Phase - Pull applied to the blade.

  5. Exit - Removal of the blade from the water at the end of the stroke.

  6. Recovery - The swing through to set up.

    In the latest edition of the Kanuculture ‘Guide to Outrigger…’ Steve West has about 5 chapters on paddling technique, evolution, single vs double bends, Tahitian vs Hawaiian styles, etc, etc. I think the beauty of the sport is that it seems, looks and sometimes ‘feels’ so simple; but is really not. He has a great line about how at the highest level, outrigger is a ‘technical’ sport and to get faster we’d all be better off being more techncally correct than trying to always get stronger. ‘Simple’ is nice, but simple ain’t always ‘simple…’  Guam Paddler.

The most fundamental understanding you need to firmly establish in your thinking is that you will not be pulling the paddle through the water towards you. You will be pulling your hips up to the blade and with it, the wa`a. In terms of creative visualisation, think of your wa`a on rails and the paddles are a series of poles cemented into the seabed. You are going to reach out, grab a pole and pull yourself up to the pole, pulling the wa`a along with you. Like most things, there are efficient ways to do this and not so efficient ways.


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