Photo Galleries > ManaV6 Fiji. Herb Kane's 'Takia' gets a make-over. (10)
The Mana V.6 - SPG 07 Edition was put through trials on Saturday 12 May, 2007. The original hull (Takia V.6) was designed by artist-historian and author, Herb Kawainui Kane (elected Living Treasure of Hawaii, 1984) who based the design on his research into traditional Fijian & South Pacific canoe design.
The Takia V.6 was used for the 1998 World Sprints and 2003 South Pacific Games hosted in Suva. When the 2007 South Pacific Games Organising Committee chose this canoe for Samoa, the opportunity was taken to update the design to improve it's open ocean racing capabilities and the Mana V.6 was born.
Improvements include:
- Raised gunnels and increased freeboard
- new higher foredeck with increased buoyancy
- moulded fibreglass seats with rear drop for added stiffness
- raised Tahitian style Iako attachment points for safer open water changeovers
- cockpit deck sections between seats 2 & 3 and 4 & 5 provide additional longitudinal stiffness
- new Ama design also with increased buoyancy and longer waterline length
- revised seat positions to greatly improve weight distribution
- raked "portafino" stern to improve surfing.
From the short 3 hour test on Saturday, the most noticeable improvement is the stiffness and responsiveness of the canoe. COLIN PHILP.
