The Hamilton Cup
The Hamilton Cup is Australia's premier outrigger canoeing event. Such has been the professionalism by which it has been administered, that many events around the world have used it's format and procedures as a model by which to emulate and aspire to. More information shall be posted here shortly.
1983 - The very first Hamilton Island race billed as the ‘Queensland Outrigger Titles’ and the Hawaiian gurus come down-under.
The venue was perfect and the paddlers of the region embraced the idea. By 1983 the first Hamilton race was able to be staged as there were enough canoes and paddlers to make the event worth staging. It was billed as the, ‘Queensland Outrigger Titles’.
The Gold Coast Bulletin reported the event as follows, ‘ A Gold Coast Crew stole the limelight at the inaugural Queensland Outrigger titles held at Hamilton Island. The Max Christmas-owned craft was paddled to glory by an all-Coast crew made up of six local lifesavers and Max Christmas employees. They won the 6 kilometre race around part of the island from the host team with the Australian Outrigger Club coming third. The Coast boat held a good lead throughout the race and won by 100 metres. It is planned the race will become an annual event and next year it is hoped to have teams from California and Hawaii competing to make it an international affair. Crew members included, John Doak, John Holmes, Noel Kolkaa, Norm Lewis, Len Woods and Bruce Kolkaa.’
This 6km race was held form Catseye Bay around to the Harbour. There was however another race held out in Catseye Bay around some buoys in which the Keith Williams Sea World team won out over the Gold Coast, Outrigger Canoe Club team, sponsored by Max Christmas.
The event had achieved what Keith had set out to create - media interest and the beginnings of something worth nurturing. All the while, Keith had maintained contact with Walter Guild since his visit to Hawaii and saw the value in staging an outrigger canoeing clinic on the Gold Coast using the knowledge of the likes of Walter, not to mention the potential for media attention and adding further credibility to his efforts in raising the profile of the sport and his event.
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Subsequently, Hank Lass and a young Walter Guild from Outrigger Canoe Club Hawaii, were brought over to Australia to the Gold Coast in December of 1983 and then up to Hamilton Island at Keith’s expense, who was eager to see his new found love of outrigger canoeing prosper. Hank and Walter conducted several clinics at Sea World passing on their knowledge to Outrigger Canoe Club Australia members and paddlers from the Sea World team, before flying up to Hamilton Island to hold further clinics with paddlers from on and off island.
Outrigger Australia and former ‘Max Christmas Gold Coast Team’ member, Chris Maynard remembers it well. ‘Listening to them both, was
all the motivation we needed to make a go of this new sport; new to me, new to Australia. Already inspired by our Australian 12m Yachtsman who had won the Americas Cup in that same year, it was an im
mediate challenge for the crew to one day travel and compete in the Moloka’i Hoe, which they now heard so much about. At the time the Hamilton Cup was far from fully developed, but the thought of training in something different and learning a
s much as we could about the sport of outrigger canoeing, enthused us all immensly.’ It was a great success, but unfortunately Hank broke his leg when run over by one the islands vehicles at the end of his stay.
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