Vaka Paddling in Rarotonga
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
As we approached Rarotonga on Thursday, September 1, we were greeted by half a dozen vakas, that is, outrigger canoes, each paddled by six people. It was an impressive sight as they came racing out from Avarua. With three people paddling on each side of the vaka, and all perfectly synchronized, they moved along at approximately 8 knots, passing by the Picton Castle as we sailed towards Avatiu harbor.
Vaka is the Polynesian word for canoe; oi is the word for paddle. So, an oi vaka is a canoe that is paddled. We also saw sailing vakas that are handled by three people. And there are large voyaging vakas that, depending upon the size, may take 20 to 100 or more people on long journeys. These are the traditional watercraft used by Polynesians hundreds of years ago to explore and carry on trade throughout the Pacific islands. Traditionally the vakas were built of wood; today’s racing vakas are all built of fiberglass.
Vaka paddling is now a competitive sport that is taken very seriously in Polynesia, particularly in Tahiti, Hawai’i and the Cook Islands. Vaka clubs with both men and women’s teams have a rigorous training schedule, meeting as often as six days per week. In addition to paddling, they also cross-train with swimming and bicycling. While vakas may be built for one, two, three, four, six, or nine people, the ones most commonly used in racing are the six- and nine-person vakas. These may be raced singly with an outrigger attached, or with a second hull in place of the outrigger to make a double vaka, in which case there are 12 or 18 people paddling together. As vaka racing becomes more popular in other countries, there is talk of making it an Olympic sport.
The Picton Castle crew were eager to meet the vaka team, and we invited them to a party on board the ship Saturday evening. One of the vaka team leaders, Te Atu, offered to arrange for us to paddle the vakas. So on Wednesday afternoon, 12 of us from the Picton Castle went with Te Atu to Muri Beach for our first training in vaka paddling. Our crew included Ivan, Johanna, Catharine, Ryan, Jeff Bartlett, Keith, Paulina and her husband, Alan, Torunn, Jane, Barbara, and Dave Zimmer.
Using long strips of rubber (cut bicycle inner tubes), we strapped two six-person hulls together to make one double vaka that seated 12 persons. Before getting into the vaka, Te Atu instructed us on the proper paddling technique. With one hand atop the end of the paddle and the other hand at the base of the shaft, just above the blade, you keep the lower arm straight and make the stroke by twisting your torso.
When paddling on the port side of the vaka, your left side is forward as the paddle goes into the water and you turn your body to the left while making the stroke so that your right side is forward when the paddle comes out of the water. This not only gives much more power to each stroke, but it also allows greater endurance as compared to just using your arms and shoulders for paddling.
Having paddled one- and two-person canoes since I was a child, I was amazed at the difference this paddling technique makes. I can’t wait to try it out on our small canoe when I get home. I was able to paddle much longer and harder than I ever imagined possible without tiring or feeling like my arms would fall off.
Another key to vaka paddling is to coordinate the paddling so everyone works together. We alternated the sides of the canoe on which each person paddled. When the first person in each hull paddled to starboard, the second person paddled to port. Third and fifth positions always paddle on the same side with the first person; likewise, the fourth and sixth positions paddle on the same side with the second person. Periodically, when the command is called by the steerer, the paddlers on one side of the vaka switch to the other side. An experienced vaka team does this without missing a beat in the stroking.
Timing is everything when paddling with a team, according to Te Atu. Again, we learned this first-hand as we experienced the difference in the way the vaka moves when we are all synchronized, paddling in unison, compared to moments when we were not so well coordinated. He kept reminding us of this by calling out, “Timing!” whenever we got out of time with one another. When everyone is synchronized, the vaka surges ahead; when we are not in synch, the vaka does not move as smoothly and easily.
Once we learned the basic techniques for paddling and staying together in our strokes, Te Atu had us do several time trials on the 500-meter distance between two buoys in the lagoon. On our first attempt, it took us approximately 8 minutes to go from one buoy to the other. We asked Te Atu what a good race time is for that distance. When he told us their team does it in 2 to 2-1/2 minutes, we motivated ourselves to go faster. On our second attempt, going upwind rather than downwind, we brought our time down to just over 4 minutes. After several more runs back and forth along the course we got our time down to 3 minutes, 20 seconds—and that was going upwind. Imagine what we could do with a regular training and workouts! We’re ready to launch the Picton Castle vaka team. We just have to convince Captain Moreland to pick up a couple of vakas for us.