By Paul “Uncle Paul” DeMyer
The Catalina Channel Crossing has become the official U.S. Outrigger Canoe Championship event since it first took place in September 1959, one month after Hawai’i became the 50th State of the Union. Team Catalina will represent our Island community with a Co-ed Crew racing 28 miles from Newport Harbor to Avalon Casino Point on Saturday, Sept. 7 and everyone is invited to cheer us over the finish line at approximately 1:30 p.m.
The Catalina Island Outrigger Canoe Club is part of the city of Avalon Recreation Department and supports both recreational and competitive paddling practices. Club membership continues to grow and is currently at approximately 40 persons. The Club invites all persons – of any age – interested in participating in this unique water sport to contact the City (https://secure.rec1.com/CA/avalon-ca/catalog) or any of our members or racing crew for further information, instruction and test rides. This summer, the Junior Lifeguards expanded their schedule to include OC-1 (one person) outrigger canoes and this proved to be a very popular activity.
Team Catalina has been training in the new “Officially Bitchin’” Unlimited class, carbon fiber racing canoe (weighing just 135 lbs. compared to 400+ lbs.) and will be racing it for the first time in the 2024 Crossing. The Club is selling limited-edition paddling jerseys at Avalon Surf Company store and Casino Divers Supply to help fund the canoe and other on-going Club activities.
The 2024 Race Schedule is as follows:
- Saturday morning, Sept. 7: Women’s and Co-ed Crews race 28 miles from the Newport Harbor entrance to Avalon Casino Point. Award ceremonies on Wrigley Stage at 3:45 p.m.
- Sunday morning, Sept. 8 Men’s Crews race 32 miles from Lover’s Cove in Avalon to Newport Dunes (Back Bay) in Newport Beach.
History of the Event
The first Catalina Crossing Outrigger Race took place on Sept. 20, 1959 and Duke Kahanamoku, the famous Olympic swimmer and surfing legend, was the first Grand Marshall to oversee the race and Island festivities. Two teams – one Hawaiian All-Star crew and one Southern California crew of surfers competed for the first championship. The race was organized by A.E. “Toots” Minvielle (founder of the Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association and the Molokai Hoe) and Tommy Zahn, a former Santa Monica lifeguard, renowned surfer and exceptional paddleboard racer. Tommy had raced a paddleboard in the 1953 Molokai Hoe and talked with “Toots” about how to expand water sports in California. Since Tommy had competed in many paddleboard races across the Catalina Channel in the 1950s (winning the race to Manhattan Beach in ’55, ’56 and ’58), the Island location was a natural setting. When Tommy joined the Newport Lifeguard Department in 1958, he contacted the Harbormaster and the president of the newly opened Newport Dunes Aquatic Park, and the idea of an outrigger race across the channel became a reality.
Louie and Sam Kahanamoku (Duke’s brothers) coached the Hawaiian All-Star team and Noah Kalama, who previously coached the Waikiki Surf Club and Hui Kalia Canoe Club, coached California team. Lorrin “Whitey” Harrison, a So-Cal surfer who had befriended the Waikiki Beach Boys and gave rides to tourists in big surf canoes, steered the entire race for the California crew using a 30 lb. wooden paddle (compared to today’s carbon hybrid paddles which weigh barely one pound). The Hawaiian All-Stars won the Championship with a time of 5 hours and 4 minutes.
A historical display of the Catalina Crossing Race including laminated photos of the first crews that challenged the channel and the perpetual Catalina Channel Crossing trophies can be seen in the window box of the Avalon Surf Company store on Front Street. The trophies include:
- Overall Winner: Men’s & Women’s Division; Seaplane Trophy (Cruzan Rum, former sponsor).
- Mayor’s Cup: 1st Place Women’s Crew, Silver Cup on Koa pedestal.
- Co-ed Division Award: 1st Place Co-ed Crew, Koa framed shadowbox.
Team Catalina’s motto is “He wa’a he moku, he moku he wa’a” – “Our canoe is our Island, our Island is our canoe”, and thanks its sponsors and supporters including ACE Clearwater, Avalon Surf Company, Catalina Divers Supply, Catalina Island Foundation, Catalina Island Golf Carts (in honor of Buddy Wilson), Catalina Island Hospitality Group (in honor of Charles Nash), Catalina Island Yacht Club, Curtin Maritime, Joe’s Rent-a-Boats, Volcano Mist Cottage and Zims of Catalina for their contributions to the Club and the Catalina Island Channel Crossing tradition.
