Tag: outrigger canoe

Gorge Downwind Championships: Highest Female Race Participation on the Globe

Priscilla McKenney

On race day this year, westerly winds howled up to 30-35 mph, churning up frothy waves on the Columbia River Gorge. Perfect conditions for the 2018 Gorge Downwind Championships, a 13 mile paddle race, attracting over 750 racers, including top notch elite athletes from around the world. A ride, it was, flying eastward along fast moving wind waves from Home Valley to Hood River. As I surfed my outrigger canoe, I scanned ahead for the next set of waves to drop into for the next ride while I kept my…

An Epic Odyssey- part 2

Priscilla McKenney

The morning I had been waiting for, the Ka’iwi Channel Relay, a 40 mile outrigger canoe race, crossing from Molokai to Oahu, had arrived. This relay race is paddled in a one person outrigger canoe where you switch out with your partner every 30-45 minutes, requiring an escort boat. The Ka’iwi channel is notorious for its reputation of being one of the toughest ocean channel crossings in the world because of its strong winds, currents and large swells. Situated in the middle of the Pacific ocean, with exposure to thousands of…