From 12-hour races to humpback whales: Hong Kong canoe team make Pacific history
Team of legal and finance professionals, sports coaches and a barber complete the torturous Hawaiki Nui Va’a race in French Polynesia
A group of 12 paddlers from Hong Kong have become the first team from the city to complete the Hawaiki Nui Va’a – an annual three-day outrigger canoe race in French Polynesia and one of the world’s toughest ocean endurance events.
The team, known as the Aloha Adventure Squad, spent eight months training before travelling to Tahiti in October for the event, which covers about 128 kilometres (80 miles) across four islands: Huahine, Raiatea, Taha’a and Bora Bora.
Most of the squad met through the city’s local outrigger community.
Seb Doolan, the coach and also one of the team members, took charge of the group three years ago after a disappointing domestic season and began preparing them for international competition.
“The team’s name ‘Aloha’ started as just a greeting from Hawaii,” Doolan, a 33-year-old barber, said. “But it came to symbolise something deeper: a self-funded team that trains before sunrise, without sponsorship.”
Their path to Tahiti ran through Hawaii’s Molokai Hoe, a 66-kilometre channel crossing between Molokai and Oahu, and often called the world championship of outrigger canoeing.