Category: News

Phew … finally recovered from a fantastic novice practice this morning!!  It was not looking like the most beautiful day to paddle, totally overcast and in the low 60s (water still barely in the 50s… yikes!) but we had a crew of small but mighty women ready to hit the water.  We easily rolled A’no:wara down the beach and set north along the east shore of Cayuga, with great steering by Sally and Barbara stroking.

The boat felt very strong and smooth, and our two novices caught on instantly.  One of the novices mentioned that she had spent ages sanding and sealing ‘iakos during a semester in Hawaii, though this was her first time in an outrigger!  It was also a nice chance for Barbara and me to slow down a bit at times and work on our technique and sort of take apart what has become (almost) second nature.  I was definitely feeling the burn by the end, as I think everyone was — so totally worth it, and really motivating for our future practices as we continue to improve technique, build strength, and come together as a unified crew no matter who is in the boat.  I am pumped to see these women return to future practices to see if they still enjoy it with crazier water and weather.  I’m certainly hoping they do!  We may finally have our women’s crew that we have looked forward to for years!

I must admit .. it was a major challenge to get the canoe back on shore afterwards, but we made it up in one piece in the end.  I’m not sure that I have ever been so out of breath after paddling, even after PJ’s crazy sprint workouts and long races.  I think I simply overdid it because I was so excited to be paddling with such a fun and focused crew, and so it was unquestionably worthwhile.

As several club members will be traveling during the next couple of weeks, the next official Novice practice will not be until June 22, so stay tuned and continue to email with any questions about possibly attending club practices in the mean time!

Now that the water is starting to warm up, we’d like to begin offering some novice practices for new or prospective members, or seasoned club members who would like more time to work on technique in the outriggers.

For June, we’ll plan to have Saturday novice practices on June 8 and June 22 at 10am; please arrive at 9:45 to the Cornell Sailing Center.  Plan to be on the water for 1-1.5 hours.  Please email blair.johnson@gmail.com if you are interested in attending, so that we are sure we have enough new members and/or club members to fill the boats and have a great practice.  If you would like to try paddling but weekends are not convenient for you, send me an email and we can arrange a crew on a weeknight to go out.

Novices are also encouraged to sign up for regular club practices (particularly on Sunday) if they have paddling experience.  Fill out the forms under “practice sign up” on the right hand side, and please leave your contact information so that we can get in touch with you if practice is canceled.

New members will need to sign a waiver (available at practice).  There is also a $10 fee for new paddlers; if you choose to join COCC, this will be applied towards your dues.

Please wear synthetic clothing and shoes that can (and will) get wet.  Don’t bring anything with you that you can’t bear to lose or get wet!  Paddles and PFDs will be provided.

Hope to see you on the water!

The Cayuga Outrigger Canoe Club is excited to announce that the Finger Lakes International Dragon Boat Festival has expanded to a second day of outrigger canoe and SUP races.

There will be OC-1, OC-6 and SUP races!  Outrigger racers and teams can compete in a 1000m and 11km races while the SUPers have a 250m fun race, 1000m and 4.2km races.  The longer SUP and outrigger races will include legs out into the lake and Cayuga Lake is known for some wild and unpredictable conditions!  Race information can be found at the FLIDBF website.

For the past three weeks, a few of our club members have been coaching
Cornell University’s Concrete Canoe team.  We have already had 13
Civil Engineering undergraduate students show up for practices,
including 4 exchange students from Spain.  Many of the students have
never paddled in any boats, and have excitedly climbed into the
outrigger canoes to learn the basics of paddling in preparation for
their race this upcoming spring.

The students have a daunting task — designing the concrete mix,
building a mold, and actually creating their own canoe out of
concrete.  Once the canoe survives the journey on the road to the
regional competition, they must be sure that their canoe floats and
supports the weight of the paddlers, as they must complete three races
on the water.  Last year was the first year that they completed all
three races, and we are hoping that after training in the outriggers
and in some other canoes, they will not only complete their races, but
maybe they’ll win!

Both the outrigger club and students are grateful to have Terry on
board, as he is such an experienced paddler and a very thoughtful and
motivating coach.  It is an absolute joy paddling with the students —
they are excited to learn proper technique and to see the beautiful
scenery along Cayuga Lake during our last few weeks of “warm” water.
They have ambitiously climbed through the logs at the marina that
washed up after the hurricanes and tropical storms, and they are eager
to try to paddle the OC-6 single-handedly to impress their teammates.
A lot of the students are quite good — maybe we can convince them to
stay at Cornell for a few extra years so that they can paddle with the
club!  I am grateful to have a few more weeks to work together this
fall, and will be crossing my fingers for a successful boat
construction and race come May.

Thanks to Terry, Paul W, Paul C, and everyone who has supported this
from the club, and to the students for their eager participation and
great attitudes on the water — certainly a fun way to end the season!

Just as in years past, we are placing an order for paddle jerseys. We’ll be using the same Patagonia capilene shirts as the past two years, but this year the design on back has been changed and we are switching the color to “crimson” (a nice rich red). On the front we’ll have the club logo and on the back will be the following graphic.

Cost for each jersey will be about $30 (a little more for longsleeved, a little less for no sleeves, although the back of a no-sleeve probably won’t have much except the club logo). I’ll have an exact number once we see shipping, print costs, etc.

We’ll also be ordering some t-shirts ($13 each) with the same printing front and back. There will be a woman’s cut available. Color will be “earth black” (I think that just means black, it’s a nice quality organic cotton shirt).

To order, please go here for paddle jerseys or here for t-shirts. We need a minimum of six pieces for an order.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Orders will be open for one week, closing next Thursday (June 23) at 9 AM.

If there is enough interest we can also place a sweatshirt order. Six sweatshirts would need to be ordered for this to happen. Cost was about $35 last time we did this. Email me if you are interested and we’ll see what we can do.