Author: Graeme Galves

The purpose of the Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award is to recognize volunteers who have made significant and exemplary contributions to the Outrigger Canoe Racing Discipline of Canadian Outrigger Racing Association (“CORA”) within Canada in the Builder Category.

The CORA Board has approved Policy and Procedure relating to selection and awarding and administering the Award as per the Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award Policy.

The Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award is awarded after the CORA AGM. The CORA Board has reviewed nominations received for the past season and has recognized Don Mulhall of Penticton Racing Canoe Club as the 2021 recipient of the Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award.

Don Mulhall has a 25-year legacy of selfless volunteer effort to paddlesports in general and outrigger canoe racing in particular. He has made contributions to support Canadian paddlers at the international, national, provincial, and club level. He has been part of the Penticton Racing Canoe Club (PRCC) that has hosted the popular Penticton Duel In The Desert, Length Of The Lake Ultra-Distance, Okanagan Small-Boat Racing Series, Skaha Downwind event, Channel Parkway small-boat event and Penticton Dragon Boat Festival. He has served both on the Penticton Racing Canoe Club Executive continuously from 1999-2021 and on the CORA Board from 2017-2019.

CORA was finally able to have a Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award photo-op on a gorgeous afternoon in September 2021 at Barnet Marine Park between Lotus Poker Paddle heats with CORA Chairman (Ron Chin) making the presentation to Grace Morissette (2019 Recipient) with the Indian Arm backdrop in the distance.

      

CORA made best efforts through travel restrictions and wildfires and atmospheric rivers to have a Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award photo-op and presentation with Drew Mitchell (2020 Recipient) in the Okanagan, but this may need to wait until early 2022.

 

For more information about the Hugh Town Memorial Builder Award, CLICK HERE

CORA recognized that there were many individuals who had made “Significant and Exemplary Contributions” to Canadian outrigger canoeing, but their stories had never been captured, and they had never been formally recognized. CORA spent January-July 2021 tracking down this history, and fact-checking as best as possible the exploits of those individuals who founded CORA, who founded CORA clubs, who inaugurated races, who excelled at IVF / Molokai / Catalina / Queen Liliuokalani events, and who designed / built / imported / distributed canoes to grow the sport.

As of the August 2021 CORA Board Meeting there were 18 individuals inducted into the Canadian Outrigger Hall Of Fame for 2021.

Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club (CVCRC) has graciously offered to have an awards ceremony at the Comox Island Iron event on the August 28/29 weekend to recognize 8 of those individuals who have called Comox home.

CORA wishes to congratulate the 18 Canadian Outrigger Hall Of Fame 2021 Inductees:

• Jackie Webber
• Rick Nu’u
• Peter Forand
• Heather Taylor
• Annie Boulding
• David Boulding
• Don Irvine
• Melanie Whittall
• Cheryl Skribe
• James Van Nostrand
• Hugh Fisher
• Sheila Kuyper
• Drew Mitchell
• Garry Mancell
• Alan Carlsson
• Bob Disbrow
• Jim Mancell
• Ron Kaschula

You can visit the CORA website and view the “virtual Hall Of Fame” that has the names / headshots of the 18 individuals inducted this year and links to a 3-page PDF that has their contributions in 2-pages and a 1-page set of references on every online article that we could find where they were mentioned.

The CORA Historical Committee accumulated a wealth of stories / photos during the COVID downtime on individuals / clubs / canoes that made significant contributions to Canadian outrigger canoeing. There was a six-person outrigger canoe named “The Burrard”, shrouded in mystery and mentioned only occasionally, that may very well have been the first six-person outrigger canoe to ever voyage Canadian waters. Discovering the complete story of how “The Burrard” arrived in Canada in 1986 until it made its final contribution to the Canadian outrigger canoeing community in 2006 would not have been possible without accounts provided by none other than Annie Boulding (Comox), Jackie Bell (Comox), Heather Taylor (Nanaimo), Ruth Matson (Nanaimo), VPD Officer Dan O’Donovan (Jericho), Matt Kelly (Predator Performance Designs), Rob Varnel (Pac Reach), David Chambers (Vernon), David Hill (VCKC), and Gord Oliphant (VCKC).

The story of how “The Burrard” travelled from Newport Beach to False Creek, Penticton, Vernon, Kamloops, Jericho, Pemberton, Victoria Canoe Kayak Club, and Comox as a starter outrigger canoe until it was deemed unseaworthy may be found at the CORA website Cultural Continuity section along with many other publications from the CORA Historical Committee. This hull that Annie Boulding brought to Canada would set in motion at least eight Canadian outrigger canoe clubs.

CORA wishes to extend their gratitude to Susan Logan (VCKC) and Tim Marks (VCKC) for providing CORA with a complimentary hard-copy of the “VCKC – 50 Years of Paddling” publication which provided enough clues for CORA to work backwards and forwards from when “The Burrard” was the starter outrigger canoe for VCKC, to David Hill (VCKC) for granting CORA permission to publish the only known colour photos of “The Burrard”, and to Jackie Bell for providing photos of “The Burrard” making its final contribution to the Canadian outrigger canoeing community as her wedding arch.

First VCKC paddle in “The Burrard” August 1994 – Shelia Allen, Urban Allen, Arpad (Junior) Szatory, Don Munroe, David Hill, Gord Oliphant