Canadian Outrigger Hall Of Fame 2023 Inductees

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 2021 thru June 2023 tracking down this history, and fact-checking as best as possible the exploits of those individuals who founded CORA, who founded / nurtured CORA clubs, who inaugurated / perpetuated 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 2023 CORA Board Meeting there were 7 individuals inducted into the Canadian Outrigger Hall Of Fame for 2023.

Lotus Sports Club had graciously offered to host a Canadian Outrigger Canoeing Hall Of Fame presentation for the 7 inductees at the Lotus CORA Cup Championship Iron event on the July 22/23 weekend to recognize these individuals, but none of the Inductees could attend. CORA will have an online Town Hall in November of this year to recognize the inductees for 2023.

CORA wishes to congratulate the 7 Canadian Outrigger Hall Of Fame 2023 Inductees:

  • Ruth Matson
  • David Hill
  • Nancy Botting
  • Len Morris Jr.
  • Lynda Roberts
  • Norman MacDonell
  • Leanne Stanley

You can visit the CORA website and view the “Virtual Hall Of Fame” that has the names / headshots of the 7 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 CORA could find where they were mentioned.

CORA 2023 Junior / Novice OC Paddle Draw

CORA introduced a new initiative for 2022 at the CORA 2021 Pre-AGM that was continued for 2023. To encourage participation by new paddlers at CORA 2023 events, a new Junior / Novice OC Paddle Draw Grant was funded. Every Junior / Novice participant at each CORA Cup Series 2023 event was given 1 entry for the end-of-season draw. It was possible for each Junior / Novice participant to have up to a maximum of 4 entries for the end-of-season draw. The response was impressive with 75 entries in total from 7 Western Canada OC clubs. There were at least 10 entries in each of the Junior Women, Junior Men, Novice Women, and Novice Men divisions such that 2 winners were drawn from each of these 4 divisions.

Oddball Workshop

CORA wishes to extend a round of appreciation to Oddball Workshop, our generous sponsor, for contributing Gift Certificates for each of the 8 Junior / Novice winners to redeem for a paddle of a length of their choosing within 1 year from the end-of-season draw date (22-Jul-2023).

CORA wishes to congratulate the 8 Junior / Novice 2023 OC Paddle winners:

  • Zane Halperin – (Kelowna Paddle Centre)
  • Roy Yang – (False Creek Racing Canoe Club)
  • Aleta Dengler – (Lotus Sports Club)
  • Oscar Tessman – (Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club)
  • Lauren Gray – (Kelowna Paddle Centre)
  • Melanie Mellaart – (Penticton Racing Canoe Club)
  • Ayden Dean – (Lotus Sports Club)
  • Kendra Shaw – (Kelowna Paddle Centre)
Calling Zane Halperin Junior-Novice-Winner Junior-Novice-Winner Junior-Novice-Winner
Junior-Novice-Winner Junior-Novice-Winner Junior-Novice-Winner Junior-Novice-Winner

CORA wishes to extend a round of appreciation to the Race Coordinators (Don Mulhall; Carole Fullerton; Jackie Bell; Grace Morissette) from CORA Cup Series host clubs Penticton, Jericho, Comox, and Lotus, and as well as the club reps who collected the names of Junior / Novice participants at these 4 events, and forwarded these entries onto the CORA Board for the draw at the Lotus Awards presentation.

Penticton Racing Canoe Club
Penticton Racing Canoe Club
Jericho Paddling Club
Jericho Paddling Club
Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club
Comox Valley Canoe Racing Club
Lotus Sports Club
Lotus Sports Club

Team Canada At 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance

2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships takes place from Thursday 10th August 2023 through Saturday 19th August 2023 at the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) grounds on the waterfront in Apia. Racing has concluded with the Closing Ceremonies to follow. CORA now concludes its “coverage” of the event and resumes with our local postings.

See the links for Samoa Outrigger Canoe Association Official Website and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships Race Schedule and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships Race Schedule with Entries and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships Live Stream and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships CORA Facebook Updates and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships Facebook Updates and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships Race Results and 2023 Samoa IVF World Distance Championships Final Medal Tally to follow along with all the activities.

Daily Results:

Team Canada V6 / V1 Participants:

  • V6 Masters 75 Women: Ruth Matson, Susan Hanson, Sue Humphries, Lynnette Mangan, Helen Robinson, Sue Milligan
  • V6 Masters 70 Women: Barb McColl, Ann Mohs, Mary Louise Phinney, Kat Town, Shirley Curtis, Rose Mary Neill
  • V6 Masters 60 Women: Jaye Kerzner, Annie Boulding, Lisa Robertson, Lorri Stewart, Heather Taylor, Catherine Marr
  • V6 Masters 50 Women: Mel Durban, Tara Hastings, Kamini Jain, Cheryl Skribe, Julie Kippen, Carole Fullerton
  • V6 Masters 40 Women: Leanne Stanley, Melanie Conard, Kelsey Siddall, Ashley Barker, Zoe Norcross Nu’u, Cheryl Skribe
  • V6 Open Women: Ellashani George, Á’a:líya Warbus, Cortney Russell, Kayla Boston, Danielle Monroe, Christine Seymour
  • V6 Masters 70 Men: Terry Curtis, Jon Amundson, Bill Buckingham, Bob Stewart, John Rodgers, Dean Dogherty
  • V6 Masters 60 Men: Jim Underwood, Don Irvine, Bob Woodman, Rob Varnel, Dennis Silvestrone, Brad Morrison
  • V6 Masters 50 Men: Scott Borle, Ken Asano, Gavin Godfrey, James Hill, Vincent Fecteau, Rob Varnel
  • V6 Masters 40 Men: Darren Grant, Simon Corbaux, Ken Ang, Daniel Point, Jeremy Siddall, Andrew Mclean
  • V6 Open Men: Rob Magus, Jesse Balcom, James Healy, Tony Hodanic, Will Rainey, Jeff Chow
  • V1 U19 Women: Ellashani George
  • V1 U19 Men: Will Rainey
  • V1 Open Women: Melanie Conard
  • V1 Open Men: Tony Hodanic
  • V1 Masters 40 Women: Leanne Stanley
  • V1 Masters 40 Men: Rob Magus
  • V1 Masters 50 Women: Heather Taylor
  • V1 Masters 50 Men: Scott Borle
  • V1 Masters 60 Women: Mel Durban
  • V1 Masters 60 Men: Bob Woodman
  • V1 Masters 70 Women: Mary Lou Phinney
  • V1 Masters 70 Men: Jon Amundson
  • V1 Masters 75 Women: Ann Mohs
  • V1 Masters 75 Men: Terry Curtis