Seasons Greetings

Santa was a bit delayed this year what with the 14-day quarantines at every border, but there are some gifts at the CORA Cultural Continuity page if you are looking for some outrigger canoeing reading now that the Christmas and New Years festivities have quieted down.

What started out as a CORA Canoe Registry project in early 2020, resulted in a collection of historical documents after nine months, covering outrigger canoeing history in Canada 1980-2020. These PDF documents do not have the same level of detail as the VCKC – 50 Years of Paddling, but please feel free to share any outrigger canoeing stories that could add to the CORA historical archives. CORA is presently working on outrigger canoeing history for Eastern Canada, the Okanagan / Interior, and Vancouver Island.

This set of of historical documents can be found at the CORA Cultural Continuity page. A huge round of thanks to the CORA, PNWORCA, and SCORA members who contributed to these historical documents, including Grace Morissette, Jan Chavarie, Drew Mitchell, Boy Chun Fook, Bud Hohl, David Boulding, Hugh Fisher, Don Mulhall, Jim Mancell, Garry Mancell, Doug Mancell, Dan O’Donovan, Matt Kelly, Jude Turczynski, Donna Harrison, Val Simmons, Scott Borle, Andrea de Bruijn, Joan / Brent Patriquin, Wolfgang Presslauer, Sue Milligan, Barry Kosturos, Ross Creasy, Corey Teramura, Lynda Roberts, Kenneth Ang, Bob Disbrow, and so many others.

CORA Virtual Race #1 (hosted by Jericho & FGPC)

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in British Columbia, CORA is replacing eight (8) winter series races scheduled for the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island with three (3) new “Virtual Winter Series” races.  The first virtual race is scheduled for the week of 23 – 30 January 2021. Registration will open Saturday, 23 January 2021. Registered competitors can paddle their race at any time during the week, but race data must be submitted by Sunday, 31 January 2021 no later than 5:00pm Pacific Time.  Virtual Winter Series Race #1 is hosted by Jericho Paddling Club and Fairway Gorge Paddling Club and consists of 5km and 10km formats (your choice).  The net proceeds from the race series will be distributed among the seven host clubs in the winter series.  Participants will be entered into a draw at the end of the series for draw prizes, including toques and socks from the series’ title sponsor, Predator.  Click on the link below for more information along with the registration link. [If you registered while the registration link was temporarily live on 18 January 2021, your registration is valid.]

CLICK HERE for more information and to register.

Note that valid 2021 CORA memberships are required to participate in the winter series virtual races; paddlers can renew their CORA memberships HERE.

The CORA Virtual Race #1 registration will be LIVE on Saturday 23 January ($20 adult and $10 junior registration fees are distributed equally to all clubs hosting the monthly events). 

CORA Town Hall #1 (Sat, Jan 23, 2021): Enduring the Pandemic

GUEST PARTICIPANTS: Jim Foti (Lanikai, Hawaii); Cheryl Skribe (Comox, BC)

The worldwide pandemic has put our sport in a state of flux. Event cancellations and restrictions on gatherings are testing club resilience and the spirit of athletes around the world. Although the news of promising Covid-19 vaccines ignites optimism in us all, we still live with the uncertainty of what our sport will look like over the next several months. We know the finish line to this pandemic is ahead, but we can’t quite tell how far it is.

Join us for the first town hall meeting of CORA’s Off-the-Water Series to discuss enduring the pandemic’s long game for OC clubs, crews, and athletes. Jim Foti, director of the Kanakai Kaika Race Association and leadership coach at Lanikai Canoe Club, will share stories of challenges and solutions from Oahu, Hawaii. Vancouver Island’s Cheryl Skribe of Hana Hou Paddlesports will contribute Canadian perspectives to the conversation from their paddling community in Comox.

We hope you can join us for what promises to be an insightful and engaging conversation.

This meeting was not recorded.