Outrigger canoes were recorded as arriving in Hawaii in 200 AD and would have been around the Pacific region for some considerable time before that. In thousands of years, their design hasn’t actually changed all that much.
They were present throughout Polynesia and the Pacific islands, being the principal means by which the indigenous population spread throughout the region. Outrigging is the national team sport of Hawaii, with a number of major races hosted there each year, including the world titles.
Sea travel
Originally designed for sea travel, an outrigger canoe is a double-hulled boat comprising of the main hull where the paddler(s) sit, connected to a secondary much smaller hull (or float) called an Ama. Connecting the hulls are two struts called ‘Iakus (although different regions and cultures of the Pacific have different names for the various elements of the outrigger).
Tradition
There are a lot of traditions and customs around outrigging, mainly originating from the Hawaiian culture. Some of the more common ones include not stepping over canoe (apologising to the boat if you do), and always leaving the canoe with the nose pointing towards the water.
Outrigger canoes come in many different configurations, but the most common types are twin-hulled, 1-man (OC1), 2-man (OC2) and 6-man canoes (OC6).
Outrigger races range from sprints of 500 m and ultra-short courses of 4 km, right through to 60+ km ultra-marathon races. Most OC6 races in Australia range between 14 and 24 km for short courses to marathon.