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a big smile on my face right in the middle of the unruly channel. Our crew stayed calm and collected under pressure, and our accomplishment was a testament to great teamwork and leadership.” “The waves were 10 to 15 feet, with wind gusts up to 25 knots. Three canoes went down and needed to be towed back to safety,” Kincaid says of that first race. “Our heading angle put us parallel to these big waves crashing on the ama and hull. I was so proud of Outrigger for making it through.” After that first race, OCC member and HSCA co-founder Jimmy Kincaid said the Club could now proudly claim its place in the Hawaiian sailing canoe ‘ohana. Throughout the season, the crew competed against canoes that had been sailing these courses for decades—and consistently held their own. During the O‘ahu Coastal Ka‘aumoana Memorial Race, OCC finished third in a tight Saturday leg and followed with a strong second on Sunday, after leading most of the day. “As a crew, we pulled off all the logistics that come with canoe sailing,” Raams says, reflecting on the season. “That was only possible thanks to the support of OCC, the expertise of those who came before us and passed down the traditional ways, and the people today who continue to make racing possible.” OCC’s Sailing Canoe Committee plans to use Holoholo as a cornerstone for Club training while continuing to search for a suitable location for Ka‘aumoana to be based. Over the next few years, Raams hopes to build on this exciting foundation and open the door for more members, especially juniors, to get involved. “Mentorship is key in this sport. I’d like to pass on what I’ve learned, just as others continue to share their knowledge with me,” she explains. “Being out on the canoe, exposed to the elements, is always humbling. That’s what keeps me inspired to keep learning and giving back to this program.”
he 2025 Hawaiian Sail- ing Canoe Association (HSCA) season wrapped up on Kaua‘i in Septem- ber, but for the Outrigger Canoe Club the true mile- stone was seeing its new
six-man sailing canoe, Ka‘aumoana, join the annual racing series—carrying the Club’s sailing tradition across the islands for the first time. “We're the only association that has races that cross every single channel of the Hawaiian Islands every year,” says Ikaika Kincaid, OCC member and president of the HSCA. “To be part of that, it showcases the Club's waterman capabilities.” Members Bruce Black and Billy Phil- potts launched the OCC Sailing Canoe Program in 2019, bringing the vision and more than two years of dedicated work to prepare a six-man sailing canoe for HSCA races. They had key sup- port from Robi and Max Solmssen, co-chairs of OCC’s Sailing Canoe Com- mittee, who helped ready Ka‘aumoana for competition. Ka‘aumoana was named in honor of Ka‘au McKinney, a beloved Club mem- ber and Hōkūle'a captain and navigator. “To be sailing with his knowledge and wind in our sails will lead us to success,” Black says. After two decades paddling with OCC’s women’s program, member Jen- nifer Raams turned her attention to sailing. In 2022, she became a certified captain of Holoholo, the Club’s four-man sailing canoe, and in 2023 joined OCC’s Sailing Canoe Committee. Today, as co-chair, she's she’s proud to have repre- sented the Club as part of Ka‘aumoana’s inaugural crew. “We’ve opened the door to a whole new chapter of racing for OCC,” says Raams. Reflecting on the season, she points to the kickoff race as a defining moment, when the crew arrived as the fourth canoe on Hāna Beach after crossing the Alenuihāhā Channel. “The boys said they were surprised that I had
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