Set against the backdrop of the
Whitsunday Islands
The Whitsunday Islands are 74 continental islands of various sizes off the central coast of Queensland, Australia, north of Brisbane. The northernmost of the islands are off the coast by the town of Bowen, while the southernmost islands are ...
, on Queensland's
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
- Hamilton Island Cup has evolved to become a 4-day multi-disciplined outrigger paddling regatta and Australia's premier outrigger canoeing event.
[Hamilton Cup Origins](_blank)
. Kanuculture.com.
History
In 1981,
Hamilton Island entrepreneur Keith Williams, had founded
Sea World, a Gold Coast-based tourist attraction and simultaneously created an outrigger crew largely composed of staff members, while local Gold Coast realtor and friend, Max Christmas was associated with the Outrigger Canoe Club of Australia, founded in 1978. Two rival crews were created; the ‘Max Christmas Gold Coast’ team (in actuality an Outrigger Australia crew) and Keith’s ‘Sea World’ team. They were to compete against each other on Hamilton Island in 1983 at what was considered a trial run of the subsequent Hamilton Cup founded the year after in 1984, coincidentally providing much needed media attention for Keith’s new resort project on Hamilton Island.
[Outrigger Canoeing and Stand Up Paddleboarding](_blank)
. Kanuculture.com.
By 1984 the first Hamilton race was able to be staged as there were enough canoes and paddlers to make the event worth staging. It was billed as the, ‘Queensland Outrigger Titles’.
In later years the event was renamed the Hamilton Cup, and as the sports popularity grew - the number of events and size of the carnival grew. The 4 day event became known as the Hamilton Island Cup, with the signature race - the 42 km marathon event - becoming known as The Hamilton Cup. The Australian Outrigger Canoe Racing Association consider the Hamilton Cup as being one of the most prestigious and challenging major events on the Australian Outrigging Calendar.
In June 2008, the 25th anniversary of the original 1983 race was celebrated. The 25th anniversary event featured over 2000 paddlers, representing 43 Australian clubs and 10 overseas-based clubs from Hawaii, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tahiti, Papua New Guinea and New Zealand.
In 2010 Stand Up
Paddleboarding
Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. This article refers to traditional prone or kneeli ...
(SUP) was included as a discipline for the first time - indicating the growing popularity of this discipline in Australia.
Divisions & Races
*OC6 16 km
*OC6 500m/1000m
*OC6 Changeover
*OC1 16 km
*OC1/SUP 8 km
*OC1/OC2 SUP 250m
*OC2 16 km
*OC2 8 km
Off-Water Events
Hamilton Island Race Week has a number of social events at the island resort during the Hamilton Island Cup event. The most famous event is King of the Mountain footrace, where runners must race a steep 6 km loop from the resort centre to Passage Peak (the highest peak in the Whitsunday Islands at 234 metres).
King of the Mountain Foot Race
Hamilton Island Enterprises.
See also
* Sport in Queensland
Sport is an important part of the culture of the Australian state of Queensland. Golf is the most played organised sport and touch football is the most played team sport. Netball is the most popular female sport, while rugby league is the m ...
References
{{Reflist
Whitsunday Islands
Sports competitions in Queensland
Canoeing and kayaking competitions in Australia
Recurring sporting events established in 1984