''Mālia'' is a Hawaiian-style wooden racing

canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...

crafted by James Takeo Yamasaki. The canoe was hewn out of blonde koa wood in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, in 1933. Its wooden hull provided the founding model for all subsequent

outrigger canoeing Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger ...

hulls, including those later molded from

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

. Hawaiian racing canoeist Tommy Holmes observed that ''Malia'' "remains a prototype for contemporary racing canoes ndwas among the first canoes built exclusively for the sport." The canoe was listed on the State and

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1993.

Background

Outrigger canoe racing Outrigger boats are various watercraft featuring one or more lateral support floats known as outriggers, which are fastened to one or both sides of the main hull. They can range from small dugout canoes to large plank-built vessels. Outrigger ...

became popular in Hawaii during the early 1900s. Prince

Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana'ole Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th cent ...

was an early aficionado and commissioned the first canoe specifically built for racing, the ''Aa'' in 1902. Despite weighing 620 lbs., it won many races. Lighter and more streamlined canoes continued to evolve in the following decades as common

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

canoe designs were adapted for racing purposes.

Design

''Mālia'', a ~40-ft., 400-lb. canoe designed by James Takeo Yamasaki, was the culmination of a design evolution in wooden racing canoes, and it established the model for outrigger racing canoes made of newer, lighter materials. The original

Hawaiian name A Hawaiian name is a name in the Hawaiian language. Such names are popular not only in Hawaiian families, but also among other residents of Hawaii, and even in the United States mainland among both non-native and native Hawaiians. Meanings of ...

''Mālie'' refers to the relatively calm waters of the Kona Coast on the leeward side of the Big Island, the site where the canoe was made. The

Outrigger Canoe Club An outrigger is a projecting structure on a boat, with specific meaning depending on types of vessel. Outriggers may also refer to legs on a wheeled vehicle that are folded out when it needs stabilization, for example on a crane that lifts ...

bought the original ''Mālia'' in 1940, and the Waikiki Surf Club acquired it in 1948, keeping it in use until 1988. From 1950-1951, the design of ''Malia'' was modified by Froiseth, Downing, and Choy.Holmes 1993, p.128 In 1959, the original ''Mālia'' won the first outrigger canoe race to Catalina Island in

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. After the race, the ''Malia'' had a significant impact on the historical development of the racing canoe. According to Tommy Holmes:

An interesting sidelight of the first Catalina-to-Newport race in 1959 was the alleged pirating of a fiberglass plug of the ''Malia''. This shell, reportedly taken without authorization while the ''Malia'' awaited shipment back to Hawaii, was later made into a mold. From this mold, and the hulls that came from it, other molds were made. The majority of the fiberglass canoes in use in Hawaii and California today have been made from these molds. Thus the ''Malia'' inadvertently sired a noble fleet of fiberglass-and-resin-canoes.

In 1960, a California-made fiberglass model of the ''Mālia'' competed in the annual paddling race across the Molokai Channel (the Molokai Hoe) to

Oahu Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O� ...

, leading to a separate division for ''Malia''-style fiberglass canoes in 1960–78. By 1981, models of the ''Mālia'' had begun spreading to Australia,

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, Japan,

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, and to the shores of the

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, and

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across the

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Usage and importance

The term ''Malia canoe'' now refers to a class of Hawaiian-style outrigger canoes that follow the design of the original ''Mālia'', even when made of fiberglass. Every serious outrigger canoe club, however, aims to acquire at least one ''Mālia'' made of koa wood and other traditional materials.

Background

Design

Usage and importance

References

Further reading