Aloha to all you paddling enthusiasts! This e-mail is an announcement of the establishment of a new canoe club in the Washington DC Metro Area that hopes to introduce Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Racing to the East Coast.

This new club, known as the Mid-Atlantic Canoe Club (MACC), was founded by Ron Storrer of Laurel, MD and Terry Wilton of Waldorf, MD in November 1994. The MACC is an officially registered club with the American Canoe Association (ACA) and is listed in Paddler magazine.

The purpose and goals of this new club are to promote and teach Hawaiian-style outrigger canoe paddling, as well as other more traditional styles of canoe paddling.

Ron and Terry recently returned from living in Hawai`i (where we paddled with the Honolulu Canoe Club for three years) to the East Coast and are eager to share the fun of Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe Paddling with paddling enthusiasts in the MD/VA/DC area.

At present, we are seeking new members for our club to help set up canoe racing teams and to help establish some great canoeing workouts. We hope to schedule our first club events (lessons in Hawaiian paddling and racing techniques, proper power strokes, water safety, as well as potluck picnics, etc.) this paddling season - April to November.

The MACC currently has one (soon to be two) 21-foot one-man outrigger canoe and one 16-foot two-man traditional (Old Town) canoe. We hope to eventually acquire more one-man canoes and a real Hawaiian-style 6-man outrigger canoe (Ron is the East Coast rep for the one-man's).

In order to get things rolling though, we need any/all interested paddlers (any age, experience not required, only interest in paddling!) to join up with the MACC and help us get things started.

We are planning to participate in several races this year. Ron was in the Pokomoke River Challange on May 18th (a 12-mile event), and the MACC will enter two canoes into the last leg of the triple crown of the Pokomoke River Challenge on June 15th (another 12-mile event). In July, the MACC will be co-organizing several canoe and kayak races during the Annapolis Small Boat Festival to be held at St. Johns College on College Creek during 12-14 July. The race events will include regatta-style sprints and one long-distance event. The festival will be a fun time and the MACC is pleased to be involved, with the help of members of the Washington Canoe Club.

Canoe paddling is a great way of adding to your overall health and fitness, and it's also a terrific way to have fun with other folks who love to paddle! If you are interested in joining us, please contact either Ron or Terry as follows:
Ron: e-mail at storrer@his.com, phone (301) 725-4953
Terry: e-mail at marathont@aol.com, phone (301) 870-1155.

ALOHA and Mahalo for your support, Ron and Terry.

Hele On Back

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