If your country consists of 118 islands, what is the best way to travel? By boat off course. Or better – because lighter and more agile – by canoe. This has traditionally been the case in French Polynesia. Inhabitants of the South Pacific archipelago, with Tahiti as the most famous part, traditionally traveled by canoe. To hunt, to travel, but also to live somewhere else.
Such a canoe is called a va’a. It has a float on the side, so that the boat remains well in the water. The va’a can be admired at the European Sports for All Games, he va’art (Dutch word for sailing with a boat) circles around the Starteiland of the Sneekweek. Purely as a demonstration, but normally it is used for competitions. Because, of course, someone once came up with the idea of inventing a sport in which the Va’a is the center.
Races are sailed over a distance of 50 to 60 kilometers. It’s all about speed, strength and endurance. “In the south of France this is now done quite a lot”, says Franck Ravez from Toulon and one of the canoeists. “And in French Polynesia it is really very popular. Many competitions are held there. Always at sea, with lots of waves. So there is also tactics and team spirit involved.”
There are six men sitting in the Va’a. The front sets the pace, the man behind is the communicator to the other four. The powerhouses are in positions three and four. One of them is also the captain, who determines the tactics. And the last two men steer the boat. The paddle is switched sides after a number of strokes. Upper arm stretched, lower one slightly bent and the Va’a cuts through the water like a knife. That’s the theory. Just like that theoretically a speed of 15 kilometers per hour can be achieved.
Ravez has only been into canoeing for about four years—mainly to keep his body in shape—but the sport is traditionally community-based. “The villages raced against each other, that is the basis of the sport. Not so much families or associations. The village chiefs put together teams from among themselves.”
And so there are not only sails to be seen around the Start Island, but a French Polynesian canoe also finds it’s way in between. Look out for the Va’a.