Two paddling teams from American Samoa, Le Vasa Outrigger and Alo o Samoa, joined the Apia teams in the first Sheraton to Sheraton outrigger race on Saturday March 18th.
The course was 30 KM long and there were three classes of entry: mixed men and women with three shoreline changes over the course; mixed iron meaning non stop with the same 6 paddlers and the third category iron men.
Le Vasa outrigger entered a mixed iron team and Alo O Samoa entered a men’s iron team.
The Alo team was made up of men from two local clubs, Alo O Samoa and Laumei.
30KM is about 18 miles and one of the longer races that have an iron category.
Most outrigger races that are that long include crew changes on the way.
Although Alo’s practice for the race has been intense over the past three weeks, the lead up to the race was short.
The best men’s time was 2 hours 21 minutes or a little over 8 mph. The Alo men came in fourth at 2:41 with an average speed of a little over 7 mph.
According to Vito Lealasola , one of the men from Laumei, “We did better than we expected to but those guys were better than we expected too.”
Sheraton Hotels and Vailima were the main sponsors and they hope to make this an annual event.
