Early Years & Timeline

The journey from dragon boats to outrigger canoes.

Hurricane Outrigger Canoe Club was formed in November 2009 by a group of determined, passionate dragon boat paddlers.

 

The first clubroom was an alleyway at the Navy Cadets barracks in East Fremantle, Western Australia. The floor was full of dirt, there was no roof and it could only fit two boats. One of which was known as “Ally”.

 

After 4 years of living in this alleyway, Hurricane re-located down the road to the Leeuwin Sea Scouts on Riverside Road, East Fremantle. This new home included storage facilities and…yes, a roof! allowing easy access to launch the canoes on a beautiful little beach.

 

Early dragon boating days

At the first regatta, Hurricane member’s wore white t-shirts turned inside out. The green & white race shirt we later wore and competed in was unveiled a the 2010 State Championships.

We came first in the Dragon Boat section in the Classic Paddle of October 2010 and we also came first in the inaugural Avon Challenge Classic Paddle in 2012.

From there, Hurricane competed successfully in the 2011, 2012 and 2013 DBWA State Championships.

International Dragon Boat Federation World Championships
  • In 2010, Hurricane qualified to compete in the IDBF World Cub Crew Championships in Macau, bringing home a silver and bronze medal in the 200m and the 500m. A first for a WA Club!
  • In 2011, seven Hurricane paddlers were selected to represent Australia at the 2011 World Championships in Tampa, Florida.
  • From there, we qualified to compete in the 2012 IDBF World Club Crew Championships in Hong Kong entering an Open, Women’s and Master’s 10’s, Premier Open 10’s and Grand Masters Mixed 10’s.
  • In 2013, four Hurricane paddlers were selected to represent Australia in the World Championships in Szeged, Hungary. One paddler was chosen as the Junior Coach and another  as the Senior C Capton.
  • In 2015, Hurricane had one paddler head to Welland in Canada to be part of the World Championships.
 
From one sided paddling to two...

Our evolution into outrigger canoes

 

In 2014, Hurricane OCC entered an outrigger competition. It was a 17km paddle from Mosman Beach to Leighton Beach. We used wooden paddles and a heavy boat. It was here we learnt about the ocean and how tough it can be but what a fun experience it was! The heavy boat that was used for this race was later purchased by Hurricane OCC.

Our focus began to shift to gaining more members and joining AOCRA (Australian Outrigger Canoe Racing Association). This way, our club could offer two different type of paddling sports within the same club - dragon boating and outrigger canoe.  And so...

  • In 2016, Hurricane became the Hurricane Dragon Boat and Outrigger Canoe Club Inc. Progressively, we attracted new members and competed in AOCRA events. 
  • In 2019 we initiated our junior paddle program, growing to eight committed juniors by the end of the season.
  • 2020 saw the arrival of Covid-19 and while Hurricane was a new, exciting and growing club, our future path had to change slightly. Due to our shed and facility closures and no OC6 paddling or training allowed due to government restrictions, members discovered the joy of OC1/OC2 paddling and downwind paddling and started purchasing their own crafts.
  • As the year progressed, OC1 paddling became so popular that an extra weekly training session was added.  We were still social distancing but as we were just one person in a canoe and we were outdoors, it was quite easy to train regularly.
  • In December 2020, we purchased our first OC6 Ultralight Canoe which is still being used by our members.
  • In 2021, we hosted the AOCRA WAZA State Titles and earned the title of Champion Club in WA. This was a very proud moment for the club, it’s members and family. Our juniors also competed in the State & National titles, which were highly successful competitions for our kids.
  • In 2022, as we emerged from COVID, our club continued to grow and club home was established at Leeuwin Hall. For the second year in a row, Hurricane won Champion Club for WA at the AOCRA WAZA State Titles and competed at the National Titles, wining a number of races.
  • In 2023 Hurricane competed in the Sydney Harbour Challenge and the National Marathon Titles in Queensland. We were particularly proud of our performance at the Nationals as we ranked 5th in the country. Again, Hurricane OCC won the AOCRA WAZA State Titles. Also in 2023, Hurricane OCC said goodbye to its Dragon Boat days, and found a good, new home for the boat.
  • Throughout 2023 and 2024, a group of passionate members worked on renovating our new club house, transforming it into a fabulous facility for members. This has helped to attract sponsors and grow our membership significantly.
  • In 2024, for the fourth year in a row, Hurricane won Champion Club for WA and then went on to compete at the National Marathon Titles in QLD where we surpassed our goal of making it in the top 3 clubs in Australia. We placed 2nd!
  • In November 2023 we officially changed our name to Hurricane Outrigger Canoe Club, as required by AOCRA.
  • In December 2024, we celebrated our 15-year anniversary and couldn’t be prouder of all that we have accomplished since we started way back in 2009!