About us

Noosa Outrigger Canoe Club today has a membership of more than 170 + paddlers, competing in most age group regattas throughout the season, or if competition is not your thing, enjoy time on the water & social activities with our recreational paddlers.

Our mission

To achieve excellence in the development, practice, and promotion of the sport and culture of Outrigger Canoe Racing in the Noosa Area. To provide multi-point entry into the sport via Novice, Intermediate and Recreational levels.

Vision Statement to December 2027

  • Club facilities – NOCC will have new, modern and functional facilities including sufficient boat storage.
  • Training – NOCC will offer outstanding training opportunities for both competitive and recreational paddlers.
  • Regattas and Events – NOCC will host a minimum of two AOCRA regattas and two internal events per year.
  • Inclusivity and culture – NOCC will provide a safe and inclusive environment and establish a positive culture for all members that is the foundation for 5% pa net growth.

Our values

As Noosa Outrigger Canoe Club members, we subscribe to the AOCRA Code of Conduct and have adapted them as our set of values to guide our behaviour and our decision-making.  In summary these are our shared values.  They are our means of getting along with each other.  They are the values we use to hold ourselves to account.

Specifically, we:

  • Adhere to the principles of fair play and always play by the rules, respecting the traditions of Outrigging and the spirit of competition;
  • Respect the rights and dignity of every person regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation. This includes our teammates, opponents, coaches, and officials. We never engage in behaviour that abuses, provokes, or harasses others;
  • Respect the decisions of coaches and officials and never argue with them;
  • Never engage in inappropriate conduct including the use of offensive language and gestures that are demeaning to others;
  • Always consider the safety and wellbeing of other participants before performance and results;
  • Those of us who drink or smoke, do so responsibly when at any NOCC or AOCRA event as well as when we represent NOCC or AOCRA.  We also acknowledge and agree to comply with NOCC By Laws, AOCRA Code of Statutory requirements;
  • Are impartial, consistent, and transparent in our conduct and decision-making;
  • Accept responsibility for our actions;
  • Avoid situations that may lead to or call into question conflict of interest.

In the beginning…..

In 1985 Evan Gartrell, foundation and life member of NOCC was working on Hamilton Island when he first saw & heard of the sport of outrigging. That same year he began paddling with the Hamilton Island Opens Men’s Team, where they would compete in the inter-island races in the Whitsundays, and in the same year he visited Molokai, Hawaiito participate in paddling events at the birthplace of outrigging.

In 1987 he moved to Noosa where in 1991 he met Zandra Brown (ne D’Aboitze) from Hawaii at the ‘Frenzy’ ice cream van at Main Beach. Evan was wearing his Molokai T-shirt, which instigated a conversation regarding their experiences in outrigging, resulting in both agreeing that it would be wonderful to have an outrigger club in Noosa.

Evan contacted his old team captain from Hamilton Island and managed to borrow a ‘Malia’ canoe from him for three months, and the Mooloolaba Club kindly lent them a trailer to move the canoe around. The founding paddlers were all close friends or relatives of Zandra and Evan.

Initially the team trained in mixed men’s & women’s teams, & borrowed canoes to enable them to compete in local events. But soon after starting up they had enough paddlers to form both open men’s and open women’s teams for competition.

The first ‘Point to Point’ race, a 42 km change over race from Mooloolaba to Noosa was about to be held and the Hamilton Island Club was coming down to compete. They had a second hand canoe for sale for $4000, which was purchased by Evan on behalf of the club who then arranged to reimburse him from fundraising efforts. One of the paddlers at the time was Lisa Doherty whose parents owned the Noosa North Shore Beachfront Wilderness Camp. They generously offered to purchase the canoe to help get the club going, and so the Noosa Outrigger Canoe Club had its first canoe! Canoe covers were ‘exchanged’ for a carton of FourX from the Hamilton Island Club.