AUSTRALIAN OUTRIGGER CANOE RACING ASSOCIATION INC.
ARB 082 921 784
SAFETY ALERT
25th October 2008
Incident
Description
A junior paddler was involved in a huli (canoe flipping)
incident with their crew on a sand bar. The paddler was
not injured, the canoe was righted and the crew
paddled home.
The paddler had been on the water for 6 months and
had never been involved in a huli drill or exercise prior
to this incident.
Negative Actions
The club and coach had not fulfilled their requirements to ensure
paddlers practice safety drills.
Positive Actions
The parent of the junior mentioned the incident to AOCRA.
All other clubs have the opportunity to learn from this event and
ensure ALL their paddlers (seniors and juniors) are competent in
huli practices and righting canoes.
Learnings
All clubs should be ensuring their coaches are
conducting the following drills at the start of the season
and as new paddlers join the club.
1. Huli drill
2. Swim test
3. Treading water test
As per the coaching guidelines.
Comment
Coaches – with juniors huli practice can be turned into a ‘fun’
event with teams racing the clock to right the canoe safely and
get back in and paddling.
Under race conditions teams have three minutes before they are
disqualified.
687312877
AOCRA
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