The Outrigger Canoe Club is considered to be Hawaii's most prestigious private club. Located on the outskirts of Waikiki, the club, a nonprofit corporation, is owned and operated by its members. It was founded in 1908 by a man named Alexander Hume Ford, a former Chicago newspaper man who arrived in Honolulu in 1907. He attracted little attention and made very little impression on the few people he met around town. He quietly disappeared only to return to Hawai'i in 1908. He was to become known as a promoter, not of business ventures, but of causes.

Ford's first local cause was to revive Hawaii's "royal sport" of surfing. The art of surfboard riding was rapidly dying out in Waikiki because the beaches were becoming closed to the locals. Private residences and hotels were beginning to occupy the entire beach area. Ford proposed that a surfing club be organized. His idea was to recruit and encourage young surfers to participate in the sport. The plan was to provide some kind of dressing-room facilities at Waikiki Beach for the men and boys who had no easy access to the good surfing areas. In 1908 Ford obtained sponsors to pay for his idea. These sponsors came from a small group of Honolulu's finest business and professional communities, and thus the Outrigger Canoe Club was born.

The OCC's first order of business was to find a place to locate the club. The site they found is the present location of the Outrigger Waikiki Hotel. In 1908, the area was then occupied by the Moana Hotel. It was right next to a fresh water lagoon fed by the Manoa Stream. Ford approached a trustee of the Queen Emma Estate with a request to use their land next to the lagoon. This Trustee, Bruce Cartwright, was favorably inclined but he wanted the approval of his neighbors, the Judd Estate, which was located on the Diamond Head side of the Emma Estate plot, and the Bishop Estate on the Ewa side. The Bishop Estate readily accepted Ford's request, but the Judd Estate was skeptical about the idea of leasing the land to Ford. They were unsure about the type of club Ford was proposing. Reluctantly, the Judd Estate finally agreed, but it was under the condition that the land be used only for the purpose of preserving surfing on the boards and in outrigger canoes. A mere ten dollars was the yearly lease for the one and a half acre plot.

Once OCC had the lease which Ford and his backers obtain in Spring of 1908, they wasted no time in getting organized. The OCC idea had the community's support and felt it was ready for an organization with the aims and ideals that Ford had. One of the reasons for getting the club into place in a hurry was the impending visit of then President Theodore Roosevelt and his Great White Fleet. He was supposed to stop in Honolulu in July 1908 and the community felt it would be nice to entertain the President and his fleet in Hawaiian style at a club on Waikiki Beach.

The first meeting that the OCC held was in April 1908. In May of that same year, a constitution and set of bylaws were drawn up in an organizational meeting. Ford became the first acting president of the OCC.

The Outrigger's original clubhouse consisted of two grass shacks. The money used to purchased the huts came in an unexpected form. A group of young canoeists had won a cash prize and was afraid to keep it as they were amateurs. They gave it to Ford who purchased the shacks from a defunct zoo. The huts were moved to the newly leased site by the lagoon and were converted to practical use. One of the shacks was fitted out as a storage shed for canoes and surfboards. The other shack faced the beach and became the Club's first bathhouse and dressing room. Both were equipped with spacious lanais. In 1910 a pavilion was built where the members of OCC could dance, get a drink, and enjoy other social events. It had a thatched roof and quickly became a popular gathering place.

From the very beginning the OCC had exclusive membership. Ford realized that even with OCC's influential backing, funds would be needed for the construction of facilities and to cover operating costs. He turned to the business community for material assistance. Two men who were in the public eye jumped at the chance. They felt that if the club was going to benefit boys and young men who did not have a lot of money, the initiation fees and dues would have to be set at a nominal price. In the May 1908 organizational meeting there was the establishment of initiation fees and dues. Adults paid an initiation fee of ten dollars while boys ranging from ten to sixteen paid five dollars. Dues were twelve dollars per year for adults and five dollars for boys. At this time there was approximately eighty-six members and fifteen junior members.

The OCC was an exclusively men's club, but that idea did not last long. Less than two months of the official opening of OCC, Ford announced that a ladies auxiliary was being contemplated. By early 1909 the Women's Auxiliary of the Outrigger Canoe Club was organized. This new branch of OCC had its own president and sixty members. Many of its members were the wives of the men's branch of club. The ladies' auxiliary had its own site on the OCC property and the parent club provided suitable dressing rooms for the women. The women, who were mainly swimmers, had full access to the beach, lanais and hau terraces that had been built. While the auxiliary was a separate entity, it was part of the organization. Each club had its own constitution, bylaws and officers. Each club also managed its own finances. While it may appear that they were two separate clubs, from a practical standpoint the two organizations worked together. When the Women's Auxiliary elected to go its separate way in 1926, many of the ladies decided to stay as full fledged members of OCC. This was no longer an exclusively men's club.

In 1910 the OCC signed its first charter and built its first club house. The thatched huts were picturesque, but there were vulnerable to the winds that could come up on the Hawaiian coast. Besides the clubhouse, a two-story high pavilion was built. The ground floor was really a sand floor where the surfboards and canoes were kept. The top story became known as the Dance Pavilion. It was a spacious, sheltered lanai where the members could get tea and other non-alcoholic beverages. Soon a commissary was added where one could get a snack. Waikiki in 1910 was still isolated and undeveloped. The OCC, beginning to change its image, was becoming the social center for this area of Honolulu.

With the new pavilion and clubhouse, OCC was making a gradual transition from an aquatic sports club to a general sports club. The club was trying to decide just what kind of club they were to be when they became involved in inter- organizational sports. The president at the time, Judge Stanford Dole, believed that the OCC should at all times and under all circumstances stand for amateur athletics. Some members raised some questions about this as at times they might get paid to act as steersmen for visitors or instructors in the fundamentals of surfing. Dole was adamant though, and the OCC was committed to remain an amateur sports club. It still has that commitment today.

The amateur status that the OCC adheres to has meant that over years quite a few of its members have competed in the Olympics. One of its most famous Olympians was Duke Kahanamoku. He was born in Waikiki and grew up surfing and swimming in the ocean. In 1912 he became a wellknown international figure when he set a new world and Olympic record for the 100 meter freestyle in Stockholm, Sweden. He competed in a total of four Olympics, setting two world records. Kahanamoku also brought home three gold and a silver medals. He was the man that introduced the art of surfing to the world.

Another famous Olympian was a member of the early Women's Auxiliary Club, Aileen Soule. She was the youngest U.S. champion at age fourteen. She went to the 1920 Olympics and brought home the first women's gold in springboard diving. She competed in the 1924 Olympics to win medals in both diving and swimming. Still a member at OCC, Soule, at ninety-two, is continuing to set records in swimming for her age group.

The OCC has sent other athletes to the Olympics over the years, most recently the 1996 games in Atlanta. All- American Mike Lambert competed with the volleyball team and Traci Philips in the kayaking events. Before these OCC athletes could become famous, the club had to evolve into an athletic club.

The OCC idea at the beginning was to be a club dedicated to the revival and advancement of Hawaiian aquatic sports. They were very slow to start their athletic program. At the secondary school in the early 1900s, baseball, football, basketball and track were part of the regular programs. For those who had money, there were polo fields in Kapi'olani and Moanalua parks. Yachting was available on the Pearl Lochs at the Peninsula. The new Scottish game of golf could be played in the Nu'uanu Valley. In the Honolulu Harbor, swimming and diving were the popular sports. Many members of the OCC and others often devoted more time to competitive competition in these area than they did to surfing. Rowing was of particular interest as many men in the community had attended such ivy-leagues like Yale and Harvard, where intercollegiate crew racing was a big thing. Many of the men who helped formed OCC were members of rowing clubs who held their events in the Honolulu Harbor. The lack of consensus ultimately slowed the OCC's early move to develop a sports program.

One of the sports that the OCC adopted from the onset was canoeing. The first important event on record at OCC was an early canoe regatta. In July 1908 when the Great White Fleet arrived in Honolulu, the OCC set up the regatta for entertainment purposes. The OCC entered a boys' crew in one of the races, the first competitive sports event of record in OCC's history. There was a great turnout for the event. Prince Kuhio entered a crew of seasoned Hawaiian boys in the same race as the OCC and beat them. Although OCC lost, it was the beginning of canoe racing for the members of OCC.

Waikiki was mainly a fishing area at this time. While there was surfing and yachting off the beach front, people were mostly riding in fishing boats. During World War 1, the OCC revived the art of canoe surfing and within a couple of years serious canoe racing got under way. At this time there was already a racing club in the Honolulu Harbor. It was a well-known boat club that the King had founded called the Myrtle Boat Club. After the war, canoe racing picked up and the two clubs would race against each other.

Over the years, the OCC had its ups and downs. The rent on the lease increased as did the membership dues. By the 1930s, the OCC was still primarily a swimming, surfing and canoeing club. They had also added volleyball and other simple sports to their program. In 1941 they built a new clubhouse. There were two buildings on the property. In one of them there was locker room space and surfboard lockers. In the central patio were sand volleyball courts, a lawn for sunbathers and a small snack bar. The second building was a two-story facility. The upper floor was a dining area and cocktail lounge. A few members were a little leery of the new concept. They wondered if this idea was going to change the whole Outrigger idea. Others felt that the OCC needed this dining element as most other country clubs served food and drinks. Its image was changing into a place that would be desirable for all types of people.

In the 1950s, the OCC sponsored a permanent organization called the Hawaiian Canoe Racing and Surfing Association (HCRA), which is still in existence today. Canoe racing was now prevalent in Hawai'i and there seemed to be a need for it to be on a more firm and business like level. The OCC extended invitation to nine clubs including several on the neighbor islands. With the OCC and three other clubs, Hui Nalu, Waikiki Surf and Healani as its core group, canoe racing was more popular than ever in Hawai'i. It was even spreading to the mainland United States.

OCC had several events that itself sponsored. One was a regatta held every 4th of July beginning around 1916 (or 1917). That race is still held on the same day with the race ending right in front of the club. It is the oldest organized race in Hawai'i. In 1943 the race not only allowed women to compete but was renamed the Walter J. MacFarlane Race after the OCC elected president who died that year while on a business trip. In 1939, MacFarlane became president at a crucial time in OCC history. They needed to raise money and with some bold moves and investments, MacFarlane successfully kept the OCC alive.

Another race that is still held is called the Dad Center Race after George David "Dad" Center. This race is now a long distance race held every August. Center was a steersman for the Myrtle Club in 1908, and in 1917 joined the OCC. He was the cornerstone for the club in promoting aquatic sports. Without Center, the OCC might not have the kind of program that it does today.

With the organization of HCRA, canoeing clubs were clamoring for a more challenging event. At this time there were some beach boys canoeing from Moloka'i to O'ahu. Canoe members of the club petitioned OCC's Board to start a Moloka'i to O'ahu race but were turned down. In 1953, the Board approved the Moloka'i challenge and OCC entered a crew. The about-face policy of the Board resulted in a new and more dependable sponsorship for the race which is the granddaddy of all races still held every October. The first race was called the Iron Man and six crew members paddled the race the whole way. Soon after, they began to allow escort boats and changes. Each club could now have eight paddlers and could alternate during the race. The women paddlers protested. They said they were perfectly capable of crossing the channel as well, and in September 1971, the Moloka'i to O'ahu women's race was started.

The OCC's lease on the Waikiki property expired in 1963 and after much debate the club decided to move. They leased some property from the Elk's Club which was located at the end of Kalakaua Avenue and built a new clubhouse. It was equipped with modern fixtures and equipment. There was also a degree of privacy that the club never had before. One option the members were especially happy about was the six levels of parking. They also enjoyed the new private beach area which had been dredged for the club. There were several different dining facilities available to the members, everything from a snack shop to fine dining. Beach volleyball was given its own space on a court that was situated above the snack shop. Canoes were given their own place on the sand. While many members were sad to leave the old OCC site, they quickly got used to the new area and were happy with it.

The OCC survives to this day on the same spot. Presently it has about 4,300 members. It is still mainly and athletic Club with many members joining the now-famous OCC paddling crews. Today, canoe racing is organized by the 0'ahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association (OHCRA) which was founded in 1979 when HCRA was reorganized into geographical areas. Volleyball is also one of the mainstay sports at OCC. The OCC volleyball team has won four National Amateur Athletic Association Championship as well as numerous titles in all age groups. OCC still sponsors the club's surfers as well as other sports like swimming, paddleboarding, tennis, golf, running, rugby, water polo, softball, off-road motorcycle racing and just about anything dealing with boats and water.