Toronto Outrigger
The story about a group of paddlers building Toronto’s outrigger scene.
If you have never been to Toronto, you need to add it to your life list for places to visit. It is a dynamic and cosmopolitan city, well known for its great mix of diverse cultures. There are plenty of areas all over the city where you can walk in and feel like you are visiting a different part of the world. It is this type of openness that brings together different communities to share and try new things. When it comes to food, entertainment, and sports, Toronto offers it all.
Toronto is situated on one of the great lakes, Lake Ontario, and has a very passionate and competitive paddle scene, most importantly it’s growing. For a long time, dragon boat paddling has been the driving force behind Toronto paddling, however, the water athletes that call this place home are branching out.
It is in this city that Jeff Holubeshen has seen it all. A dedicated paddler, he is one of the veterans of the Toronto paddling community. He is also part of a growing group of paddlers called “Toronto Outrigger”.
Talis Crew takes you to Toronto, Canada, and sits down with our good friend Jeff to find out more about his story, his amazing photography and what it’s like to paddle in Toronto.
Hi Jeff, thanks for taking the time to talk, tell us about yourself.
Hi, my name is Jeff. My paddling career started in 1998 through dragon boating (like most paddlers in the Toronto Area). Corporate teams were pretty big at the time, and the bank I worked for had a couple of teams that were recruiting. I’d never paddled before (not counting canoe trips up north) but it sounded like a great way to do some networking, exercise outside and have some fun too. Back then all we paddled was dragon boat because that was all there was. We’d sometimes do testing with an outrigger canoe if we could find one to rent.
I loved dragon boating. It was fun, it was intense, a great adrenaline rush, and the races were short, which was great for a guy that preferred to sprint compared to distance racing.
The Toronto (and Canadian) dragon boat scene grew into probably one of the strongest outside of China. Part of that was due to some of the great coaches from sprint canoe/kayak to marathon canoe that influenced our paddling style. I was able to race in multiple world club championships through the years and made the national team for the 2013 world championships.
About 12 to 13 years ago, I had the opportunity to buy an outrigger with a friend. It was an old heavy Albatross OC1. Built like a tank, and just as heavy. We used it as a cross-training tool for dragon boat. It rigged on both sides, so you could focus on your favoured paddling side and not worry about huling. But, it was a great introduction to the world of outrigger. Our boat sharing group grew and eventually a Scorpius XM was purchased, the albatross was sold and a Tempest OC2 was picked up.
This past year, 2 more boats joined our little fleet (a Nelo/Evolution and an Ares). Our family also has a couple of SUP boards in the garage (for those days when I’d rather stand on the water). All these different boats have pulled me away from dragon boating, but I’ll still jump in a dragon boat for a race (see you all in Sarasota next year for the world club championships!). I find nowadays that I really enjoy the ability to just grab a boat, throw it on the car and get out on the water whenever I want. We live about 10–15 minutes from Lake Ontario, so it makes it easy to go for a paddle. In the summer, we’re out on the water at least 4 to 5 times a week, but in the fall/winter its a little more difficult, so we usually only paddle on the weekends and do dryland training during the week (yes, there’s a paddling erg in the basement).
A few years ago, I wanted to extend my outdoor paddling season — so I bought a drysuit. I was out paddling in -10 degree weather while most were indoors paddling on ergs and in indoor paddle pools.
My wife (and others) thought I was crazy but I loved it!
It wasn’t about getting a tough workout, it was more about being able to stay out on the water. The great thing is, now I’m not the only one doing winter paddling. There’s a whole lotta people buying drysuits and staying out on the water all year long. Last winter we had a solid group of about 7 or 8 paddlers going out together, and I fully expect that to double this year.
Since I was so involved with dragon boat , I eventually found myself volunteering with Dragon Boat Canada (DBC — our national organization). I sat on the board of directors for a number of years as the festival director and then later focused on DBC brand and championships (designing medals, events logos, merchandise, etc). I’ve also been responsible for leading the uniform designs for all the national teams since 2013.
Because I was always involved with the national championships, I always had to be onsite, even when I wasn’t racing.
To pass the time, I brought my camera along with me. I always had a love for photography, so I thought I would just combine 2 of my favourite things. Turns out I can take a good pic or 2.
I eventually started doing more and more dragon boat events, and then started doing SUP and outrigger events as well. The one thing I’ll say is, dragon boat events are easier to shoot compared to outrigger. Nice flat water makes it easy to steady the cam! Outrigger events are a completely different animal. It’s tough to balance a big camera lens in a boat that’s bouncing around in a bunch of waves! But it’s definitely a lot of fun trying (for every good shot I get, there’s about 4 or 5 pics of the sky or someone’s arm, etc). Shameless plug for my Instagram account @paddler_life
What’s the Toronto Outrigger scene like?
When it comes to outrigger, Toronto is a lot different than places like Hawaii, California, or Brazil. While there are a few small groups that have been doing it for years, it wasn’t mainstream in the paddling community. But, there’s definitely been a shift in the last few years. Paddlers are branching out from the dragon boat community and into other paddling disciplines like outrigger and SUP. Covid has helped boost the outrigger community as well. With all the restrictions, paddling in a dragon boat with 21 other people wasn’t possible, but paddling an OC1 certainly was! The OC1 community has exploded here.
Thanks to the 2 groups bringing in A LOT of boats. Cold Water Canoe and Sunnyside Paddling club brought in over 100 boats combined and it’s been awesome to see.
My wife and I both work for a major bank here in Canada, so we’re both still working from home every day, which is great because it gives me a lot more time to go paddling in our canoes (less travel time to get home, can load boats onto the car at lunchtime, etc). We usually will message a few friends and arrange a launch point for the day. Where we launch all depends on the weather. On windy days, At the west end, it can sometimes get choppy due to bouncing back off a breakwall (like a washing machine). Our usual paddle is about 9 or 10km on a weekday, and a little longer on the weekends (as long as we don’t have any plans with our kids). The size of the group fluctuates a lot. it can be 3 or 4 one day, and then 20 the next. It all depends on how organized we can get!
One of the things I really like about paddling in Toronto is the camaraderie that’s felt in the community. We’re all having fun doing a sport we love, out on the water together. There’s a bond there. A prime example of this was this fall when 2 OC6s were damaged during TIOC — Toronto International Outrigger Challenge (aka the Around the Island race). The community came together quickly to help support the 2 clubs affected. A GoFundMe page was set up to raise funds for repairs to one boat and replacement the other. We had to rescue the OC6 with the most damage, as it was stranded on the rocks on the island (not the easiest spot to get to). A large group of paddlers from several clubs came together to recover the boat and got it back to a location where it could be demolished. However, instead of heading to the landfill, the decision was made to donate the boat to another local club, so that they could try and rebuild it, and use it for introducing more new paddlers to the sport.
So things are looking up for this thriving little paddling community. We’re fortunate to have access to a bunch of great launch sites. However, while Toronto is right beside a huge lake, there’s a lack of boat storage available for all these new boats (and not a lot of locations to house this storage). Hopefully, a solution can be found, and we can see the community get even bigger.
Check out Jeff Holubeshen’s Instagram account at https://www.instagram.com/paddler_life/ to find out more about Toronto paddling.
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Good times ahead!
