Our Story
From Local Affair To Southeast Asia's Largest Ocean Paddling Championship
Singapore Paddle Club was founded in 2004 by a collection of outrigger canoe and dragon boat paddlers. Having been part of overseas clubs and participated in overseas races, founding members Derek Callow, Stuart Smith, Chris Box, Rod McCurdy, James Sullivan, Nick Yap and Mike Ong decided to create a new paddling competition right here in Singapore.
While not blessed with big waves and strong winds, Singapore has a unique marine topography that truly tests one’s watermanship. The Southern Islands create many eddies and tidal streams. The daily tidal current changes mean you could be flying at one moment and going backwards in spite of all your strength, the next.
2007: The Inaugural Singapore Ocean Cup
In the early years, the Singapore Ocean Cup was pretty much a local affair. SOC offered local teams an opportunity to compete against each other, to invite friends and family to paddle and enjoy a weekend together. The SUP Fun Race was one of the most popular categories at that time.
2017: 10 Years Of Growing Ohana
Over the years, SOC grew bigger organically as we invited our paddling friends from near and far to join us each year in Singapore.
We welcomed crews and paddlers from Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines and Indonesia to as far away as Russia, Hungary, Great Britain, South Africa, Guam, Brazil and Hawai’i.
2017 marked Singapore Ocean Cup’s 10th anniversary. To commemorate this special milestone, we were joined by Kimokeo Kapahulehua. Kimokeo is a legend in Hawai’i, known for his efforts to preserve and perpetuate Polynesian culture including outrigger canoe paddling and voyaging. He has also hosted many of SPC’s Hawai’i adventures.
SOC has been graced by Kimokeo's presence ever since, as we seek to share and spread aloha with the global paddling community.