Side 1
Honolulu Regatta July 4, 1911
Recipient: Outrigger Canoe Club
Inscription
Junior 6 Paddle Canoe
July 4, 1911
Side 2
Castle Swim Canoe Race 1917
Recipient: Outrigger Canoe Club
Inscription
Won by
Junior Crew (Boys under 16)
No. 1 P. Chaplin, No. 2 L. Smith No. 3 E. Young No. 4 P. Burband
No. 5 F. Mooney
No. 6: C. Sims
Time 2.20
Dec. 1, 1917
Canoe Lio Keo Keo
Size: 9″ wide, 14″ high
Material: Silver
This silver loving cup is the Outrigger Canoe Club’s oldest canoe racing trophy. The Club won it for the first time on July 4, 1911 as part of a 4th of July regatta put on by the Myrtle Rowing Club in Honolulu Harbor. Outrigger’s Junior crew, nicknamed the Ukuleles, nosed out an all-Hawaiian team from Kalihi, and the Myrtles for the win. The winning crew included Kenneth Reidford, Gilbert Brown, Arthur Brown, Sydney Nicholson, Gustav Ballentyne and Reginald Melanphy. They raced in the Lio Keo Keo.
The Honolulu Advertiser printed this recap of the race:
“Then came the canoe race, one of the classiest in the history of outriggers. “Rusty” Brown’s crew from Waikiki crossed paddles with the Kalihi’s, the latter composed entirely of Hawaiians, and, it was whispered, containing three Hawaiians from the famous Kona crew. This race was neck and neck all down the course. The start was from the spar buoy, the ladles dipping instantly at the sound of the pistol, both getting away prettily and evenly. Then the Hawaiian crew dug deep and swiftly forged ahead just a little, only to find themselves headed off by an equally determined spurt of Rusty’s crew. Down the course they came, Rusty’s crew ahead a few feet, and then the Kalihi’s ahead. They were abreast when they passed the Myrtles and then the Hawaiians looked as if they would nose out, but Rusty’s paddlers put on a magnificent spurt, passed ahead, maintained the lead, and as the Kalihi’s spurted, the Waikiki boys spurted more and when the pistol sounded were just half a length ahead. The brush was classy and exciting.”
The cup was recycled as part of the first Castle Swim race sponsored by the Outrigger Canoe Club on December 1, 1917, and awarded to the winning Junior Boys crew (16 & Under). The water festival included swimming races, canoe races and surfboard races. The Junior boys raced from the Seaside Hotel to the Moana Pier in the same canoe, the Lio Keo Keo. Their winning time was 2:20. The boys were captained by Chesterson Sims. The Outrigger boys won by three feet in an exciting finish, beating another Outrigger crew captained by Ernest Cook.