Joined OCC: June 21, 1961
Elected to Winged “O”: February 17, 1978
Brant Ackerman was born on September 9, 1950 and joined the Outrigger Canoe Club when he was 10 years old. From that time on he has been involved with canoe racing, surfing, paddleboard racing and motorcycle racing.
At age 13 he steered the Boys 13 and under crew, as well as the Men’s Novice crew, and continued paddling in each higher age group to Senior Men and then Masters Men. He has steered many crews to Oahu, State and Molokai Hoe titles.
Brant steered and paddled on Molokai crews in 1971-1978, 1983-1984, 1987-1993, 1995 and 1998-2000, winning the title in 1975, 1977, 1983 and 1984. He steered the 53-mile course in 1973, as well as the 42-mile course in 1977.
He steered the winning Senior Men’s crew in the Macfarlane Regatta for six consecutive years, and was a member of the Senior Men’s crew that won the state championship from 1974-1977. More recently he has steered masters crews in races.
Brant served on the Canoe Racing Committee in 1974, 1977-1979, 1982, 1984, and 1995. He was assistant paddling coach for several seasons and Head Coach in 1976 and 1983.
A champion surfer, Brant won the Club 17-and-under title in 1967 and the men’s title in 1971 and 1972. He represented both OCC and Hawaii in national and international surfing meets. He competed for Outrigger in 1971 in the International Surfing Championships in Lima, Peru. In 1968, he represented Hawaii at the U.S. Surfing Championships at Huntington Beach, California. He competed in a number of Makaha International surfing contests and in 1970 surfed in the Smirnoff Pro-Am and the Duke Kahanamoku Invitational.
In 1972, Ackerman won the stock board division in the Diamond Head Surfboard Paddle Race.
Brant was elected to the Outrigger Canoe Club Board of Directors in 1993, and served as Coordinating Director of Entertainment and on the Marketing Adhoc Committee in 1993 and Coordinating Director of Athletics in 1994. He then served as treasurer and chair of the Finance Committee in 1995, Vice-President of Operations in 1996 and was elected President of the Board of Directors in 1997. He was Executive Committee Liaison in 1998.
Brant’s love of motorcycles found him on the Motorcycle Committee in 1979, 1982 and 1989-1992, and racing on the Club’s motorcycle team.
In more recent years Brant has served on and chaired the Nominating Committee, as well as served on the Winged “O” Committee.