The council announced the race in Suva on Thursday, a day after researchers published findings on a powerful, repeatable current near Ovalau. Organisers say the event, scheduled for 18 September 2027, will be the longest open-ocean race on the council’s new international va’a calendar. Va’a is a Pacific style of outrigger canoe paddling.
The paper, published in the Journal of Island Hydrodynamics, draws on 1,840 current readings from 14 monitoring stations over 20 months. It identifies an 18km (11-mile) corridor where tides regularly carry water westward around Ovalau, near Levuka, Fiji’s former colonial capital. A computer model found crews following the route could need 19% less paddling power than on a comparable course without the current.
The finding could turn a difficult local crossing into a race that attracts international teams. The council expects 24 crews of six paddlers, including national teams from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands. Each will circle Ovalau, with a start in Levuka timed to the predicted tidal flow.
A current becomes a course
Ebru Uluhan, a physical oceanographer and one of the paper’s authors, said the current had not been a secret to local boaters; its consistency was the surprise. “People here have read the water for generations. We have now measured a window that lets race organisers plan around it, rather than guess,” she said. The team says the route must still be checked against changing weather and sea conditions.
Pacific Va’a Council chair Barney Greenfelder said the race would bring a major international event to a small harbour town and give local paddlers a course designed around their knowledge. The council will reserve four of its nine executive seats for island federations under a rule approved alongside the race. The first representatives will be elected at the council’s March meeting.
The council says the new seats will have full voting rights on event rules, budgets and venue selection. Isabela Gomes, who represents Fiji’s paddling federation, called the decision “a change from being invited to speak to being able to decide”. The council has not yet named the other island federations eligible to contest the seats.
Levuka prepares for 2027
The event budget is FJ$2.8 million (about €1.1 million), funded by ticket sales, regional sponsors and a Fiji government tourism grant. Organisers plan to use support boats and course officials, and say teams will be allowed to withdraw if conditions shift beyond agreed limits. Levuka’s harbourfront, lined with timber verandas and historic stone buildings, will host the start and finish.
The scientific team cautions that the current’s strength changes with tide and season, and its paper does not assess race-day safety. Greenfelder said organisers would publish a final route and operating plan after a full-scale trial in June. Applications from national teams open in January, with the council expecting to confirm the starting field by May.
