The Building of Hōkūleʻa: The Polynesian Voyaging Society (PVS) was founded in 1973 by Dr. Ben Finney, Tommy Holmes, and Herb Kawainui Kāne to build and sail a traditional Polynesian voyaging canoe from Hawaiʻi to Tahiti. They wanted to show that a replica of a traditional canoe could be guided over the 2,400-mile, open-ocean route, using only traditional Polynesian non-instrument navigation. They wanted to disprove those who had argued that such purposeful voyages, described in oral traditions, were impossible.

PVS began building Hōkūleʻa in 1973. Hawaiian artist Herb Kāne designed the canoe, architects Warren Seaman and Rudy Choy drew up the plans, and Curtis Ashford was the shipwright. Since Hawaiians had ceased voyaging to Tahiti many centuries ago, no examples of ancient voyaging canoes could be used as models. Kāne based his design on drawings of canoes made by artists employed by Captain Cook and other early European explorers of the Pacific.

• Name: The canoe was named for the star Hōkūleʻa (Arcturus), the brightest star in the northern sky. “Hōkūleʻa” means “Star of Joy,” according to most translators; or “Clear Star” (Ruby Kawena Johnson). Hōkūleʻa is the zenith star of Hawai‘i, passing directly overhead as it crosses the night sky. The star may have been a guide for navigators returning to Hawaiʻi from long voyages to the South Pacific.

• Dimensions and Materials: Hōkūleʻa has two 62.4-foot hulls joined by eight ‘iako, or crossbeams. It is 17.5 feet wide. The 8-ton Hōkūleʻa can be loaded with about 11,000 pounds, or 5.5 tons, including the weight of a crew of 12-16 people and equipment and supplies. It has two masts, each used to hoist a sail of up to 420 square feet. Although PVS wanted to build the canoe out of traditional materials (koa, lauhala, sennit, etc.), with traditional tools (adzes, bone gouges, coral files, and sharkskin for sanding), traditional building methods were yet to be researched and construction would have taken too long.. So the hulls were made from plywood, fiberglass, and resin, the sails from canvas, and the lashings were done with synthetic cordage. Because of the modern materials, the canoe could not tell PVS about the strength and durability of traditional canoes; but the builders strove to approximate the shape and weight of a traditional canoe to create a “performance accurate” replica.

• Sailing Capability: The canoe averages 4-6 knots in moderate winds, and can make up to 10-12 knots sailing on a reach in strong winds. It can make good a course of about 67° off the wind direction.

Building and Launching of the Hōkūleʻa —1973-75

Hōkūleʻa was completed and launched in 1975. The canoe was named for the star Hōkūleʻa (Arcturus), the brightest star in the northern sky. “Hōkūleʻa” means “Star of Joy,” according to most translators; or “Clear Star” (Ruby Kawena Johnson). Hōkūleʻa is the zenith star of Hawai‘i, passing directly overhead as it crosses the sky. The star may have been a guide for navigators returning to Hawaiʻi from long voyages to the South Pacific.

Herb Kawainui Kāne, who did the conceptual design for the canoe, notes: "Kenneth Emory and I went through all designs of canoes recorded in early drawings and in other evidence and sifted out those features of hull design and sail plan which by their wide distribution may be taken to be most ancient. These I applied to the conceptual design. From my own experience with the Pacific swell and in consultation with more experienced sailors I arrived at a waterline length of 55 to 60 feet as one that could handle the swells yet recover easily in the troughs, and Emory found that this could be taken as an average for the length of canoes used in the 18th and 19th centuries for long distance voyaging in the Tuamotus and Tahitian islands. Canoes of far greater length would put great stress on the lashings. The double-ended ndrua of Fiji and kalia of Tonga were of greater length, but these carried a smaller hull to windward involving less stress on lashings than two hulls of equal length, and were generally used on shorter voyages, which means during periods of predictable weather. I added the Hawaiian curved ʻiako (not really ancient, invented by Kanuha several centuries ago), and end pieces reflecting Hawaiian design."

The following were important contributors to the design and building of Hōkūleʻa:

• Kenneth Emory: consultation on ancient design features.

• Herb Kawainui Kāne: conceptual design and establishing design parameters in a general drawing.

• Rudy Choy: consultation and advice on hull design.

• Vince Bartelone: the hull-lines drawing

• Kim Thompson: the lines drawings for the end pieces (manu)

• Warren Seaman: lofting the hulls and laying up sections and stringers on the strongbacks.

• Curt Ashford and Malcolm Waldron: chief shipwrights.

• Jim Ebersold, Calvin Coito, and others: boat carpenters.

• Wright Bowman, Sr. and Wright Bowman, Jr.: crossboom construction.

• Keola Sequeira: carver of the koa mast heads (he donated the koa).

• Bob Fortier: protective fiber-glassing of the wooden hulls.

Herb Kāne remembers: "These were most of the 'hands on' guys. Additionally there were part-time carpenters and a host of volunteers. Most of the board members donated some time. Publisher Carl Lindquist brought his family down to help with the disagreeable task of poisoning the interiors of the hulls to prevent rot. Kawika Kapahulehua facilitated air transportation for materials and supplies. Slim's Power Tools donated the use of power tools. Many merchants helped procure supplies and materials at cost. Dillingham Corporation donated the use of the building premises. I don't remember the name of the trucking company that gave us a price break to haul the completed parts over the island to Kualoa Park (how I obtained that launching site from mayor Frank Fasi after the State gave me the run around for months on San Souci beach is another story). The U.S. Marines at Kāneʻohe brought equipment to lift and set the hulls in perfect position for the lashing up, which was done over five weekends by many volunteers. The launching festivities and luau for 2,000 was entirely done by volunteers, largely led by Paige Barber. Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawaii donated entertainment as did a hula halau."

Hōkūleʻa was launched on March 8, 1975 in Kāñeʻohe Bay on the windward side of O`ahu. After the canoe went into the water at Hakipuʻu (in Kualoa Regional Park), it was paddled out, then back toward shore. The captain was Herb Kawainui Kāne; the kahuna was Kaʻupena Wong, assisted by Kalena Silva and Keliʻi Tauʻā. As the canoe approached shore, the crew paddled to the following chant. (“The stroke is slow. The paddle is struck a little in front of the paddler on the return of the paddle. The timing is thus: Ia wa’a [thump] nui [thump], ia waʻa [thump] kioloa [thump], ia waʻa [thump] peleleu [thump].”)

After the canoe landed and the kapu on it was lifted, the kahuna asked: “Pehea ka waʻa, pono anei?” (“How is the canoe, is it good?”); Those aboard answered: “ʻAe, maikaʻi loa ka waʻa Hōkūleʻa” (“Yes, the canoe is very good indeed!”) The canoe was then turned over to Kahu Kaupu for the Chrisitan blessing, after which Kahuna Wong and Kahu Kaupu embraced.

Hōkūleʻa made its first voyage to Tahiti in 1976, navigated by Mau Piailug of Satawal, Micronesia. (See “History of the PVS, 1973-1998” and “He Inoa No Hōkūleʻa” by Kamuela Chun for voyages of the canoe.)
Hōkūleʻa has two 62.4-foot hulls joined by eight ‘iako, or crossbeams. It is 17.5 feet wide. The 8-ton Hōkūleʻa can be loaded with about 11,000 pounds, or 5.5 tons, including the weight of a crew of 12-16 people and equipment and supplies. It has two 30-foot masts, each used to hoist a sail of up to 420 square feet. The canoe averages 4-6 knots in moderate winds and can make up to 10-12 knots sailing on a reach in strong winds.

How close to an ancient voyaging canoe is Hōkūleʻa? Hōkūleʻa is considerably smaller than the 100-foot plus Polynesian canoes seen by early European visitors. Also, while the design of the hulls and upper parts of the canoe was based on what is known of the traditional Polynesian canoe, the design of the sail-rig departed from traditional precedents. The traditional Polynesian sprit sail was typically laced to two spars, one of which acted as the mast and the other as the boom. The rig Hōkūleʻa consists of a sail attached to spar and boom plus a shorter mast on which the spar, boom and sail are raised and lowered. Hōkūleʻa's rig, with the mast first raised and stayed, was used to facilitate the raising and lowering of the sail.

Although the Polynesian Voyaging Society wanted to use traditional materials (koa wood hulls, lauhala sails, sennit lashing) and traditional tools (adzes, bone gouges, coral files, and sharkskin for sanding) in building the canoe, the construction would have been too time-consuming as the builders tried to relearn the arts of working with such materials and tools. Instead, the hulls were constructed out of plywood, fiberglass, and resin, and the sails were made from canvas; the lashings were done with synthetic cordage. (For the story of the recent effort to build a canoe called Hawai’iloa from traditional native materials, see “History of the PVS, 1973-1998.”)

Because of the use of modern materials, sailing Hōkūleʻa could not tell PVS about the strength and durability of traditional canoes. However, the builders strove to approximate the shape and weight of a traditional canoe, avoiding such innovations as wider stance for the hulls for greater stability and a deeper keel for improved sailing capability; so the canoe was a "performance accurate" replica, handling much like the voyaging canoes that once sailed in Polynesian seas.

(Based on notes [July, 1998] sent by Herb Kawainui Kāne on the early history of Hōkūleʻa; a description of the launching ceremony by Kenneth P. Emory [1975]; and Ben Finney's "Voyaging into Polynesia's Past" in From Sea to Space, Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey Press 1992 and Voyage of Rediscovery, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994; also consulted: David Lewis’ The Voyaging Stars: Secrets of the Pacific Island Navigators, New York: W.W. Norton, 1978.)

History Timeline:

Hōkūleʻa was launched on March 8, 1975 at Hakipuʻu-Kualoa on the Windward Side of Oʻahu. Kaʻupena Wong organized the religious ceremonies for the launching, with Kalena Silva and Keliʻi Tauʻā assisting in the rituals. Kahu Kaupu gave the Christian blessing.

1976—Hōkūleʻa sailed to Tahiti, with Micronesian navigator Mau Piailug guiding the canoe by the sun, stars, winds, swells, and seabirds.

1980—Hōkūleʻa sailed to Tahiti and back guided by Hawaiian Nainoa Thompson, who was trained in non-instrument navigation by Mau Piailug.

1985-1987 —“The Voyage of Rediscovery” retraced Polynesian migration routes from Hawaiʻi to Aotearoa (New Zealand) and back via the Society Islands, Cook Islands, Tonga, Sāmoa, and the Tuamotus.

1992—Hōkūleʻa sailed to the Society and Cook Islands to participate in a festival celebrating the revival of traditional Polynesian navigation, canoe-building and sailing inspired by the 1985-7 “Voyage of Rediscovery.”

Spring 1995—Hōkūleʻa sailed with a newly built Hawaiian voyaging canoe, the 57-foot Hawaiʻiloa, to Tahiti and Nukuhiva (Marquesas Islands), then back to Hawaiʻi.

Summer 1995—Hōkūleʻa was shipped to Seattle and visited West Coast cities— Vancouver, B.C., Portland, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Long Beach, and San Diego.