Outrigger Canoe - Technique
Paddling in an outrigger is more forgiving than paddling in most other boats since it is very stable and you can move the boat even if your technique is all wrong. You keep the bent side facing forward, and reach out while twisting your torso, and put your paddle deep into the water (you must get some of your bottom hand wet), then pull back with your entire body and push with the legs. The pushing off with the legs is called "leg drive" and it helps a lot in Outrigger, and in an OC6 or OC12 the whole team must leg drive in rhythmn.
You must also keep count of your strokes if you are the person calling or if there is nobody calling in the boat. You should switch about every 12 strokes, but if you are in the middle of a turn or some other maneouvre you can take a few more strokes. Make sure to get ready to switch on the hut, take a stroke, then pull your paddle out and switch it over to the other side. Make sure your hands never come off the paddle entirely during your switch; you may lose grip of your paddle and have troubling holding onto it on your next stroke. You may have to practise some slower switches to get your switches right.
Huli
"Huli" means to flip over in Polynesian. When you huli and outrigger, it means you flipped the whole boat over. It takes time to get back into the boat and it is an important skill to have. Generally, the first thing you do is get the boat unflipped and get back in from the side that has the ama, then start bailing out water and start paddling. If you have more than one person in your boat, you must make sure your paddles are all within reach, or get someone to hold onto them. In an OC6, the front seat and last seat are in charge of the paddles, and the seats in between pass their paddles up or down to the person in charge. Once you have secured all the paddles, get on the ama by climbing over the boat on the side without the ama, and pull from the ama and lean backwards.
If you have someone else with you, get them to swim underneath the ama and push it up as you pull back. In an OC6 this is a co-ordinated effort with seats 3 and 4 pulling on the ama, and four and 2 pushing from the water. As soon as the boat is unflipped, people enter into the boat and bail out any water, and once the boat is mostly bailed then the paddlers will begin to paddle. It is hard to describe a Huli drill, but once you practise a few it becomes natural.