HoʻI I Ke Kai: Launch of the Aʻa

The Aʻa, also affectionally known as the ʻĀ, is a forty-foot koa racing canoe commissioned by Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole, and is considered the first custom-built, six-seat racing canoe of its kind. The canoe was crafted in 1902 by Henry Weeks in Kailua-Kona. At the time of its creation, it was said to be the most perfectly built and fastest racing canoe in the Islands, inspiring all other racing canoes that came after. The Aʻa was in its prime between 1906–1910 when it and its all-Kānaka