About our club
Formed in 2022, with five members and some second-hand outrigger canoes, Conjola Stingrays Outrigger Canoe Club burst out of the lake like a leaping stingray.
Today, we have close on 20 members and our fever of (paddling) stingrays continues to grow. We offer two regular training sessions per week to our club members and train at Yooralla Bay, Lake Conjola. Ocean sessions are held during the racing season next to Ulladulla harbour.
Our club committee members
Deb
President, Treasurer
Deb has been paddling for over 10 years. She’s as tough as nails as proven by her number of sporting related hospital admissions but always comes back for more! She’s stepped up to the plate this season to take on the President’s role and is the only one who can count without taking her shoes off, so got the Treasurers job as well!
Steve
Vice President
Steve has been paddling for 3 years and gone from someone not that keen on the water (he is a Pom after all) to Paddler of The Year for 2026 and now owns 4 OC1’s and an OC2! The motto of try before you buy, became, might as well buy it to try it!
Isobel
Secretary
Isbobel began paddling 6 years ago and after a year off, much to our delight, she is back – in the canoe training and racing and on the committee again! Co-owner of 4 OC1’s and an OC2, she’s even taken on challenging herself on the OC1 for a winter time trial series!
Kylie
Head Coach, Regatta Coach, Registrar
Kylie has been paddling, steering and coaching for over two decades. She has competed in OC1, OC2 and OC6 races in Australia and beyond, including in some of our sport’s most picturesque and challenging paddling locations.
Jo Jo
Committee Member
Jo has been outrigging for 3 years and is one of our most loved members! She’s always up for a challenge both on and off the water. We do our best not to fling her out of the canoe as she takes on most races from Seat 1! She’s a master at organising logistics for our fundraising BBQ’s and is always the first to put her hand up to help.
Gaz
Committee Member
Gaz is our ‘Gear Guru’ – if we break it, he can always fix it! He started paddling 3 years ago and we hope to see him more ‘in’ canoes this season, than repairing them. Gaz’s deal for joining the Committee, was to be known as the ‘silent’ committee member. Shhhh.
Our club’s approach to training
We offer outrigger paddling training opportunities to paddlers of all abilities.
We focus on helping our club members achieve what it is they want from paddling, whether it be racing or social and becoming the best paddlers they can be.
Training sessions provide a solid workout and includes strengthening, technique and race skill work for those who race or may want to try racing in the future.
All levels of paddlers are welcome. The session provides a continuous workout with essential breaks included, plus stops for epic sunrises!
All sessions offer a physical workout plus the psychosocial benefits of being part of a crew, improving your technique, having fun and enjoying the natural beauty of the lake.
Kylie Young
Head Coach, Regatta Coach
For over 20 years, Kylie has paddled, steered and coached outrigger canoe crews. Kylie has more than 400 races under her belt, and has enjoyed successes and adventures in Fiji, Hawaii, Cook Islands, Singapore, New Zealand, the USA and, of course, Australia.
Today, in her role as Conjola Stingrays’ Head Coach and Regatta Coach, her aims include promoting outrigging, respecting the sport’s history and traditions, improving paddlers’ technical skills across different categories of racing (marathon, sprints, changes), supporting those keen to take on new challenges such as racing for the first time, and encouraging the club’s members to get what they want from outrigger paddling as part of their personal paddling goals.
Her main goal is to share her paddling knowledge and experience with others so that they, too, can have their lives enriched, as she has, with the exhilaration, tranquility and friendships that outrigger paddling has brought to her life.
Our club’s location: Conjola
The lake’s waters were the place of last refuge for the local community during the catastrophic Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and 2020. Dozens of homes were razed. Lives were lost. Trees and untold numbers of living creatures were incinerated. (Watch the trailer to a documentary created by local resident and film-maker, Ash Brennan, about the devastation of Conjola during the Currowan bushfire.)
Today, as our canoes traverse the expanse of the lake, it’s a joy for us to share these waters with the local waterbirds and local water-sports enthusiasts.
What our club members say
Hear from our paddlers what outrigger paddling means to them.
Growing up in England- never having done any water sports and pretty much terrified of the ocean, I never imagined myself racing on the open seas in a canoe.
I started training on the lake three years ago with the Stingray and progressed to racing on the ocean. Now I am part of a state champion crew and I love every minute I can get out on the water.
Steve, Conjola Stingray
It has increased my fitness, confidence and friendships. Such a welcoming atmosphere. Waking up early has been worth the stunning sunrises over Lake Conjola. A bonus is the beautiful new friends I’ve made in the process. where age is no barrier
Jo, Conjola Stingray
I am new to the area and was looking for outdoor fitness training, a challenge and social connection. I tried outrigger paddling for the first time at the club’s open day. I’ve been paddling with the club ever since.
Jacqui, Conjola Stingray
Interested in joining the Stingrays?
3 for free
We offer three (3) free training sessions to anyone 18 years and older interested in outrigger canoe paddling. Before your first session on the water, our qualified coach will brief you on basic technique and safety. Get in touch with our Head Coach today to schedule your three free training sessions.
