The 2026 Independence fautasi races have given Samoa a clearer comparison between traditional Samoan wooden oars and modern spoon-style oars.
The first race was held for foe laau, the traditional wooden oars. Telefoni o le Vainu’u, captained by Leiataualesa Jerry Brunt, won that race ahead of Tolotolo o Tamauli from Salelologa. Malu o Samoa, crewed by members of the Samoa Police Service and the Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority, finished third.
The wooden-oar race placings were Telefoni o le Vainu’u first, Tolotolo o Tamauli second, Malu o Samoa third, Little Rina fourth, Tausala o le Vasaloloa fifth, and Sheraton Apia Maroons sixth.
The second race was held for foe sipuni, the modern spoon-style oars. Malu o Samoa returned and won that race. Online result posts listed Little Rina second, Tolotolo o Tamauli third, Telefoni o le Vainu’u fourth, Apia Maroons fifth, and Tausala o le Vasaloloa sixth.
The two races have reopened an old question in fautasi racing. How much of the result comes from the crew, and how much comes from the oars?
Reports and online interviews before the second race mentioned that Telefoni would continue using traditional wooden oars, even though the second race was for spoon-style oars. That made Telefoni’s second race a direct comparison between traditional wooden oars and modern spoon-style oars.
Telefoni had already shown its strength by winning the wooden-oar race. In the spoon-oar race, the same crew had to compete against boats using a more modern oar design.
This also brings back memories of the Tongan longboats that raced in Samoa in the late 1980s. Historical records show that Tongan boats were part of fautasi racing in Samoa during that period. The Tongan longboats remembered from the 1987 Western Samoa Independence Silver Jubilee race were Tu‘i Vava‘u and Tu‘i Ha‘apai. A 1987 newspaper report also said 15 longboats from Western Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga were expected to compete.
Many older race followers remember the Tongan longboats as fast and dominant. Images and footage from that period circulating online appear to show Tongan crews using spoon-style oars while Samoan longboats were using traditional wooden oars. The 2026 races now give that old argument a clearer look. If the Tongan boats were using spoon-style oars against Samoan crews using foe laau, then their speed may not have been from raw strength alone. The oars may also have played a big part in the speed difference between the crews.
Malu o Samoa won the foe sipuni race, but Telefoni won the foe laau race where all fautasi used traditional wooden oars.
Telefoni finished fourth in the foe sipuni race while still using traditional wooden oars. If the crew was still close to Tolotolo o Tamauli, then it is fair to ask whether Telefoni could have won the race if it had been using modern spoon-style oars. Telefoni had already beaten the field when all boats used foe laau. The second race showed how much the oar type may have changed the result.
Leiataualesa Jerry Brunt’s decision to keep Telefoni with wooden oars may have given Samoa real race evidence for a debate that has followed fautasi racing for years.
The 2026 races do not prove that spoon oars replace strength. They show that a better oar can turn the same strength into more speed.
Traditional foe laau carry the history and identity of Samoan fautasi racing. Modern foe sipuni belong to a newer stage of the sport. This year’s Independence races showed both sides clearly. Telefoni proved the power of the old way. Malu o Samoa proved the speed of the modern one.
Samoa now has a stronger reason to keep the two categories separate.
