Alongside the Apia fautasi, newly installed rigs mark one of the biggest changes in the crew’s preparations for the 2026 Independence Day celebrations: adapting the boat for longer Olympic-style oars while teaching a young team how to race.

Crew leader Faualo Harry Schuster said the challenge is not only physical, but also about teaching discipline, timing and technique to many young rowers who have never competed at this level before.

“We’re doing our best, but with the majority of rowers, young new rowers, it’s taking our time to teach them quickly the technique of rowing,” Faualo said. “They haven’t been in a competition before, so it’ll be interesting to see how they react to a top-level competition.”

The $120,000 fautasi can carry up to 46 rowers, requiring strong teamwork, discipline and trust between the crew. Faualo said one of the most encouraging parts of the training has been seeing the older rowers pass their knowledge on to the youth, with the youngest being 16 years old.

“I’m excited about getting the youth together and getting the older guys to teach them the skill of rowing. It’s a nice challenge,” he said.

A key part of their preparation has been modifying the boat to accommodate Olympic-style oars. Faualo explained that the traditional Samoan oar used on the boat is around two metres, while the Olympic oar is about 3.7 metres.

“For the Samoan oar, the pin that you use sits right on the lip of the boat. But the Olympic oar, you have to put it outside,” Faualo said.

He said the crew had to build and install an apparatus on the side of the boat to extend the rowing pin outward by about 1.1 metres before measuring the oars again. Faualo said the effort has been strongly supported by the village, with locals helping to prepare the boat and crew. He said the village is especially proud because the boat was built by their own men.

“If it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to afford building a boat,” Faualo said. “We’re very lucky, very fortunate, very thankful.”