Outrigger canoe club left high and dry after trailer theft strands vessels

The Port Stephens Outrigger Canoe Club (PSOCC) has been left devastated after their custom built canoe trailer was stolen last week.

The trailer was used by the club to transport their 13m long outrigger canoes to regattas across the state and Australia.

Without it, they will be left high and dry and out of competition.

Head coach and multiple time world champion Tony Compton said the club was extremely disappointed when they found the trailer missing.

"We trained on Saturday and it was there and then when we were back on Tuesday we noticed it was gone," he said.

"They have probably come in at night and taken it away."

Mr Compton said the trailer was built for them only two years ago for $14,000 to replace an older trailer.

"Luckily it was insured, but we probably won't be able to get another one made for at least six months which takes us out from the whole season."

The club's next competition was scheduled to be hosted by Newcastle Outrigger Canoe club in a few weeks.

Without the ability to transport their canoes, the club will be forced to rely on other clubs to loan them equipment for racing rather than using the familiar canoes the racers train in every weekend.

The thieves left behind only the oversize signage and a set of drag marks where the trailer was parked at the club's compound in Shoal Bay.

The trailer is 7.5 metres long and is custom built to carry four canoes, their outriggers and rigging.

Mr Compton said the trailer does not have much use aside from moving the sporting equipment up and down the coast.

"It had a trailer lock on it which couldn't just be removed with bolt cutters," he said.

"So they have just dragged it off and have probably cut it up for scrap because it doesn't have much other use."

This is not the first time the club has been targeted at its Shoal Bay compound and other location in Corlette.

Previously it had a storage container with lifejackets and equipment inside, which was concreted into the sand, dug up and stolen.

A propeller was also taken from a zodiac rubber ducky used for training and safety during regattas.

Each year the club hosts a standout event from the shores of Shoal Bay, which usually takes competitors racing outside of the heads and around the region's beautiful islands.

The club has also hosted multiple state and national titles events drawing hundreds of paddlers from across Australia to the clear waters of Port Stephens.

The theft has been reported to police.