Picture by Ben Cowper
Horouta Waka Hoe champion crews know what it takes to win world titles.
Club administrators plan to take a leaf out of their book in a bid to have waka ama sheds built near Gisborne's Marina Park boat ramps.
Waka ama are stored on the ground or in racks near the ramps at the confluence of the three city rivers — Waimatā, Taruheru and Tūranganui — but they are unprotected from the elements.
Members of Self Storage Gisborne Horouta Waka Hoe Club intend to follow the example of their champion teams and employ meticulous preparation and attention to detail in their efforts to secure a purpose-built base.
Club president Walton Walker talked about building proposals when he spoke at a Cosmopolitan Club function held to celebrate the club's success at the va'a world sprint championships in Britain in August and thank whānau, supporters and sponsors.
The championships, held at Dorney Lake, Windsor, near London, were the second successive world champs at which teams from Horouta Waka Hoe had amassed enough points to earn the title of world champion club. They had won the points competition in Tahiti in 2018 and the 2020 event scheduled for Hawaii was cancelled.
Walker said that with the world championships over, the question for club members would be: what happens from here?
“We have the long-distance nationals at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands early in October and, not long after that, preparations for the sprint nationals at Lake Karapiro in January will be full-on,” he said.
“Looking further ahead, the world long-distance champs will be held in Samoa next year, and then we'll be building up for the 2024 sprint nationals, aiming to qualify for the world sprint championships in Hawaii that year.”
Va'a (waka ama) world long-distance and sprint championships are held every two years.
“It's all about being prepared for these things and making decisions early about being committed to them,” Walker said.
“We were prepared for the 2020 world sprint champs that were to be held in Hawaii but were cancelled. So the campaign for the champs in Britain was almost four years in the making.
“You have to make yourself prepared to race. We have people experienced in this arena — people like Kiwi (Campbell) and Florrie (Brooking).”
Horouta has learned from experience what is needed at the top level.
“In our 2008 campaign for the worlds in Sacramento we went to Disneyland first,” Walker said.
“We didn't do well at the champs because we left our best in Disneyland.
“Then came the 2010 world champs in New Caledonia, and the 2012 champs in Calgary. Canada was where Kiwi and Florrie teamed up as a coaching-and-administration team, and they have maintained that.
“The club didn't attend the 2014 world champs in Brazil, but at the 2016 champs on Australia's Sunshine Coast, Kiwi and Florrie hit their straps. Kiwi had been given the job of New Zealand elite women's coach and Florrie was manager. That wealth of experience in knowing what a winning campaign looks like, what you need to do, has been a key ingredient in their success.
“At the UK world champs this year, Kiwi was looking after 10 of the club's 14 teams, besides her New Zealand elite teams.”
Notwithstanding the successes of the past few years, the club needs people to keep making themselves available, Walker says.
“The emphasis is on our young paddlers.
“You treat them as if they are your children. Looking after our young is not a privilege; it's a duty.”
Walker says the building of a facility at Marina Park is another aspect of the development of waka ama.
“We need to be pushing for that type of thing to give credibility to the sport and its future. No (waka ama) club has a covered, purpose-built facility.”
Ideally such a facility will include a place where meetings or gatherings can be held, he says.
“(Architect and club member) James Blackburne is project manager and, although planning is in its early stages and no draft building plans have been produced, club representatives are talking with iwi – Ngai Tawhiri, Ngāti Oneone and Te Whānau-a-Iwi.”
Walker says the club has funding for preliminary work, and some tests have been done to look at the site's suitability for building.