IRB racing styles studied

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Inflatable rescue boat crews from Waikanae Surf Life Saving Club were part of a national IRB development camp with a twist at Orewa last weekend.

Fifteen crews were there from around the country learning the differences between New Zealand and International Life Saving (ILS) styles of racing

The crews capped off their weekend with New Zealand's inaugural ILS-style IRB competition, and Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae raced well.

Shane Edwards from Sunset Beach SLSC said it was important for crews to be able to learn on gear specific to the ILS style of racing.

“The ILS boats go a lot faster and feel more responsive than New Zealand IRBs,” he said.

Waikanae's Oliver Shivnan and Connor Mitchell, members of the high-performance squad were among the coaches for the camp.

High-performance IRB coach lead Jaron Mumby said it was really important that crews had a pathway to be able to aspire and prepare towards world championships.

In the racing component of the weekend, Connor Mitchell (driver), Oliver Shivnan (crew) and Ana Naden (patient) finished runners-up to world champions Sunset Beach in the men's open single rescue.

Britta Carroll and her crew Ana Naden raced well with third placings in the open female single rescue and open female mass rescue.

Harry Allan and Travis Mitchell raced well too, with a second placing in the open men's mass rescue and a third-place finish in the under-23 mass rescue.