Waka tere launch in Gisborne brings traditional matangirua sailing back

Matangirua waka tere builder Frank Kawe (left) and Ngati Porou Surf Life Saving Club co-ordinator Peter Boyd with the sailing and paddling canoe named Marohirohi. Photo / John Gillies

A waka tere – a trimaran using a waka ama hull – was on show at Gisborne’s Anzac Park on Saturday and is destined for use on East Coast waters.

Waka tere are seagoing craft that allow the traditional practice of matangirua (dual-powered sailing – wind and paddles).

Frank Kawe, of Rehua Innovations in Tauranga, builds the craft using six-place waka hulls.

“It’s a bridge between paddling and big voyaging canoes, and a great way for paddlers to experience sailing,” Kawe said.

The craft on show on the Waimata River bank at Anzac Park is under the care of Ngāti Porou Surf Life Saving Club and can be dismantled and taken up the coast on a canoe trailer.

That’s how it was brought to Gisborne from Tauranga last week.

Kawe said some older waka were “pushed to the back” and seldom used.

“We’ve rescued some and used them to make waka tere. This one came from Kawakawa Mai Tāwhiti Kura Kaupapa in Hicks Bay.

“Tinikai Rolleston, of the East Coast Paddler Aotearoa, helped with the fibreglassing and I built and designed the sailing rig, including all the wooden components.”

The kīato (crosspiece connecting outriggers to the hull) was made of Oregon pine old-growth for strength.

Kawe has been sailing in one form or another since the 1990s.

This was the third matangirua waka tere that Rehua Innovations had produced, and it was named Marohirohi (meaning “to be brave, strong, resolute, and strong of character”).

The others are based with Te Toki Voyaging Society (West Coast) and with Kawe in Tauranga.

Ngāti Porou Surf Life Saving Club co-ordinator Peter Boyd said the practice of matangirua allowed waka ama paddlers to add coastal sailing to their water skills.

“This project has taken us two years to bring about,” he said.

“It will enhance lifeguards’ sailing skills along traditional lines.

“Waka have always been used to encourage whanau, iwi and the wider community to go into surf lifesaving.”