Mitamitaga sprint regatta provides stellar paddling

There was plenty of competitive racing at the annual Mitamitaga Regatta at Kowharewa Bay on the Tutukaka coast. Photo / Kristin Edge

The Mitamitaga Annual Sprint Regatta once again provided plenty of thrills and spills at Kowharewa Bay.

More than 150 paddlers raced on the day, ranging from competitors as young as 7 fright up to the golden masters division.

There were 27 races across the day, with clubs travelling from the Far North and Auckland alike picking up their share of spoils.

The marquee event, however, was the Peter Muijlwijk Memorial Cup which tests the mental and physical fortitude of 12-paddler teams.

The crews, split into two teams of six (male and female), were tasked with two laps of approximately 3km on the Tutukaka Coast.

Team Paddlefly Aotearoa, from the Mitamitaga Canoe Club, proved too tough to haul in despite the best efforts of Terminal Velocity from Ngati Rehia and the Miti Masters.

The squad, made up of Zane Heta, Te Arawa Tumai, Pounamu Berryman, Mercedez Hona, Jahkaya Taukei, Tirama Ranea-Angis, Carrell Morunga, Kewene Edmonds, Toi Munro, Tira Heta, Kier Henry and Jason Eruera, traversed the course with skill to take the title.

The other big race involved the best young paddlers of the regatta.

The Zane Ferguson Memorial Race is for Junior U16 Boys and is raced over 500m.

Three paddlers from Team Paddlefly Aotearoa were the main runners and battled for line honours.

In a hard-fought race Munro took the victory and the spoils over Edwards in second and Morunga in third.

Event administrator Louie Elliot said the day was a booming success.

"It was just a really awesome day," she said.

"The weather was brilliant, we had a massive turnout and everyone had a great time. It was particularly great to see all the youngsters getting involved. It's a positive thing for the sport.

"Teams like the Manukau under-16s and the Cook Islands crews really stood out over the day."