Northland paddleboarders feature in Harcourts Triple Crown

Whangarei's Mary Sissons paddles after Dean Wink from Christchurch. Photo/Darren Markin

Stand-up paddleboarders were out in full force over the long weekend.

The annual Harcourts Triple Crown stand-up paddleboarding series over the Queen's Birthday weekend saw competitors young and old from all over New Zealand descending on the Bay of Islands for three days of competition at three different events.

Saturday's Paihia Power Paddle featured distance racing along the Paihia waterfront and amidst the splendid scenery of the Waitangi inlet.

Sunday's Stone Store Stand-up was all about turning, manoeuvring and overtaking skills as the competitors battled around multiple laps in the Kerikeri basin, in front of hundreds of happy spectators.

The big finale on Monday saw surf racing on the open ocean.

Each event offered different levels of racing to cater for the complete range of abilities amongst the competitors, from first-time racers to top professionals.

The local Northland paddleboarding community acquitted themselves with honour.

Kerikeri man Mike Ward was seventh in the surf racing and 10th overall in the pro fleet.

Pete Henderson from Whangarei won the masters division, with Riverside Paddlers teammate John Kearney close behind.

Kerikeri locals Ben Godwin, Mike Gundry and Shirley Dryden dominated the 12'6 fleet, while Anna Dawes and Max Hittle took top honours in the surfboard class fleet.

The series was extremely well supported by businesses in Paihia and Kerikeri, and the visitors from outside of Northland were amazed at the quality of racing, the stunning scenic locations and warm weather.

The Harcourts Triple Crown series certainly looks set to grow even further and become a mainstay of the annual Northland sporting calendar.