The top four finishers overall Sean Rice (left), Andrew Mowlem, Simon Longdill, and Garth Spencer.
The top four finishers overall Sean Rice (left), Andrew Mowlem, Simon Longdill, and Garth Spencer.
Another dominant winning performance from Taipa waka paddler Tupuria King, and a surprise late entry from South African surf ski exponent Sean Rice, gave the annual Bo Herbert Memorial ocean paddling race an extra edge at the weekend.
King, the current national waka ama sprint title holder, defended the BoHerbert memorial title for the third year running, completing a gruelling 32km course on the Tutukaka coast in 2 hours 47 minutes.
Rice, who is ranked in the top five ocean surf ski paddlers in the world series, stormed to victory in the ocean ski section in 2 hours 25 minutes, hitting the finish line inside the Tutukaka Harbour seven minutes clear of Aucklander Andrew Mowlem in second spot.
In testing conditions, paddlers started the race at Matapouri Beach, headed north to Whananaki before turning to paddle with tailwind conditions to Ngunguru before a short upwind leg to the finish line at Kowharewa Bay inside Tutukaka Harbour.
King was initially chased hard by Maui Kjeldsen, a former Northland waka paddler now based in Hawaii, and Tahitian Nohoarii Tahiata. In the end Tahiata got third with Sean Herbert finishing second in the race held in memory of his father Bo. While Kjeldsen, Tahiata and Herbert did manage to gain ground on King in sections of the race, King was too strong in the final few kilometres.
Rice was never challenged at the front end of the surf ski field. In humid conditions his ability to maintain a solid pace around the 15km/h mark was simply too much for the chasing paddlers.
King's younger sister Rosie King won the women's waka race while Aucklander Rachel Clarke took out the women's surf ski division in her first serious hit-out as she prepares to defend the women's Molokai World Championship race in Hawaii in May.
The race had an international flavour this year with paddlers from France, Tahiti, Hawaii, South Africa and Australia included.
