Ruakaka Beach is gearing up to host the Trillian Trust Northern Region Surf Lifesaving Championships this weekend. The club has hosted the competition for several years and spokesman Derek Hulse said every year it was a huge undertaking. "We've been working on it for the last couple of weeks ... we supplythe lunches and morning and afternoon teas for the officials, tents, toilets, people and gear to transport the boats." Ruakaka had been identified as a good host beach because it was big and wide, giving lots of room for competition, Mr Hulse said. "I think also it's because they like our lunches," he joked. "We seem to get good feedback about the food ... it's pretty basic, but we must be doing something right." The district championships includes all types of surf lifesaving events, for all ages. Events include beach flags, swimming races, surf skis, team canoe boats and inflatable rescue boats (IRBs). Host club Ruakaka have two crews competing in canoe and two in IRB. The Ruakaka men's under-21 canoe crew is defending their title this weekend. Mr Hulse said the crews to watch were Red Beach, Mairangi Bay and Orewa, who were always strong contenders. Meanwhile, Northern Region surf lifesaving sport manager Travis Mitchell said he had received 450 entries for the weekend's competition. Most were young lifeguards, competing in the under-19 categories. The minimum age of a qualified lifeguard is 14. Butt there had been a noticeable increase in masters category entries, Mr Mitchell said. "The number of competitors is quite large. We've got about 20 entries (in Masters), and last year it was between four and eight." More older competitors were trying their hand at the Masters events, particularly as their children became more interested in surf lifesaving. "It's a real family thing. We're seeing a lot more different generations of the one family in the sport, as they stay on competing. Some of the older ones say, `I wish I'd got into the sport sooner'."
