Paddling: Long distance waka ama championships to hit water in Gisborne

Gisborne representatives welcomed representatives of the hundreds of visiting paddlers for the national long distance championships in Thursday's pōwhiri at Midway Beach. Photo / Murray Robertson

The 60 clubs and 950 paddlers in Gisborne for the New Zealand long distance waka ama championships will hit the water on Friday in the first of six races across the next three days.

Midway Beach will be the venue for the racing unless sea conditions force a shift to a standby course available off Kaiti Beach.

The visitors recognised the work that has gone into staging the championships and thanked the Gisborne contingent for it. Photo / Murray Robertson

The visitors, both competitors and supporters, were welcomed formally to the district yesterday afternoon in a pōwhiri held in a marquee next to the Midway Community Hub.

The races will held over two courses laid out in front of the Midway Surf Club, covering three distances, 8km, 16km and 24km and involving a wide range of age divisions from juniors to Masters 70s.

Craft numbers have built up steadily as the single and six-person waka to be used in the contest have arrived at the beach.

Churchill Park is festooned with the craft that will be used to do battle over the course of the championships. Photo / Murray Robertson

The first race starts at 9.30am, while the second race of the day starts at 12.30pm.