Short' long distance course no help to waka crew

A long distance wasn't quite long enough for Bay of Plenty waka ama crew Wahine Toa.

The crew made up of paddlers from Tauranga, Rotorua and Whakatane took part in the New Zealand Post Long Distance Waka Ama Nationals in Gisborne at the weekend.

Despite only forming this year the crew has a wealth of experience with paddlers such as the team's coach and paddler Corrina Gage from Tauranga, Rotorua's Yvonne Rogers and Whakatane's Raanji Rapana. But their experience wasn't enough and they were only able to muster a second in their division and third overall.

Wahine Toa manager Naomi Kerapa said the team were left disappointed and frustrated.

"There were a lot of reefs around and the course was quite short. The girls were expecting a 25km race but it was only about 15km so it was quite short. The girls were third out of the blocks at the start and it pretty much stayed that way for the whole race."

Although Kerapa wasn't making excuses for the team's result she said they had trained for 25km and the shorter distance had definitely affected their performance.

"Normally the girls are just starting to get their mojo going and starting to amp up at the 15km mark but with this race it was pretty much finished before the girls really got started.

The race was won by last year's champions, Gisborne team Manu & Jemima.

Kerapa said despite the result the team enjoyed the regatta with the conditions ideal for paddling.

The team still had a number of long distance races before the end of the year but would start to focus on the sprint nationals at Lake Karapiro in January next year.

She said the team also had a long-term goal of heading to Hawaii in 2012 to compete in a number of regattas.

The W1 open men's division was won by Hemi Wahapango followed by Paddy Riemene and Steve Roulston. The open women's division was taken out by Amy Robertson with Miriana Hodges and Mereana Hodges finishing second and third respectively.

Full results in tomorrow's Daily Post