Winter Canoe Kayak Series

From May 13 and every 3rd weekend after that through to September 16, Joern Scherzer, Mana Pasifika Outrigger Canoe Club, Turi Hodges, Porirua Canoe Kayak Club and Chester and Sharlene, Welly Paddlers will be collaborating to run this years Series.

Fergs Kayaks and Welly Paddlers are the Series Sponsors.

Joern has previously run the W1 Series during this timeframe over the previous 2 years, and through a bit of communication at the Motorway Race last month Joern asked if we'd like to do a few. After thinking about it for 3 weeks, I thought maybe Turi Hodges from might be keen to join in as well.

The format will be a good mixture of races and also a mixed model of entry fees depending on what race you are turning up to.

PCKC are running their 3 races as fundraisers to send their Club members to the World Waka Ama Sprint Champs in Canada, you'll get a breakfast included as part of the $10 entry fee per person.

Joern, Chester and Sharlene's 2 races (each) will have a $5 entry fee for both singles and doubles, and a $10 entry for a W6, with all race entry fees, and sponsorship going into the spot prize pool at the last race, you will have to be there to collect your prize.

Joerns races will be based at Ngatitoa Domain, Turi's based from Onepoto and the Welly Paddlers races will be based from Petone Foreshore, Shelly Bay or Freyberg Beach, paddlers should meet at the venue at 9.15am with the races starting at 10 am, there are 7 races in the Series.

To follow the Race Organisers races refer to any of the websites below.

Turi and PCKC http://www.sportsground.co.nz/ClubSite.asp?SiteID=6260
Joern http://www.hoetonga.co.nz/
Chester and Sharlene http://www.wellypaddlers.blogspot.com/

Thanks to our Series sponsor
www.fergskayaks.co.nz

Full details of each race will be out by the end of this week  

Waka Ama Marathon 2012

Sharlene and I headed out to check out day 2 of the Waka Ama Nationals out at Ngatitoa Domain Mana today. Yesterday the women raced 24 km in the O.C. 6's and the Men raced 17km in the afternoon because of the change in conditions.
The girls did the hard yards by being out on the water the longest while the men were treated to a shortened race.

It was good to catch up with a few of the Waka Ama people who have supported the Welly Paddlers races over the years and see what they do at their races, also that they had the support of 300 paddlers participating in the Waka Ama Nationals and that they usually get around 1700 at their Sprint Nationals as well!

We managed to roll up and catch the start and finish of the Mens 15 km racing, which was run in much tamer conditions than yesterday as the course didn't go anywhere near Mana Island.

For full results of the weekends racing you'll find them on either http://www.hoetonga.co.nz/ or http://www.wakaama.co.nz/

Click on photos to enlarge

National Champs again this weekend!

The Waka Ama (Outrigger Canoe) Marathon Nationals are on this weekend out at Ngatitoa Domain in Mana.
The two main distances being raced are 24km (around Mana Island and return) for the W6's and 15km (out to Mana Island and return) for the W1 and W2's.
There are also shorter courses for some age groups.

Saturday is pretty much dedicated to the Big boats, with the Sunday being for the singles and doubles.

Here's a quick brief of schedules:

Saturday
9am W6 Women (J19,O,M, Snr M)
1pm W6 Men (J19,O,M, Snr M)

Sunday
9 am W6 10km
9.05 W1/W2 Women and mixed
11.30 W1/W2 Men

For exact details  go to http://www.hoetonga.co.nz/ 

NZ Marathon Champs 2012 results

To make it easy for myself to read the results from the weekend, I've edited the Senior times, to view splits other results and details click on the link below.
http://www.canoeracing.org.nz/home-1/news/archive/2012/2012-marathon-champs-results

28km with 7 portages (K1)          

2:11:55 Marty McDowall Open     
2:13:24 Glenn Muirhead Open       
2:14:11 James Feathery Open
2:15:55 Sam Newlands U23
2:16:32 Simon McLaren Open
2:19:23 Nick Sullivan Open
2:19:23 Adam Fraser Open
2:25:32 Ryan Welsh U23

28km no portages

2:17:41 Sean Murphy 35-44 ski
2:20:17 James Coubrough Open Multisport

24km with 6 portages (K1)    

2:04:03 Ben Bennett 55+              
2:05:32 Paul Randall 35-44         
2:06:10 Keith Alderson 55+   
2:07:20 Andrea Bunn 35-44 w
2:08:32 Glenn Gray 35-44      
2:09:09 Chester Burt 45-54 ski
2:09:42 Ian Gray 35-44
2:09:50 Mike Tate 45-44
2:11:25 Marianne Archer Open women

24km no portages

2:06:43 Sandy Winterton 45-54 multisport
2:09:42 Peter Brown 45-54 multisport
2:16:09 Jeff Booth 55+ ski
2:24:37 Iain Gillies 45-54 ski
2:30:16 Glenn Saunders 35-54 multisport

20km with 5 portages

2:09:52 Heather Kirkham 35-44 women TK1

Crack back into it then

Well it's been 9 weeks since I started back kayaking after 10 months off, which finally proved to be the tonic to get rid of tennis elbow  in both arms. When I started back paddling again I thought I could aim to do a race so choose the Picton Kayak Portage race as my goal, so here I am back into it. I gave myself the day off on Sunday after grinding it out at the Marathon Kayak Champs in Mana so it was back into portage training again today.
From Miramar Park one of my Portage routes is along Darlington Road and over Awa Road to Worser Bay a 15 min portage walking and once the legs get moving it should take about 9 minutes. Once on the water I headed up the Seatoun Bays across the top of Evans Bay to Freyberg beach then back again. Today I had a 25 kmh NNW breeze and about 400mm of wind swell so paddled for 90 minutes with 30 minutes of portaging.

This year I'm putting a little more effort into the training, than I did 2 years ago when I did 2 hrs 52 mins on the Primary course. This year I'll be aiming to knock at least 5 minutes off that time, for starters I'm going to be wearing light shoes while paddling and secondly I've made some wheels, which I've built using the same design I had for my K1 just over 15 years ago, and I'm definitely going to be a lot more efficient exiting and re-entering the water at the portages as well.

Why use wheels when for years everyones been carrying there kayaks over the long portages? Well for starters the long Kayak Portage races  in both Australia and South Africa have used wheels going back 30 or so years. My first NZ Kayak portage race was across the Rotorua Lakes in the late 80's and I also used a set for a Kayak portage race in Dargaville around the same period.

Work smarter not harder I say, and I'm sure ACC will be a lot happier that I'm looking after my body and saving them money!!!!!

The photos are taken on the east side of Awa Road (100 metres from Worser Bay) on the portage back home today.

Mana KRC run Marathon Champs

Had a great day out at Onepoto on Saturday grinding out 24km with 6 portages on the Think Uno Max racing in the K1 masters section.
The National Marathon Champs were run by the Mana KRC for the 2nd year running, the club did a great job with many people involved performing many roles as Officials on the day. I estimate that this side of it involved around 15 to 20 volunteer helpers performing roles from registration through to safety craft officials.

The traditional Northerly wind did not turn up on Saturday meaning that a brisker than usual southerly gave us a technically challenging course, especially heading down the middle of Porirua Harbour towards Whitireia and over to the railway lines and back (a J shaped course), the races were run in a 20 to 30kmh southerly pretty much.

There were a range of distances and options with portage and non portage, dependant on what type of kayak or class you entered.

There were 49 competitors racing in the singles races on the Saturday and 18 people racing in the doubles on the Sunday. Most of the feild were racing in K1's but there were a good number of people in multisport, TK1 kayaks and surf skis.

A great day out with a coffee cart on site, catered BBQ, savouries and muffins at the aftermatch, spot prizes and great comaradery amongst the paddlers from many of the Provincal areas around the Country.

One odd spot at the end............... the Prize awards from CRNZ these funny little ribbons that we used to see about 40 years ago at the A&P shows.
Canoe Racing New Zealand.............what were you thinking............. $40 entry and you get a 60 cent ribbon for a place prize with your place, catergory and date written in pen..............I'm sure a few people will foundly remember what you gave everyone on 14/4/2012.

click on photo to enlarge                 

Well done Mana, great effort all round, I thought you guys did a fantastic job on the day, though the results could always be posted each evening, with computers and the internet being so easy to use nowadays.
You will find the results on http://www.canoeracing.org.nz/home-1/news/archive/2012/2012-marathon-champs-results 
                                            

Another Surf ski !!

The value of a demo surf ski proved it's worth yet again. I had the loan of a Carbon Think Uno Max from Fergs Kayaks Auckland recently, the idea was to use it in the NZ Marathon Kayak Champs in Wellington on April 14. I enjoyed paddling the demo so much I decided to head up to Auckland and demo Alan Fergusons 2011 Kevlar Uno Max. The result was that I had to have one, at 12 kg it's going to make portaging, for the above race, a much easier task.

After a big run of Surf ski sales in Wellington in 2011, this year has been a bit limp, at least I'm doing my bit for the economy.
Why have 2 surf skis or 2 kayaks?

Well it's all about horses for courses especially in the Capital.
I now have the Think Evo II for the more savage windy days and the Think Uno Max for the rest of the time.
My balance sucks when it gets rough, so I just choose a boat that works for me with whatever forecast we have for the days paddling, you have to be sensible to a certain degree.
I used to paddle K1's back in the day, but since moving to Wellington I have found a K1 a little impractical most of the time. I hear people say "they are great for improving your balance"............yeah when the conditions are fine and dandy..........go for a paddle on a Think Uno Max or Epic V12 they will also improve your balance or any surf ski on the rough and bumpy days.............there are always more waves than flat water in Harbour Cities like Wellington and Auckland!

The surf ski is just fine for the winter as well, it doesn't get as cold here, as it does in a Northern European winter for example, and like any cooler day, you just dress for the occassion with the right clothing and every day is a sunny day when you wear good clothing.

The addition of the Think Uno Max?..........it suits my paddling style, just like when I was kayaking I always prefered a JKK Kayaks UFO over a Sisson Evolution edge. They are both great kayaks for multisport but you either fit or excell in one type of kayak or surf ski more than you do the other. With Surf skis some people just love an Epic V12 or Epic V10 or Fenn Elite or Fenn Mako 6.
Click on the photos to enlarge.

End of Season Surf ski clearout

Fergs Kayaks Wellington are looking at clearing their racks of Surf skis before the winter. If you buy one of their skis you'll be doing them a favour so they can make space so they can stock some multisport or sea kayaks, and you'll also doing your wallet a favour by a getting surf ski at a reduced price. Quote from Dean Ford, "Remember team, no one regrets buying toys. :)"


In the slideshow on the right hand side of the page there is a mixture of both pre loved and brand new surf skis for sale, they are order and are as follows:

2010 Think Evo II, shop demo, in excellent condition, performance model, 15kg, 465mm wide $3500
2011 Epic V10 Sport, brand new, (black line) performance model 15 kg, 483mm wide $4200
2010 Epic V12, shop demo, (blue line) value model 17kg, 435mm wide $2700
2011 Think Eze, brand new, performance model, 13.5 kg, 510mm wide $4250
2011 Think Evo II, brand new, performance model, 14kg, 465mm wide $4000
2010 Think Uno Max, shop demo, carbon Elite model, 14 kg, 430mm wide $3000

For further info on the above skis click on the links below.

www.epickayaks.com/products/surfskikayaks
www.thinkkayaks.com/


Think PFD's.................. Surf ski paddlers love these vests as they are high vis are very low cut around the arms which helps to reduce heat build up that many other PFD's are renowned for. They are $250, buy one and it's yours for a life time of use, they come in size L/XL and XL/XXL, they are fully adjustable so you can adjust them up and down for your own comfort.

All the above skis come with a free demo courtesy of Welly Paddlers, if you need a hand to make up your mind or compare models, or need a hand to set the ski up.
If you live out of Wellington we'll help you to arrange transportation to another Town or City.

For info on the above products contact: Dave Annear - Retail Manager - Fergs Kayaks - Wellington - phone 04 499 8898 -  retailwn@fergskayaks.co.nz