Our Cold Kiwi Series Events

Just so everyone is in the picture. I have been I contact with the Wellington Regional Council Harbour Department......or commonly know as the Harbour Master, who's office is the Territorial Authority on our waterways.

They are aware of the collision on Sunday.

Here's an excerpt from one e-mail

Maritime rules are quite clear (as are all racing rules that I know of) that the overtaking vessel must keep clear. I've been trying to put it into some context, and the best one I can think of is a sailing regatta, where if such an incident occurred it would be dealt with (hopefully) between the competitors themselves, or by the event organisers under the Racing Rules of Sailing (and the event Sailing Instructions) , rather than resorting any Maritime Law.

As the incident occurred between competitors in your event, your racing rules or rules of competition should cover such issues. This could be by some sort of penalty, disqualification, barring competitors from future events etc. Any damage should be dealt with by the offending party and/or insurance.

...and an excerpt from another e-mail

Also I see in your entry conditions that PFD's are required but from the photos not everyone seems to be complying. How do you manage that? Especially important now that the water is cold and with incidents such as you are dealing with.

At the next event we are going to start all W6's two minutes ahead of single paddlers on the long course......however this may not prevent a similar incident occurring again...it must be remembered that as some single craft catch up and pass a W6......we can then be put in a similar situation, if good judgement is not used.

I think you've all heard me say this before......."it's not the Olympics".....and I've also said..... "give people plenty of space and take your time when turning and approaching slower craft."

Since Matariki is on July 4 at Petone.......we'll make the next "Cold Kiwi Series" Event TWO on June 21...... at one of the Wellington City locations......either Oriental Bay, Hataitai Beach or Shelly Bay.....in that way we're spreading the events evenly around each Cities location.

Click on any photo to enlarge

Injury treatment

Every now and again we all get a little broken and require some re allignment.....I'm just getting patched up at the moment.

All the stretching that's required is sometimes not enough for me and accidents do happen. Sometimes on ACC, physiotherapists don't quite cut the mustard...all the time.....not that they are all bad......sometimes we all require extra treatment as part of the total package. There are a number of providers that get us back to work and back to 100% again though not all are covered by ACC.......which is a real shame.

Trevor Hamilton is my go to guy when my body is a mess. Trevor is now in partnership at Functional Bodyworks with Rob Oschner. They are on level 5 at 12 Johnston street, Wellington City. Trevor is fantastic and he's kicking my tennis elbow into touch at the moment.

I also go to Lorraine Phillips at Chiropractic Care at 4 Khandallah Road in Ngaio.
 Lorraine and also Lacey Reedy both specialise in adaptive therapy which uses this adivator device that work's out what amount of pressure is required to re activate or stimulate body parts to loosen up and work as they should do.

These are my go to people......don't go for the no pain, no gain approach....get your body in tune if it's not quite working properly....you'll feel much better for it.

Thank you Trevor, Lorraine and Lacey...I really appreciate the work you all do.

Cold Kiwi Series @ Onepoto

I don't think we could have asked for a better start for the first Cold Kiwi Series event for 2015.
Porirua City laid it on with a great Autumn day 11 degrees C and just a touch of breeze that hardly set a ripple on the water.

It's easy to say it's flat and too easy but when you are faced with 50 or so craft on the start line......many will agree it's hardly a flat water start with wash all over the place...and for many it takes a while to get into their own paddling groove.

Thanks to Sharlene and also Liz Ruatoto for all the work registering timing everyone as they came through to the finish many close together and Raewyn Anderson for taking charge of Sharlene's camera.

I apologise for my scratchey briefing today I'm a bit rusty...but promise to sharpen up by the time the next event comes along.
We constantly discuss the best way to amalgamate the craft into each event and are very mindful of tides, wind and wave directions which have an impact on smooth turns for all craft......some times we will have courses that work anti clockwise (or ama turn) and days like today we'll have them clockwise......which works best to create up and back leg separation of paddlers.

Next event we will have 3 start times to separate craft and also revert to sticking the tippy kayaks close to shore...... and those who are more stable in their craft slightly further out across the start line

Quick round up, we two course options that can easily converted to three.
The long course start by the Onepoto Jetty and headed past the Yacht Mooring poles opposite Whitireia Park around "tyre" then back to a buoy opposite the Rowing and Kayak Clubs x 2 laps.

The short course option was a buoy 1 km from the start (just before Te Onepoto Bay) and back to Onepoto this was also two laps...it was set to give all the SUP's an option of not bashing into the wind if it blew up.

As with most years we are having a major spot prize draw at the last event....the collecting of all the event funds allows us to buy some really meaningful prizes that will again be relative to all our sports.
Every event we will have 2 to 3 spot prizes. Today we had 2 x Adrenalin 2 P Thermal tops from Fergs Kayaks...they were won by Andrew Carey (second to last photo).... and Trevor MacDonald in (the last photo)

Event 3 or 4 we will be back to Porirua City.....but we'll time that event on a high tide.

The next event is June 21......and don't forget the Matariki Challenge at Petone has been shifted to July 4.

 
4 km short course

32:08 Darryn Irving  SUP 14 ft
34:09 Lei Faletolu     SUP 12.6
36.45 Traci Linders        SUP 12.6

1 lap of long course 3.75 km

21:10 Neil O'Brien
23:01 Rob Futter
26:13 Sharon Henderson

Long course 7.5 km

37:25 Glenn Muirhead K1
40:10 Andrew Carey SS
40:14 Chester Burt SS
40:39 Matt Archer K1
42:09 Joern Scherzer W1
42:22 Derek Cox MK
42:31 David McKnight SS
42:32 Kyle Christensen SS
42:42 Dave Dellabarca SS
43:34 Pa Taitoko W1
43:42 Barton Fletcher SS
43:54 Almost Golden W6
43:59 Les Morris SS
44:31 Peter Melling SS
44:39 Marianna Hodges W1
44:42 Sandy Winterton SK
44:50 George Faalogo W1
44:58 Sandbar Tahuna W6
45:01 Colin Crampton SS
45:03 John Toomath SS
45:08 Piki Emery W1
45:09 James Sadler W1
45:30 Karl Timu W1
45:53 Graham Daniel SS
46:09 Rueben Hill SS
46:49 Matt Penney MK
46:57 Owen Rodda SS
48:38 Pete Notman MK
48:57 Andy Hanara W1
49:02 Rodney Collier W1
49:12 Nicole Ranger MK
49:28 Terry Gardiner W1
50:37 Dennis Ngatai W1
51:05 Dick Dinsdale SS
51:51 Trevor MacDonald SK
52:05 Ross Heald MK
52:34 Paula Napier W1
53:43 Donna Walford-Collier W1
55:12 Jeff Chapman W1
55:34 Karl Le Quesne SUP 14 ft
56:04 Ann Bondy W1
58:17 Ray Baker-Underhill W1
60:52 Jillian Warren SUP 12.6
61:47 Eleni Fiso W1
64:27 Phil Weeks SUP 14 ft
65:50 Caroline Bartley W1
68:15 Amanda Rota W1

More photos on the Welly Paddlers Facebook page shortly....here's the link https://www.facebook.com/WellyPaddlers?ref=hl

Click on any photo to enlarge

Venue for tomorrow is Onepoto

We are going to go with Onepoto.

It's a tough call between both venues the wind direction is in no man's land on 3 wind/weather sites......but we are likely to get anything in between a south westerly, a westerly or northwesterly...talk about flip flopping like a jandal.

Any late changes to venue posted here on our Facebook page......you know what our weather is like !

https://www.facebook.com/WellyPaddlers?ref=hl

The long course will be 7.5 km  and we'll head up past the yachting poles and around the tyre....70 metres north of the last mooring pole......x 2 laps

The short course will be 4 km and we'll likely make past many of the Onepoto boat sheds.....(1 km from the start to the buoy)...and back...... x 2 laps

We will be down at the start by 8.15 am to register everyone.
Remember it is entry on the day..... so there will be a few people to get through so turning up late....and be you'll be in a cue.
briefing is at 9.35 am
We will start at 9.45 am for the long course
Short course start will be 9.47 am

Tomorrow it's going be 11 degrees C so warm clothing will be the order of the day.
PFD's you'll need these as well.
low tide is 7.40 am
high tide 1.49 pm

Pics from the 2014 Motorway Classic

click on any photo to enlarge

Weather update for Sunday

Looking good weather wise for Sunday.

North Westerly 15 kmh - 25 kmh.....at this stage.

Onepoto looks like a good place to base ourselves....but I'll confirm this by 10 am tomorrow morning.

So today and tomorrow's a good day to check your craft over check the rudder cables aren't fraying or corroding and give them a good head to tail look over.

We're in Cold Kiwi Series mode

Well the forecast looks promising for this Sunday though the winds flipping back and forth like a jandal.......between a Northerly and Southerly....but good news the winds look to be moderate.

Again our venue will either be Onepoto or Dolly Vardon Park by the Mana bridge.

We'll have an 8 km course and a 4 km course.

$10 for singles ($5 if you're a junior/student/ at varsity or 65  years+)
$20 doubles
$30 sixes

The event is inclusive of all waka ama, stand up paddlers, kayaks and surf skis.

Also view the updated event calendar on the left hand side of the page

Click on any photo to enlarge

Cold Kiwi ONE update for this Sunday

Well it's been a messy last 4 weeks or so with winds hitting a few of the events hard, that we've been too.

Good news is the weather Gods look to be smiling down on the first event of the 2015 Cold Kiwi Series. This next week or so we seem to be back on track and into our good old pattern of settled Autumn Wellington weather.

Sunday at this stage is looking like a light southerly....so great if you are a fine weather paddler !

Remember our first event is in the Porirua City Area and depending on wind on the day we will be basing ourselves at either Dolly Vardon Park or Onepoto.

Remember the series is about getting everyone together and including a range of craft into a real Kiwi winter Series.....so we won't be out in the big waves we'll be along shorelines and around sheltered bays......it is winter after all, so it's about keeping the arms turning over.

Just for some inspiration here's a video put together from Mari Hodges and you'll also see one on the Welly Paddlers Facebook page put together from Dave McKnight.

I'll place further updates here on Wednesday, Friday and then Saturday at 10 am.

Marianna Hodges from At The Catch Entertainment on Vimeo.

11 days and counting

Cold Kiwi Series event ONE kicks off in 11 days....and as mentioned in the previous post it'll be out in the Porirua City Area.

If it's a southerly our venue is likely to be at Dolly Vardon Park.....and if it's a strong Northerly we'll likely head to Onepoto by the Rowing and Kayak Club.

We've had a pretty wild last few weeks with more wind and rain than I can remember for this time of the year......but this is good as next week the conditions look to be settling down some...great news for the first winter series event !

We are going to do an event launch by heading to Takeway Churton this Sunday May 17........meet at 3.30 pm for a catch up with Howie Clarke there....and he'll cook us some healthy burgers and seafood and kumara fries.

It'll be a great chance to catch up with anyone who's keen......I'll also have some vouchers for a few people who helped us out at the "Porirua Grand Traverse" Multisport event.
....Sharlene, Lei Faletolu Neil O'Brien, Howie Clarke, Robert Futter did a fantastic job at the Whitireia boat ramp that day guiding paddlers in to the ramp in difficult conditions so.....here's payback time.

https://www.facebook.com/TakeawayChurton?fref=ts

Howie from Takeaway Churton

One of the impromptu after paddling top ups......

click on any photo to enlarge

Cold Kiwi Series 2015

18 days and counting till Event ONE of the Series.

Just a quick brief.

There are 6 events.

Distances 8 km or 4 km.

Open to kayaks, surf skis, waka ama and stand ups

This is a winter series so we are keeping all the events based in sheltered areas (to keep as warm as possible) with courses running around the shorelines.

The entry fees go into one big spot prize draw at the last event.....plus smaller spot prize draws at every second venue.

We always aim to share the series evenly across the greater Wellington Area.

The first event will be held out in the Porirua Area. 

Please check www.wellypaddlers.blogspot.co.nz 24 hours before each event to see the venue announcement.

We will post updates on our site 6 days out from each event and update every 2 days so you'll see what the weather and likely venue we're aiming for.

You can also view a range of quick snip its on the Welly Paddlers Facebook page....it's an open page so you don't have to be a log on user to view it.

Venues:

Porirua City

Onepoto, Dolly Vardon Park

Petone / Hutt City

The Giant Oars or Sladden Park

Days Bay

Wellington  City

Hataitai Beach or Oriental Bay

Shelly Bay

Everyone entering must read the event flyer above or download it from the right hand side of this page

Click on any photo to enlarge

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If you're over in the Wairarapa Paddy Rimene is also running a Winter Series on Henley Lake  dates are:

May 10 - June 7 - July 5 - Aug 9 - Aug 30

teamrims@hotmail.co.nz

027 237 9696

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Mana Kayak Racing Club are also holding one of the CRNZ 10 km Series events on...... July 19

Matt Warren is the Organiser 0274 757 323 manakayakracing@gmail.com

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regards,

Chester 022 6455 820 or  04 976 1795

Sharlene 0274 581 005   

Get Equipped for winter

Here's something really interesting for everyone. There are many out there who have balked at buying a PFD over the years.....but now we're getting to the thin end of the wedge with the Authorities...so now it's time to buy a proper one.

As Event Organisers here are some key points we'd like people to take into account this winter.

PFD's

• Visibility : High viz please !....you are much easier to spot in poor light and darkness, whether you are training or taking part in an event.......and Orange is the best high viz colour available.
• But PFD's are too restrictive....only if you buy a heavy one and then go and put a drink system in the back of it !!!
• Drink systems are best in the lowest part of your craft... keep the upper body free and lighten your load.
• The PFD below is one of the lightest, durable and less restrictive on the market.

You'll see a water proof pouch attached to the PFD here...this model has plenty of room for the cellphone and car / van key

Would you like to get good bang for your buck ?

Fergs Kayaks have these Think Kayak PFD's in stock now and they are down to $185......bite the bullet and buy one you'll have it for many years to come.

Clothing

• Stay warm on the water..... it's winter...the boss doesn't want you turning up to work with a cold and sharing the lurgy with your workmates
• one item of high viz or bright clothing while paddling... two is even better......fluoro caps are easy to spot and may stop a motorboat from running you over !
• Be safe be seen

This fluoro cap is great for people who overheat....it is light and comfortable......Cost $25. 

There's heaps of warm thermal clothing you can buy....some of it's bloody expensive and in shady and damp areas it's slow to dry.

My suggestion is to buy Adrenalin 2P thermals...when you've over spent buying your craft and paddle...you need some financial reprieve.  

The long thermal tops are $70....and the long pants are $49 at Fergs Kayaks

By all means by black pants....because they only come in black.......but when it comes to tops.......go for green they are easy to spot.....red or yellow are also a good alternative

This Sharkskin top is my go to top in summer and moderately cool weather. Terry Newsome gave it to me as a spot prize at the Ocean Canoe Showdown in 2012....I love this top and Sharlene can spot me from a mile away when I'm wearing it. Cost approx $130

A leg leash definite must have on a surf ski and also a stand up paddle board. Cost $60

A hand held flare is a requirement for a number of ocean events nowadays and also for long distance paddling around our busy harbours and coastlines. Cost $30

A whistle.....shouting is near ineffective especially when you're tired or out of breath.....work smarter not harder.....carry a whistle. Cost $5

A red light navigation light for the left shoulder of your PFD...denotes a starboard light......a white headlamp or white light on your head is another option that will give you visibility to other water users at night. Cost $30

Travel flag on the back of your kayak, surf ski or waka ama is a must.....not only will it save you a ticket from the Police...it might avoid a bus or truck smashing the tail off your craft through lack of vision......flags that hang down well are also handy when you are back...they are easy to see and help you judge distance. Cost $10 - $25

Click on any photo to enlarge

Crazyman Pics

Well what a cracker of a day for the Hutt City Crazyman 25th Anniversary event !

There were actually 3 water sports based event on in Wellington....there was the "Mates for Life Paddle" which had a finish point and base at Seatoun (which was a waka ama Fundraiser for the Comerford Family)...and Ocean Outfitters also hosted the last of the SUP Summer Beach series events out at Titahi Bay.

We were at Crazyman so here's a few pics from Sharlene.

click on any photo to enlarge

Foe more photos click here https://www.facebook.com/WellyPaddlers?ref=hl 

Coming up :

May 9 Whaingaroa Hoe - Raglan
May 16 Portage Race - Picton
May 24 Cold Kiwi Series Event ONE - Wellington/Porirua/Petone locations
May 31  3D multisport event - Rotorua