Thank you to everyone that participated in the first regatta for the ‘HAVE A GO!’ Harbour Series on the weekend.

A couple of things to share with you all:

Our race officials out on the starter boat over the weekend wanted to congratulate all the kids and crews that paddled for doing a great job of following their instructions to get lined up and ready on the false start line and then following the flags at the start of the races. The kids did a great job of listening to instructions and following the flags. As a bit of feedback for the J16 and J19 crews, the starter boat just wanted to give a heads up that some of these crews were pushing the boundaries a bit too much with their starts and would have been disqualified for being over the start line, had this been the Regionals and Nationals. Good on the kids for testing their start strategies out – this regatta was definitely the place to try and run the gauntlet with your starts, but just something for these crews to be aware of as you head in to Regionals and Nationals.

Congratulations to all paddlers who entered the W1 races on the weekend. Having the courage to head out to the start line on a rudderless W1 is a huge achievement and it was great to see so many paddlers embrace the kaupapa of this series and just get out there and ‘HAVE A GO!’ on the W1s. We know that a lot of kids struggled getting out to the start line with the wind that came up, and found it hard to stay facing the right direction once they started racing. These are the challenges that all W1 paddlers face when they first start out. We really hope that the kids have not been put off by their W1 experiences on the weekend, and that coaches and whānau encourage them to come back this weekend to ‘HAVE ANOTHER GO!’ in the W1 races, because this is exactly what this series is about. Nobody is gonna care if they go crooked, flip out, take 10 mins to get out to the start line, or finish facing the wrong direction! What we will care about and celebrate is the fact that they are out there giving it a go!

For regatta 2 this weekend, the race organisers have made a couple of changes to the 500m race format:

1) the midget W6 500m races will be scratched and replaced with more 250m races for these crews. So all midget crews should have at least four 250m races this weekend. This change has been made to ensure we are able to fit in all the races we have planned for the day, and to give the kids as many opportunities as possible to go through the whole race process so that they can get really familiar with what to expect at Regionals and Nationals.

2) the 500m races for all other grades (intermediates, J16, J19 crews) will be run over a 250m course, so will not just be a straight race – these crews will have to make one buoy turn in their 500m races. Please note that this differs to the 500m race format used at Regionals and Nationals. The reason for this change is because we want to give crews as many opportunities as possible to practise their turns on Saturday. By running the 500m races on a 250m course, crews will be able to go out, have a go at one turn,  come off the water and talk about what went well, what they can do better next time, etc., and then they’ll get the opportunity to go back out again and give it another go.

Coaches and managers, please let the kids know not to worry if they don’t make their turns within the buoys this Saturday, or if they miss the turning buoy all together – just tell them to keep going! We will not be having any disqualifications, we’re not recording any times, and we’re not taking note of who comes first, second or third! The main thing is they’re out their having a go at turns in a race environment and that this is a learning opportunity for them, so we are expecting some crews to miss their turns – all good!

One thing we do know is that in turn races, the chance of having collisions with other W6s in the race increases, as crews coming out of their turns can sometimes cross over in to the next lane and come face-to-face with another crew that is just heading in to their turn. Added to this is the fact that there will be a number of first-time steerers paddling this weekend for whom it will be the first time they have had a go at steering turns in a race environment. We ask all coaches to please brief your crews about the dangers of colliding with other waka out on the course, and encourage them to be extra careful to avoid banging in to any other crews out on the water. First and foremost, it is about our kids’ safety, and second, it’s about looking after the waka. Please make sure your crews know that if they get in a situation where they look like they are going to collide with another waka, they must brake and back paddle if necessary to avoid any danger. We will be giving the kids a reminder about this when they head in to the marshalling area/loading bay on the weekend, but please talk to them about it this weekend too. Any crews that behave recklessly out on the water will be financially responsible for any damage caused to the waka.

We will be running the W1 races as a 250m distance again this weekend. This is to ensure we get through all the races on the programme for the day. Please let us know if you have registered paddlers for the W1 races who no longer wish to be entered in the W1 events. We had a big number of scratchings on Saturday and this had a big impact on our programme. Again, we encourage the kids to get out their and ‘HAVE A GO!’ on the W1 – if ever there was a time to try W1 racing, this regatta is the one to do it, coz it’s not going to matter if it doesn’t all quite go to plan!

While registrations for this week’s regatta closed last Wednesday, we have received a number of requests to see if other crews can enter for this weekend. Our race organisers have agreed to reopen the registrations for this weekend’s regatta until 5.00pm, Wednesday 28 November. We cannot extend it any later than that as it makes it too difficult to organise the lane draws. So if you know of any other crews that would like to enter this weekends regatta, please let them know that they must have their registration forms in and that the registration fee will still be $5 per paddler. This must be paid in to the PCKC club account by Wednesday. The account details are as follows:Account Name: Porirua Canoe Kayak ClubAccount Number: Westpac Porirua, 03-0547-0914818-000

Please ensure you reference your registration fee payments with the code ‘HAGHS’ followed by your club and crew name. Please also send an email to poriruacanoekayakclub@gmail.com when you make your payment to help our Club Treasurer keep a track of money paid in to the Club account.

 

A number of crew who only registered for the first regatta have also asked if they can now attend the second regatta too. We’re happy to include these crews in the second regatta and there is no extra fee as the $5 per paddler registration fee covers all races at both regattas. All you need to do is flick us an email to let us know the crew name and the division they’re in with a note to say you’d like to enter them for the second regatta too.

 

LANE DRAWS FOR REGATTA 2

We will be sending out the lane draw for regatta 2 on Thursday 29 November.

 

If you have any queries about this weekend, or any feedback from Regatta 1, please feel free to email us. Otherwise we look forward to seeing you all this weekend! Nā mātou me ngā mihi,

 

The ‘HAVE A GO!’ Harbour Series Organisers

PCKC