Well, what a race: six leagues, six-mans, ocean racing, iron-man, downwind. Following a night of rain and almost no wind, by the time the race got under way, paddlers experienced fantastic surf race conditions, with a 15-20 knot Southerly/Southeasterly making it a great ride from Mana to Paraparaumu. It was not for the inexperienced though, the conditions were challenging, and unfortunately one team was unable to finish.

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=140556

The full course distance was 37km. It included going around Mana Island (with teams pumping into the Southerly for a 5km section, but some teams were joined by a pod of dolphins on the way, so it was worth it), but once they had moved around the Southern tip of Mana Island (with one team getting all cuddly with a submerged rock), it was a straight line 30km downwind all the way to Kapiti.

In the women’s division it was a tight battle nearly all the way, with all three teams finishing within 10min of each other, with the local Team Mura Va’ine from Porirua Canoe Kayak Club taking the honours just ahead of Team Malolo from Motueka Waka Ama Club.

In the men’s division, it was a hard battle for most of the way between Team Bhutty Bros from Hei Matau Paddlers (taking an inside line) and Team Jäger from Wairarapa Waka Ama (taking and outside line), with Team Bhutty Bros coming out on top and winning the inaugural event.

Missed the action? Check out the photos above (all can be downloaded in full size via flickr), and you can also replay the race at http://www.yacht-bot.com/races/5038. We tracked 6 of the 8 teams (the women started 15min before the men), and you will notice the different lines that teams took between Mana Island and Kapiti. Whereas the teams that hung out further would have got a bit more of a push through the Cook Straight tidal stream, they also had to battle more choppy Southeasterly conditions, so there were some tradeoffs.

A big thank you to our boaties, the Mana Coast Guard, and all the other numerous helpers and shuttle drivers!

If you have any feedback on the event, please let us know at mana.ocean.challenge@gmail.com. We hope to see you all back here next year.

Results

A big thank you to all our sponsors, we had some fantastic spot prizes at the after-function.

• www.oceanoutfitters.co.nz
• www.horleys.co.nz
• www.strongarmgear.co.nz
• www.wakaessential.co.nz
• www.taipaddles.co.nz
• www.fergskayaks.co.nz