A challenging day of racing, with the Wellington winds a constant feature. And all straight races shortened to 250m and unfortunately 4 midget races had to be cancelled as conditions were too tough.

A big thank you to all teams and our willing volunteers. Below the results for todays racing:

• Results W6 events
• All medalists for W6 events

The winner for both club trophies will be decided next weekend at the W1 events.

For the club excellence trophy the winner is not yet decided. The leading club is two-time winner PCKC (78 points), followed by Te Rau o Te Rangi (56 points), Hawaikinui (28 points), and Toa Waka Ama (21 points).

For the James Hapeta Club Spirit Award, there are currently three clubs that appear to stand out (eg as a result of entries being on time, team managers organised, consistent use of uniforms, good attitude, ready to lend a hand, etc, etc): PCKC, Wairarapa Waka Ama, and TROTR.

We hope to see you all next week for the W1 events at Henley Lake in Masterton.

W6 events are all go tomorrow. We encourage all volunteers and paddlers to be on time as the forecast suggests slighlty better conditions in the morning. We are keen to minimise any delays.

As per rule 21.7 in the Waka Ama NZ race rules, W12 crews at Nationals can be made up of competitors from up to two clubs from the same region, but only in the following divisions:

This rule only applies where a club does not have sufficient paddlers to form their own, stand-alone, W12 crews in those age categories.  A W12 crew made up of two clubs may be a combination of any number of paddlers from those two clubs. They must satisfy all other rules as specified in the race rules.

If your club wishes to combine with another club in the above divisions, please take note of the following:

• The proposed entry will need to be sent to hoetonga@gmail.com by no later than Thursday 10 December. This will ensure that Hoe Tonga has sufficient time to make the entries to meet the Waka Ama NZ timeframes.
• Entries are to be submitted only by an executive officer of one of the clubs. In the email the relevant executive officer must provide confirmation that (i) both clubs agree on the entry and its name (copy in other relevant executive officers), and (ii) that the entry has been checked by both clubs to comply with relevant rules.
• Paddler names must be submitted to hoetonga@gmail.com no later than 31 December 2015. Hoe Tonga will not chase up unfilled rosters – relevant late fees will be passed on to clubs. It is the club’s responsibility to inform Hoe Tonga of the roster, or of any changes to the roster. Paddler names should not be submitted until all paddlers have been checked by the clubs as being on the Waka Ama NZ membership database for their club.

At the regional meeting on 5 October, which doubled as the Annual General Meeting and a Special General Meeting, the annual report for 2015 was tabled, and member clubs agreed a new constitution for the Hoe Tonga region. Click here to view the new constitution.

Under the new structure, a Board will govern the region, and there will no longer be a regional committee made up of executive officers and club representatives.

The new structure will take effect once the Board has been elected. In the meantime, Hoe Tonga will continue to be governed the regional committee (club representatives) and executive officers (Jörn Scherzer, Petra Melville, Lei Faletolu).

Hoe Tonga is now calling for nominations for 5 elected Board members. The process is as follows:

• Nominations can be made by Member Clubs or Member Regions. You can nominate any individual. Nominees do not need be a member/paddler of your club or region.
• We are seeking Board members who will take an active involvement in the sport’s governance body and in the best interests of its membership as a whole. All nominees must be honest, reliable, trustworthy and comfortable to ‘walk and talk’, particularly in relation to the values of our sport (as outlined in our Strategic Plan)
• Club must fill in the nomination form (click here to download). They must be received, complete with relevant nominee profile and references, by 15 December 2015, at hoetonga@gmail.com. The list of nominees, along with their profiles, will be posted on the Hoe Tonga website.
• Elections will take place by secret ballot at a Special General Meeting as soon as possible in early 2016 (date yet to be confirmed).

For further information please contact the Hoe Tonga administrator or executive officers.

At the regional meeting on 3 August, the committee decided on the following process regarding regional W12 at Nationals 2016. The process applies to both men and women.

Selection will be done by a selector (to be appointed, see below) based on the following:

Step 1: The six paddlers in the W6 that wins the respective open 500m event gain a spot.

Step 2: Selection of the other paddlers will be based on the following:

• Next 6 fastest times in 250 Dash race (across both J19 and Open dash races).
• If there are still places to be filled (eg due to an insufficient number of paddlers competing in the dash events), additional paddlers will be selected based on the fastest times in the W1 500m event  (across J19, Open and Master events)
• If there are still places to be filled, then the decision for the selection of additional paddler(s) will be made by the selector based on any other relevant information (to be appointed).

Role of the selector:

The selector’s role is to select paddlers based on the above process. As it is unlikely that there will be opportunities for the selected team to train together, and the regional W12 race at Nationals is a straight final, the role does not automatically include a coaching capacity (unless otherwise mutually agreed between selected paddlers and the selector). The selector may appoint a team captain, whose role will be to organise the team on race day.

Nominations for the selector role (both men and women) are invited from interested person. This can include self-nominations, but in any case should include a brief justification of why they are the best person for the job. Note that selectors are not eligible for selection themselves.

Estimated time commitment by selector: 2-5 hours

Nominations for the Selector role to be forwarded to Hoe Tonga  by 10 September at hoetonga@gmail.com.

Uniforms:

No decision has yet been made regarding a common uniform.

Bought 10 years ago, but only used for 1 season. Size of blade 23.5 cm. Length tip to tip is 125.5cm. In really good nick. Brand is Dads Paddles in Hamilton. If I remember correctly it was made in the Waikato but could be wrong about that one.  Contact details 022 3400 117

the name is Anita. Pick up in Lower Hutt only.

WAIRARAPA WAKA AMA CANOE CLUB

Dates: Sundays  10 May, 7 June, 5 July, 9August, and final day 30 August.

Registration from 9am,  Races Commence  10am

Enter on the day, $5/person

Venue:  all races are at Henley Lake, entrance on Colombo Rd.

As the course is close to the shore line, there are plenty of photo  opportunities

Distance:  5 – 10 Km,  with short course options

Items required

Warm clothing, PFD’s for novices, Sprayskirts if needed, and lashings for SUP’s

Must be able to self rescue.

These events are low key for anyone wanting to gain race experience in a controlled environment.

Our last day is 30 August, followed by an overall prizegiving.(after each event there is a small presentation)

As all of these races take place on a small lake there will be no date changes. All events will take place on the above dates.

Check out our facebook page for notifications

wairarapawakaamacanoeclub

Race organiser:  Paddy 027 237 9696

Club Mobile:                  027 407 0640

Email                wairarapawakaamacanoeclub@live.com

The Series has been ticking along nicely with the first three events having fine and reasonably warm weather.

To date we’ve been to Porirua venues twice and out to Hutt City once….and this Sunday it’s Wellington City that jumps into the cycle of events, to have a solid flotilla of craft gracing it’s waterway.

Whatever the weather we’ll still be able to deliver the same shelter whatever the wind conditions on the day.

Evans Bay is our go to stretch of water and we’ll be using Hataitai Beach if it’s a Northerly and the Marina at the bottom of Cobham drive if it’s a Southerly.

For updates on the event go to www.wellypaddlers.blogspot.co.nz for updates on Monday Wednesday and the last update and final venue announcement on Saturday morning at 9.45  am.

You can also follow us at Welly Paddlers on Facebook.