We will be starting at Paraparaumu Beach. Our team will be on site from about 8am, and we encourage teams to arrive by 8.30am to rig and get ready.

The race start is now scheduled for 11.30am.

Metservice forecasts the following for Saturday: Easing to variable 5 knots in the morning. Northerly 15 knots developing in the afternoon. Fine.

There appear to be some norwester swells about, and we are hoping the winds will arrive early.

Other sites report the following:

Windguru Paraparaumu:

Windguru Porirua:

Swellmap Paraparaumu:

A further update for this event:

Spot prize:

• At the prize giving at the Supply Room at 5pm on race day, we will have a brandnew Tai Broadbill paddle to give away. But you gotta be at the prize giving to claim this prize, and we will pull a name out of the hat based on your teams’ rosters.

Weather and course:

• The forecast is for Northerly conditions, so pending final confirmation, race course 1 (start at Paraparaumu Beach) is looking more likely at this stage.
• Final confirmation on start location to come on Friday morning!
• Regardless of this, all teams should meet at the relevant venue from about 8am, to give us plenty of time to rig canoes and do the safety checks.

Tracking:

• Supporters (and our support craft) can track competitors on https://flotilla.safetrxapp.com/events/wakaama/manasuper6

• Teams:
  • One of your team’s paddlers, please download the free SafeTRX app from your app store (Apple or GooglePlay)

• When you have downloaded the app, set up your profile (please use your team’s name, rather than your personal name)
• On race day go to “Group Activity”, and then enter the event code “MANA6”
• Don’t forget to activate “continuous” tracking, otherwise we will only see you popping up every 5-10minutes.
• Keep your phone on, and within a waterproof bag, during the race. We will check this at the canoe safety checks, every team will have to demonstrate that they have downloaded and activated the app, in order to pass the check.

More event information is available at https://hoetonga.wordpress.com/2022/02/28/mana-super-6-ocean-challenge-23-april-2022/.

An updated race information package has been made available, with the following additional information:

• Prize giving will be held at the Supply Room (Mana Esplanade, Porirua) from about 4.45pm. Platters will be available.
• Location maps have been updated, for set up and derigging, at Ngati Toa domain and Paraparaumu Beach.
• Various COVID restrictions no longer apply; however, we still encourage good sanitising practices.

More information is available at https://hoetonga.wordpress.com/2022/02/28/mana-super-6-ocean-challenge-23-april-2022/.

Note that tracking information will be made available in the next few days.

Get ready for this year’s Hoe Tonga Paddler Series 2022, designed to attract new paddlers to our sport, enable paddlers and teams to race during the winter season, and to help prepare for this year’s Long Distance Nationals in October.

Races consist of a long course (12-18km) for senior teams, and a shorter course (6-9km) for junior and novice (1st year paddling) teams. Some hosts may also offer V1/OC1 races.

The Series is overseen by Hoe Tonga, but each individual race is hosted and organised by member clubs or event organisers. 

Key info:

As in previous years, the series is big on participation and we will have a range of spot prizes, including a brand new Tai Broadbill paddle.

The race information package is available here.

Please note that race details are subject to change. Please keep an eye on updates regarding any of the races.

Race 1: Saturday, 16 July, Evans Bay

• Host: Tunui and Tai Tonga
• Race information
• Entries by club
• Entries by event
• Results (added 19/7)

Race 2: Saturday, 13 August,  Ngati Toa Domain, Porirua

• Host: Toa Waka Ama
• Race information (race postponed from 6 August to 13 August)
• Entries by club
• Entries by event
• Results (added 20/8)
• Series points overall so far (as at 20/8)

Race 3: Saturday, 27 August, Ngati Toa Domain, Porirua

• Host: Hawaikinui
• Contact: Mike Oxnam; 021 031 8072; hawaikinui2@gmail.com
• Race information
• Entries by club
• Entries by event
• Results and series points overall so far far (as at 30/8)

Race 4: Saturday, 17 September, Whanganui River

• Host: Te Ringa Miti Tai Heke
• Race information
• Entries by club
• Entries by event
• Results and final series points for 2022 (added 17/9/2022)

Hoe Tonga Pacifica Waka Ama Association, in association with College Sport Wellington, is pleased to offer secondary school students the opportunity to participate in our region’s Secondary School Sprint Champs. Following a postponement due to COVID-19, the event will now take place on Sunday 22 May 2022, at Henley Lake in Masterton. 

Please click on the link for all information: 2022 Information Pack RSSC. For other event information, please go to https://hoetonga.wordpress.com/2022/02/21/hoe-tonga-secondary-school-regional-sprint-championships-2022/.

If you need any further information please do not hesitate to contact us via email hoetonga@gmail.com

In light of the current COVID-19 restrictions under the Red setting, the Regional Secondary School Sprint Champs, originally scheduled for 12 March 2022, have been postponed.

Hoe Tonga is unable to run the event due to the current 100 person event limit, as our event now attracts well over 400 paddlers.

Hoe Tonga is yet to confirm a postponement date, but the current proposal is for it to be held on Saturday 21 May 2022 or Sunday 22 May 2022.

The reason for this late season data is that this makes it more likely that New Zealand will have passed the peak of the current Omicron outbreak, and therefore, it makes it more likely that an Orange setting will be in place by that time.

In addition to the above, please note that due to space limitations at Onepoto, and to reduce the impact of the colder conditions, the event would likely be held on Henley Lake in Masterton.

Hoe Tonga aims to provide an update as soon as possible.

In the meantime, we encourage schools and clubs to continue with their waka in schools programmes.

Unfortunately we were unable to hand out Hoe Tonga’s club trophies at Regionals 2021 after the event.

We hereby announce the winners:

The first trophy is the Club Excellence Award. This is awarded to the club who accumulates the most points for their club based on the champ finals across all divisions. This year this was an especially tight race, with three clubs in very close contention. The winner of this award for 2021 was Otaki Waka Hoe (93 points), followed by Porirua Canoe and Kayak Club (91 points) and Hawakinui Tuarua (83).

The second trophy is the James Hapeta Club Spirit Award. This is awarded to the club who demonstrates the best club spirit throughout the entire event. This is judged by key officials. In is based on a club’s sportsmanship, help towards running of the event, listening to instruction and how the club presents itself. Ratana Pā Kaihoe Trust took out the 2021 award.

Following the conclusion of the Hoe Tonga Regional Sprint Champ Championship 2021, the Hoe Tonga Board was made aware of a claim that a paddler that was not fully vaccinated competed in one of the events.

In response, Hoe Tonga undertook an investigation into this matter, and it can be confirmed that such incident took place.

The Hoe Tonga Board deliberated on this matter, and notes the following: 

• Hoe Tonga, as a condition of entry to our Regional Sprint Championship 2021, required  paddlers to be double vaccinated (and such requirement is enabled under Hoe Tonga’s  constitution, refer rule 6.1). Clubs, coaches and paddlers were made aware of this  requirement through various race notices (eg website, social media posts) and also through an explicit statement in the event waiver form. This is in addition to nation-wide media coverage on the new traffic light system, and publicised mandatory vaccination requirements for events with more than 100 participants. 

• As the mandatory vaccination requirement was very new, and had not yet been  implemented at any other waka ama event, Hoe Tonga undertook its best efforts to give  effect to the new requirement by requiring paddlers to show their vaccine passes when  signing in, and receiving a wrist band that would be required to enter a designed event  area. It is now clear that there were some shortcomings in Hoe Tonga’s processes and  systems. Hoe Tonga is compiling lessons learnt from that experience, in order to improve on our future events. 

• Hoe Tonga’s events are run largely on a trust-based approach, ie we do not have the  resources to implement various checks that are in place at the National Waka Ama Sprint  Championships to ensure compliance (eg ID checks via scanners at loading bay, etc). As  a result, Hoe Tonga is able to run its events with significantly lower costs, albeit this does  imply that we rely on clubs and paddlers to do the right thing, and to be aware of all relevant event requirements. 

Under rule 6.1 of Hoe Tonga’s Constitution, the Board can impose sanctions and penalties in relation to someone acting contrary to Hoe Tonga’s rules and requirements, and Waka Ama New Zealand (WANZ) rules, requirements, and expectations (including the WANZ Code of Conduct).

The Hoe Tonga Board considers that the lack of full vaccination is a serious matter, and it has made the decision to suspend the affiliation, for one full year, of two people in relation to this incident. This means that they are unable to compete at waka ama events during that time, as participation requires paddlers to be affiliated. The affected club and paddlers have been notified of Hoe Tonga’s decision.