Paddlers battle for 10km honours


The tenth edition of the New Zealand 10km Championships, which also serves as the finale to the winter-long Kayak Krazy Series, is set to take place on Saturday (August 17) on Rotorua’s scenic Lake Okareka.

The event, which also acts as the unofficial full stop to the winter season, is expected to attract around 60-80 paddlers with race winners securing both the national title and a medal.

The U18, open, masters and multi craft divisions will tackle four laps of the 2.5km course with the Tyros taking on 3km and the U14 and U16 categories completing 2 ½ laps to come in around 6km. The course will be confirmed on the day as weather and lake conditions are taken into account.

Should there be a minimum of three entrants per age group, Masters will be split into 35-44, 45-54 and 55+ – otherwise the divisions will be combined. The multi craft category of (skis, multi etc) are divided into U18, open and masters only.

The reigning men’s and women’s open 10km champions are Zach Ferkins (Poverty Bay), who recently competed in the ICF Junior and U23 Canoe Sprint World Championships in Romania, and Elise Legarth (Hawkes Bay), respectively.

The race on Saturday will also provide the climax to the 2019 Kayak Krazy 10km series which consists of 12 races held across eight different venues (Rotorua, Karapiro, Whanganui, Waitemata, Dunedin, Bay of Plenty, Mana and Hawke’s Bay).

Currently leading the men’s open standings is Sam Newlands with 20pts while Emma Kemp heads the women’s competition with 20pts. To be eligible for the series paddlers must have competed in two races plus the champs on Saturday, and only the top two results are taken from the series races to count towards finals points. Double points will be awarded for the champs. See the Results HQ website for all the Kayak Krazy 10km series results and leaders

All paddlers who attend the champs are eligible for spot prizes including the bumper $1000 international travel voucher courtesy of Elliott Travel, which will be awarded to a series participant at the champs on August 17.

If Boyes Beach (Lake Okareka) is flooded the champs will be relocated to Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake).

The action will commence at 11am on Saturday.

Entry details on the website.