A smaller than usual contingent of Maitahi paddlers are heading to Kaiteretere this weekend for Waka te Tasman but the composition of the crews is a good sign for the club’s future. As well as the joint Nga Manu Whaitiri/Hine Tai crews racing for TTOA which includes a whole host of familiar Maitahi faces, we have a Novice crew – Maitahi Aorere ki Tai – organised by Damian Hardman and Eva Virtue with new members Nat, Ben, Maria and Amanda doing all the hard work. It’s great to see new paddlers getting onboard with the idea that racing reinforces the things pretty much all of us enjoy about paddling – camaraderie, getting fitter and better, meeting other paddlers and just being out on the ocean in different, beautiful places.
Perhaps most exciting of all is seeing our girl’s crew – Urutira tū – heading out to race. The core of the crew is Anatori Anderson, Ariana Banks, Ruby Hunter-Love, Grace Walker, and Nevaeh Anderson, ably assisted by the brilliant Linda Heath and Fi Lankshear. The tamariki/rangatahi programme has been burning away slowly but surely under the command of Kiri Wahanui, with the Friday afternoon assistance of a whole lot of club members and the results of a sustained, organised club programme are beginning to show.
Good luck to all our Maitahi paddlers and we look forward to hearing how you go.
Its never too early or too late to start paddling waka ama
We always welcome new members to the Maitahi Outrigger Canoe Club.
We have social and racing waka ama crews catering for a wide variety of ages and abilities.