Sadly, but not entirely unexpectedly, our friends at Moutueka Waka Ama Club have cancelled WTT 2021. The message they put on the WANZ website is below :
“After many different hui and zui Motueka Waka Ama Club and our Committee have decided we will not be running Waka Te Tasman this year
Under the covid restrictions and restricted numbers, our committee whānau and support team did not feel it would be an authentic event and it wouldn’t align with all that waka ama brings naturally. It was a tough decision but our race format and time available would not cater for everyone wanting to participate, also with the general not knowing what could happen next.
We hope to see you all back at our 2022 Waka Te Tasman at Kaiteretere
Ngā manaakitanga o te wā ki a tātou katoa
Motueka Waka Ama Club”
It’s obviously disappointing to all the crews who have been training for this event and particularly those from far away who had already booked flights and accommodation. We will work through the process of retrieving race entry fees for club members who entered the race and returning waka booking fees to other clubs.
We will try to run a club social event on the weekend of 13th/14th November, so those crews who were looking forward to a weekend of racing might at least get a bit of semi-social competition. A trip over to Moturoa-Rabbit island is one suggestion, any others will be listened to. Further details to follow.
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.