In this issue we hope to clarify all uncertain matters and get your indication of intention to participate.

1. SATURDAY RACE 42 km

We plan to start all crews together, both women's and men's crews. The start will be off the beach and the course will be dictated by the prevailing winds which are either SW or NE. (We will advise you closer to the day when we figure out what the weather might be doing.)

The beach start is it is easy to manage, fair to all and should avoid the usual crawling start. There will be a turn buoy directly off the beach which will avoid any start-line bias. If conditions are onshore then the start will be out from the surf line. Also we are hoping to get a helicopter for filming the race and it will be a great spectacle.

We have communicated with women's crews since the first panui and the consensus is that it is easier to find nine paddlers rather than ten and it is easier to manage the change chart if there are nine in a crew so that is what we are going with. So the women's crews will be nine person, just like the men. How PC!!!

2. ARE YOU PLANNING ON PUTTING YOURSELF THROUGH THIS???

We are concerned that we can arrange sufficient canoes for out of town crews and enough suitable support boats to meet the demand. We know about the crews who have said yes and this is about twelve crews. Dead easy to run!!

But what about all you others who are thinking of doing the race?

We would really appreciate it if you could send us your entry. We acknowledge that at this early stage it is an indication and you may pull out later but we really need to know whether your crew is thinking of competing.

Once we have an idea of numbers competing we can approach clubs to hire any spare mahimahis and line up support boats (if you want us to do this for you). It will also help us enormously in planning for competitors sample shirts and ensuring the after-match function has enough beer!!

We will contact you later to firm up crew names and money etc.


SUNDAY OC1 & OC2 RACE

There has been mass confusion over this – including us.

Firstly we needed AROCA sanction and we now have their blessing. So it is definitely ON!

Secondly, we thought we would only do an OC1 race but there seems to be strong interest in an OC2 relay race, so why not? The OC2 relay race is also ON!!

We have also been advised to run Men's and Women's races at different times so boats be shared. This is also a top idea. We will tidy up the details of the race on our website next week while everyone is at the Nationals and when you come back all will hopefully be straightened out.

Please now take a second to enter the website
www.takapunabeachcup.com and fill out the entry.

THANKS AND BEST WISHES FOR THE NATIONAL SPRINTS.