Kia ora to everyone who made the trip to Omaio for the second Te Moana a Toi race.

The W6 teams left Maraetai Bay in Te Kaha heading back to Omaio with a bit of a head wind, (which was supposed to be a tail wind).

It didn't take long for the field to spread out over the 12kms with Goodyear, Orange County Choppers & Tarawera taking the lead and Fluffy Slippers, Tuatara S&B & Six Pack coming up fast also.

There was a bit of a chop half way across which made it a bit of a challenge for some of our new to ocean paddling paddlers. The junior women who competed doing exceptionally well to go the distance & come out smiling at the other end.

It must have been an awesome feeling for the young ones to reach the turn around buoy in the shelter of Pokohinu point and paddle tha last couple of k's into the bay on a beautiful flat sea after the bit of chop out in the deep.

Because of the wind change the W1 & W2 course was changed to go from Omaio back to Maraetai which gave us the tail wind & a bit of surf to play around with. There were 19 keen singles paddlers & 5 2man teams ready to tackle the 12km's.

Tyrin Thomas took out the singles followed closely by Paul Roozendaal & Peter Boyd. Tina & Lance being the first W2 in with Kelly & Ray then Tina & Daniel coming in.

A big thanks also to all out support boat crews on the day who were out on the water making sure everyone was okay on the water.

Another big Kia ora to nga hau kainga for all the mahi done at the marae in preparing the beautiful spread to feed all the hungry paddlers before they made the long trip home.

Spot prizes went to people from all over the motu which was awesome, with the major spot prize of a W1 Waka, (sponsored by Hakonihoe Omaio) going to Thomas O'Brien from Tuwhakairiora Waka Ama.

We'd also like to thank our sponsors who donated spot prizes for the day. Omaio Bay Cafe & Store, Eastpack, Opac, Infratrain, Whakaatu Whanaunga Trust, Te Runanga o te Whanau, Te Whai Paddles, Waihau Bay Homestay, Ranui Buses, Opotiki Tyres, Take Note Opotiki, Reuben & Matua Parkinson (Pap Tav & Creme Bar Tauranga), Colour Plus Opotiki, BOP Electricity, Great Outdoors Whakatane, Allen Trading Gisborne, Kerry Nott Pharmacy, Hickeys Sportsworld, Maungawaru Logging, Mataatua Waka Ama Committee & Hakoni Hoe Omaio.