All Stories
A big thank you also to all the volunteers and supporters, without you the racing simply couldn't have taken place.
Saturday
The 42K marathon race on Saturday was run in warm light-easterly conditions. A total of 46 W6 canoes lined up on the start line, with the Women's crews heading off first at 11am, and the Men's crews starting 20 minutes later.
Its was great to see such a big line-up at the start of a race in New Zealand and after the initial surge, crews settled down into their race plans.
Conditions in the first half of the race remained pretty choppy with the timing of changes being important. Some close racing, especially in the middle of the field, meant avoiding competing crews and their support boars was crucial.
Some tricky sections around the islands and it was a downhill home run with the light easterly breeze and small swell helping to compensate for some tired bodies.
The winning Men's time this year was 3hrs 15mins 0 secs (Team Goodyear) with the leading Women's crew (Team Kokiri)coming in at 3hrs 49mins 10 secs. A big thank you to Glenn McMahon for taking our photos, to view photos of the event please visit www.shutterspeed.co.nz.
Sunday
Great weather, great conditions, great course but no racing.
We were reminded of Mother Nature's power when a tsunami warning was given early on Sunday morning. We are all still recovering from the shock of the recent South Pacific tsunami so the race organisers, on the strong advice from Civil Defence, had no alternative other than to cancel the W1 racing on Sunday.
A disappointing finish to the weekend but the racing on Saturday was very exciting and enjoyed by all.
Thank you again to everyone that took part in the 20120 Takapuna Beach Cup, we hope to see you back again next year and for more information please visit
www.takapunabeachcup.com