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Te Aito Cook Islands 2011
Recently I participated in the Te Aito in Rarotonga. I got there a week earlier just to put in a little training in warmer weather and practice my surfing skills against the locals.
As usual when I arrived the weather dial had been altered especially for my arrival. The temperature was around 20 – 24 degrees and trade winds prevailing up to a 25 knots easterly wind. It was white capping all over the place which gets the adrenaline pumping and you know you’re going to get rides of your life.
My first day Fletcher Melvin and I went out for a run. We paddled up past Club Raro heading into 4-5mtr ground swell which is pretty normal for the locals and paddled out into the middle then the race began. Fletcher caught two big swells and put about 60mtrs on me, I thought to myself, bro
if you blink again its going to be 100mtrs just relax. I caught a couple of big swells and connected about 3-4 sets then Fletcher was only 10mtrs ahead you could imagine my relief, then Fletcher blinked lol… I think he let me win the first run to help me enjoy my holiday so he could break my heart on race day.
I had a little paddle against Reuben Dearlove who is the top local paddler in Raro. He is in the same class as the Tahitians recording 41 in the 2010 Te Aito race in Tahiti.
You must remember that anyone who comes in the top 100 paddlers or even 200 paddlers is a world class paddler. Reuben is just a machine and has a high tolerance of being able to put his body under stress over a long period of time. His maintenance would be like me sprinting for the whole race… It was a buzz staying with him for 30secs lol…
I met top Tahitian paddler Steve Hart who won the 2008 Sacramento World Sprints in the Masters division. He’s also been in the top 20 in Super Aito races. We had a surf run on the Thursday afternoon. It was a buzz challenging him in the surf. I stayed with him for a couple of kms and then I blinked again. You cannot take it away from the Tahitians they are certainly elite paddlers and for them it’s just another paddle. They sacrifice a lot to be the best. You need to have a very understanding wife/husband to be able to commit the amount of time that they do. They train twice a day morning and night, they also do a lot of mountain/hill
running or inclined running and some do cycling to get heart rate up, they also do 3 days in the gym. With a very warm climate and the water right out the front I suppose it makes this type of commitment possible.
Race day was awesome however the wind dropped as did the swell which worked against my favour as I would have had more advantage in surfing. There were still rides to be had but it wasn’t as big as it was during the week.
Surfing rudderless in big swell is the ultimate buzz in paddling and Raro is a perfect place to practice and enhance your skill and ability. The swell formation and warm water create the perfect conditions. I recommend to those who have not yet experienced Te Aito Cook Islands to put it on your calendar as a paddling destination. Big thanks to Vaea and Fletcher for looking after me.
Kia ora Koutou Katoa
Clayton
My first day Fletcher Melvin and I went out for a run. We paddled up past Club Raro heading into 4-5mtr ground swell which is pretty normal for the locals and paddled out into the middle then the race began. Fletcher caught two big swells and put about 60mtrs on me, I thought to myself, bro
if you blink again its going to be 100mtrs just relax. I caught a couple of big swells and connected about 3-4 sets then Fletcher was only 10mtrs ahead you could imagine my relief, then Fletcher blinked lol… I think he let me win the first run to help me enjoy my holiday so he could break my heart on race day.
I had a little paddle against Reuben Dearlove who is the top local paddler in Raro. He is in the same class as the Tahitians recording 41 in the 2010 Te Aito race in Tahiti.
You must remember that anyone who comes in the top 100 paddlers or even 200 paddlers is a world class paddler. Reuben is just a machine and has a high tolerance of being able to put his body under stress over a long period of time. His maintenance would be like me sprinting for the whole race… It was a buzz staying with him for 30secs lol…
I met top Tahitian paddler Steve Hart who won the 2008 Sacramento World Sprints in the Masters division. He’s also been in the top 20 in Super Aito races. We had a surf run on the Thursday afternoon. It was a buzz challenging him in the surf. I stayed with him for a couple of kms and then I blinked again. You cannot take it away from the Tahitians they are certainly elite paddlers and for them it’s just another paddle. They sacrifice a lot to be the best. You need to have a very understanding wife/husband to be able to commit the amount of time that they do. They train twice a day morning and night, they also do a lot of mountain/hill
running or inclined running and some do cycling to get heart rate up, they also do 3 days in the gym. With a very warm climate and the water right out the front I suppose it makes this type of commitment possible.
Race day was awesome however the wind dropped as did the swell which worked against my favour as I would have had more advantage in surfing. There were still rides to be had but it wasn’t as big as it was during the week.
Surfing rudderless in big swell is the ultimate buzz in paddling and Raro is a perfect place to practice and enhance your skill and ability. The swell formation and warm water create the perfect conditions. I recommend to those who have not yet experienced Te Aito Cook Islands to put it on your calendar as a paddling destination. Big thanks to Vaea and Fletcher for looking after me.
Kia ora Koutou Katoa
Clayton
