Stories
Dunedin – A city of firsts- Te Waipounamu IceBreaker Regatta Best Ever!
Fire in Ice Outrigger Canoe Club Dunedin held their 20th annual Icebreaker Waka Ama Regatta this past weekend on June 5th and 6th.
Two hundred and forty-one paddlers travelled
from all over the South Island, Napier, Rotorua and Auckland to
participate. ”We were really concerned that many south island paddlers would
not be able to attend due to the bridge closures from recent flooding and
coupled with having to cancel the event last year we really had to cross
fingers – well cross everything for the great outcome!” Kim Thomas commented.
Highlights of the regatta included: Christchurch
waka ama club Te Waka Pounamu winning the trophy for “Club of the Regatta” with
the most points scored for winning races.
A very special awards evening and dinner attended
by regatta participants on Sunday evening was hosted from Otago Polytechnic’
Mason Centre where Vivienne Harvey was acknowledged for her contribution to
waka ama spanning 27 years since she started paddling in 1994. In 2015 Waka Ama NZ /Ngā Kaihoe o
Aotearoa Board established a Hall of Fame to permanently recognise outstanding
contributors to the sport of waka ama in New Zealand/Aotearoa and Viv
is the first recipient of this Tohu (token of honour)to be awarded to a south
island member of Waka Ama NZ.
The evening also acknowledged Fire in Ice Coach –
Toko Vakatini for enlisting club members to organize and host the very first
outrigger canoe regatta on the South Island “We kicked off South Island
regattas in 2001 with our signature extreme event and paddlers keep coming back
year after year to experience the warmth of the Dunedin hospitality and the
challenge of the conditions." Toko commented. It is now a “bucket
list” event on Waka Ama NZ Race calendar!” said Lara Collins -CEO of Waka Ama
NZ.
Another first for the event was to demonstrate
best practice in waste minimisation at a sporting event, supported by
a DCC waste minimisation grant. “We want to make an effort to counteract the
17.6 billion tons of plastic that leaks into the ocean from land based sources
every year”, says Kari Morseth
The organizing committee is sincerely grateful for
the support of event sponsors and all of the volunteers and paddlers who spend
their Queen’ Birthday weekend with Fire in Ice Canoe Club.
Kim Thomas
Fire in Ice Outrigger Canoe Club
Icebreaker Committee
Results: wakaama.co.nz
