Big seas will be what the 42-ocean paddlers will remember from the 15th edition of the Queen and King of the Bay held in Tasman Bay on the last weekend of January.
In the Queen of the Bay contest, it was Tara Smith from Marlborough who came in as favourite as she looked to defend her crown, having won in 2021 and 2022.
She was faced with tough competition from Christchurch paddler Carly Keys, who won in 2019, and Danika Mowlem from Auckland, who was chasing her first win in the event, but was able to hold on in the challenging conditions to notch up yet another win.
While on the men’s side of the draw, the King’s race featured four previous winners alongside many on-form challengers.
Christchurch’s Ben Keys wasn’t going to be stopped as he had his sights set on another victory after wins in 2020 and 2022, winning by almost seven minutes.
He was joined on the start line by fellow two-time winner Toby Brooke (2019 and 2021), who is now also based out of Christchurch and local three-time winners Nathan Fa’avae and Hadyn Lockie
Over the previous 15-years, the 26km course has traditionally started at Kaiteriteri Beach and finished in Māpua, with paddlers racing downwind along the coast with backing from the wind and waves, but a weather forecast predicting a south easterly, saw race director Nathan Fa’avae switch the direction and to start the race in Māpua and avoid a head wind race.
The paddlers departed on the coastal journey across five starting waves, with beginner paddlers going first and the elite paddlers on the water an hour after them to have the field reaching the finish line around the same time.
An incoming tidal flow for a few minutes as paddlers departed from Māpua Wharf gave way to the open bay, where the swell and wind started to offer aid.
By the Ruby Bay cliffs, the wind and swells had gathered strength and size to provide some authentic ocean paddling conditions and as the paddlers went past Motueka, the waves had grown to several metres and wind gusts were reaching 25-knots.
In the Queen contest it was Danika Mowlem who set the early pace, starting fast and creating a gap from the chasers. It was apparent once clear of Māpau that there would be important strategy in the line taken, either staying close to shore and getting early waves to ride, or going wide and waiting until later before surfing into Kaiteriteri.
Tara and Carly opted for a more centre line, while the powering Danika took a more committing wider line, which was shaping up to be a close race all the way until Danika capsized and suffered gear failure, which led to her withdrawing from the race.
Tara and Carly, unaware of Danika’s troubles, raced neck and neck to the very end, with Tara edging away in the final few kilometres to win by a small margin to snatch her third title in a row.
The King contest saw similar action with the paddlers opting for different lines, but in the end Ben Keys was simply too powerful and skilled in taking the win.
Brooke, who loved the sea conditions, put himself out of contention when he stopped to help another competitor in need, opening the door for Auckland based veteran paddler Garth Spencer to paddle stylishly into second, with Tim Waller producing a strong race in testing conditions to place third.
Nathan says he was pleased with how the race went and that the change of course direction had paid off.
“I was very grateful for the water safety team and the paddlers for making sensible decisions for their safety. Surfski racing is about chasing wind and waves, and sometimes that means the conditions can be difficult for some paddlers, while at the same time exciting for others” he says.
He also wanted to commend the paddlers who sacrificed their race to help others on the course, and acknowledged the superb work from the safety team and the Harbour Master.
The event also doubled as race four of the Darcy Price NZ Ocean Surfski Series, the national ocean racing series comprising eight premier surfski races around Aotearoa. Following the national series race on Saturday, there was another race around the Abel Tasman islands on Sunday.
1st Tara Smith 2:15:45, 2nd Carly Keys 2:15:58, 3rd Caitlin Ruddle 2:54:56
1st Ben Keys 1:56:29, 2nd Garth Spencer 2:03:28, 3rd Tim Waller 2:06:24.
QK Mixed Doubles - 1st Callum O’Leary & Elora Hallett 2:21:08, 2nd Danial Bremner & Amber Bonnie 2:25:10.
Women - 1st Danika Mowlem 1:31:36, 2nd Tara Smith 1:35:36, 3rd Naomi Whitehead 1:50:45.
Men -1st Tim Waller 1:18:27, 2nd Toby Brooke 1:24:21, 3rd Liam Lace 1:24:23.
Double Mens - 1st Garth Spencer & Vaughn Reed 1:18:27, 2nd Reid Forrest & Hadyn Lockie 1:22:04.
Double Mixed - 1st Carly & Ben Keys 1:18:34, 2nd Nathan Fa’avae & Caitlin Ruddle 1:25:47, 3rd Danial Bremner & Amber Bonnie 1:31:10,
Double Women's - 1st Olivia & Kate West 2:05:47.
