Photos: National paddleboard champs make Northland debut

Kerikeri High School’s Archie White makes winning the under-19 boys’ race look easy. Photo / Peter de Graaf

More than 130 stand up paddleboarders from as far away as Dunedin competed in the 2019 New Zealand SUP Championships at Waitangi during the weekend. It was the first time the national event had been held in Northland.

Racing alongside the country's top paddleboarders were 70 youngsters from seven high schools, from Dargaville to Kaitaia, contesting the Northland Secondary Schools SUP Championships.

Races ranged from short sprints on Waitangi Estuary to a 16km slog around a few islands in the Bay, then up Waitangi River to Haruru Falls and back.

The event was based at Te Tii B3 Trust's Waitangi Holiday Park and run by Kerikeri paddleboard guru Bill Dawes. Photos by Peter de Graaf.

Te Waipouri Taituha (Ngāti Kawa, Ngāti Rahiri, Ngāti Rehia) issues a challenge to NZ SUP committee member Trevor Meiklejohn of Auckland. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri High girls, from left, Matilda Townsend, 12, Naoise Breeze, 13, and Maia Williams, 13, take shelter from the sun. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri High School’s Archie White makes winning the under-19 boys’ race look easy. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kaitaia College's Tanner Wihongi, 15, from Ahipara, powers to the finish line. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Aucklander Ollie Puddick makes winning the 16km open men's race look like a walk in the park. Photo / Peter de Graaf

James Reeves from Auckland competes in the 16km race. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Auckland's Troy Huston heads for victory in the 8km race. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Twelve-year-old Ella Scott of Kerikeri interviews the winner of the 8km open, Troy Huston of Auckland. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Michael Winch, of the Haigh Workman team from Kerikeri, in unusual racing attire. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Racing attire for the Haigh Workman team from Kerikeri meant top hats, waistcoats and bow ties. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Bill's Babes, a team from Haruru Hardcore Paddlers, came dressed to impress. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kaitaia College's Drezel Williams, 13, heads for victory in the boys' under-14 race while Charlie Weston, 15, from Kerikeri High, takes an unbeatable lead in the girls' under-16s. Photo / P de Graaf

Boys' under-14 winner Drezel Williams, 13, from Kaitaia College, charges to the finish line. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Under-16 girls winner Charlie Weston, 15, from Kerikeri High, leaps from her board. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri High's Frieya Anderson, 13, takes a tumble as she rounds a buoy. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kaitaia College's Azariah Joyce, 13, is all focus as she rounds a buoy in the girls' under-13 race. Photo / Peter de Graaf

An unplanned dip by Ella Scott, 12, allows Jenna Dawes, 12, also from Kerikeri High, to snatch the lead. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri High's Frieya Anderson, 13, and Olivia Jack, 17, in the lead in the girls' Year 7-8 and under-19 races. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Kerikeri High's Jenna Dawes, 12, sprints to the finish. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Seventeen-year-old Te Owai Ashby-Nathan, from Dargaville High School, makes a run for the finish line. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Three Kerikeri High School girls – from left, Jenna Dawes, 12, Frieya Anderson, 13, and Ella Scott, 12 – tied for first place in the Year 7-8 division, making it a tight squeeze on the winner’s podium. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Under-19 girls winners, from left, Kaitaia College's Shanelle Te Hira (16, Houhora) and Kerikeri High's Olivia Jack (17, Pakaraka) receive their medals from Wellington's Oliver Houghton, runner-up in the world under-18 championships. Photo / Peter de Graaf