The opening round of the 2022-23 Darcy Price NZ Ocean Racing Series kicked off last Saturday with the 2022 Poor Knights Crossing.
Competitors on surf skis and waka ama race across 30km of open ocean from the Poor Knights Marine Reserve to Tutukākā.
The event, hosted by Mitamitaga o le Pasefika Va'a-alo Canoe Club, also had a 12 to 14km short course option available.
To bastardise a line from Hunter S Thompson, it was about 8km out of Maroro when the reality kicked in.
There were foilers hurtling south at 30kmp/h, top-end paddlers surging west at 16kmp/h and a mangle of the mid-pack warriors discovering just how well they had perfected their remount techniques.
Then the first sign of real trouble came. The 'paddle in the air' ensign has long been the distress language of any paddling discipline, and suddenly two of those being were waved simultaneously.
The rescue boat already had a few customers on board and was rapidly en route to the scene, when an emergency flare ignited.
The paddlers of the 2022 edition of the Poor Knights Crossing were now paying some hefty tax on the two-hour-plus logistical nightmare of unloading racing craft while at anchor on an angry ocean pre-start at Maroro Bay in the Poor Knights Marine Reserve, Tawhiti Rahi.
Bodies were tired, minds were filling with self-doubt, and Tangaroa and Tawhirimatea didn't seem to have much sympathy as their argument resulted in a furious tangle of surging wind swells and confused ocean surges.
The early leaders head through Middle Arch at the Poor Knights Islands.
At the pointy end of the race fleet, the foilers managed to traverse the 30km course in about an hour, some of them less than.
The best ocean paddlers were locked in an intriguing wrestle with course navigation one of the critical elements, but strength and durability emerged as the most important aspect in this year's ocean conditions.
On the ocean defending champion Ben Keys was being tracked by young gun Kalani Gilbertsen, but unbeknown to them just a few kilometres south a new ocean warrior, Andrew Newton, was about to make his move.
The waka ama division had the best of Aotearoa's disciples, locking horns with several past and present national singlet wearers in the field. But it was the imposing figure of Narada Bury who managed to wrestle his way to the front.
Among a solid entry of wahine who lined up, Carly Keys of Otautahi Christchurch had boosted her way to an impressive lead in her division.
As the leaders rounded into Tutukaka Harbour it emerged that Newton had used his power and resilience to bully his way past Keys and Gilbertsen, who both had navigation issues in the final few kilometres.
Whangārei waka ama paddler Stephen Roulston.
Bury powered his way to winning the waka ama section and Carly Keys similarly managed to keep churning the blade through some testy waters to victory.
This year, it seemed, power paddlers had the answer to the queries of a confused and angry ocean. The technical players would have to wait for different conditions that are more suited to their particular tricks of the trade.
In the mid-pack the competition was no longer, if ever at all, with each other but rather a battle to stay focused and determined. The rescue boat, now at capacity, had to head dockside to unload before returning. Other safety craft were redeployed to watch over the remaining competitors as they arrived, slightly worse for wear, at the finish.
It had been another unique challenge, one vastly different to any of the Poor Knights Crossing events. Probably one that won't fade from memory quickly.
"It was hard not to notice the physique of all the winners this year," race director Tim Eves said. "Strength paid dividends today."
Wing foiler Sam Johnston of Whangārei on his way to second place in the inaugural wing foil division.
"Our safety systems were tested for sure this year and proved just as durable. I have nothing but admiration for our winners this year. Carly Keys monstered that course and Bury and Newton just kept banging despite the conditions," he said.
"The paddlers I always admire are those mid-packers. Some kept going when the option to opt-out was always available.
"Others had the courage to say 'actually, no, I need help'. Sometimes that decision is the hardest one to make."
