First woman wins Bo Herbert waka ama race

Classy downwind paddling skills helped veteran women's waka ama racer Bernie Murch hold off a chasing pack of male competitors to take out the third annual Bo Herbert Memorial ocean paddling event held on the Tutukaka Coast.
Murch, from Auckland, underlined her reputation as one of the best female distance paddlers by conquering testing conditions. She just slipped over the finish to take line honours in front of Raglan's Conan Herbert.
The men's field included a clique of the best distance waka ama paddlers in the country. But Murch was able to master a one-and-a-half metre following sea swell and defend her place.
It was the first time a female paddler had picked up the Bo Herbert Memorial Trophy.
Herbert took the men's title. The event is in honour of his late father. He was chased hard by Troy Dolman and Allan Sullivan.
"I knew I could use the soupy conditions close to the coast better than Troy [Dolman] so I planned to stick close as long as Troy stayed in close as well. If he had headed out wide I would have had to keep him in check, but he stuck close like I did," Herbert said.
"Once I got close to Tutukaka Harbour the runs lined up well and it was pretty fast paddling from there on," he said.
The race started at Matapouri Bay, sent the field of waka ama and surf ski paddlers north into a head wind to Whananaki before turning to use a strong northeasterly to push the paddlers to the finish line at Wellington's Bay.
The big seas saw many novice paddlers pull out at the start line.
The women's field started 20 minutes ahead of the men's competitors. Murch was the only female waka ama paddler to keep the men at bay.
In the surf ski division, Aucklanders Tim McLaren, Tim Grammar and Paul Wilford were untroubled by the conditions, clocking speeds of up to 23km/h on the sea swells, to take the top three spots.
McLaren won in 1h 42m 42s, Grammar was second two minutes back and Wilford, the defending title holder, third another minute back. The first female surf ski paddler home was Katie Pocock who finished in two hours flat.
One ski paddler overshot the southern turnaround buoy at the north end of Hora Hora beach and almost paddled to Pataua.
Several paddlers were pitched out of their boats as well, which kept support boats busy.
Results - Bo Herbert Memorial Ocean Race (25km): Waka Ama Solo
Conan Herbert 2h 00m 40s, 1; Troy Dolman 2h 2m 21s, 2; Allan Sullivan 2h 4m 30s, 3; Sean Herbert 2h 4m 42s, 4; Steve Roulston 2h 5m 50s, 5; Joern Scherzer 2h 6m 6s, 6; Kisione Fonua 2h 7m 38s, 7; Tonga White 2h 8m 32s, 8; Shane Hohaia 2h 9m 38s, 9; Jason Eruera 2h 9m, 42s, 10; Mark Malaki Williams 2h 10m 38s, 11; Chase Herbert 2h 11m 20s, 12; Richard Pehi 2h 12m 42sm 13; Gordon McKay 2h 13m 10s, 14; Ray Lambert 2h 13m 21s, 15; Bernie Murch 2h 13m 45s, 16; Clayton Wikaira 2h 13m 47s, 17; Paora McGrath 2h 16m 10s, 18; Richard Waldegrave 2h 18m 50s, 19; Paul Roozendaal 2h 23m, 20; Kraig Cornwall 2h 23m 30s, 21; Mike Rogerson 2h 25m 10s, 22; Aron Te Ahuahu 2h 25m 15s, 23; Laurie Atkins 2h 25m 30s, 24; Vaughan O'Callaghan 2h 25m 40s, 25; Shane Kelly 2h 27m 40s, 26; Mereana Hodges 2h 30m 32s, 27; Daniel Wikaira 2h 41m 47s, 28; Ralph Ruka 2h 51m 55s, 29; John Massey 2h 56m 10s, 30.
Surf Ski Solo
Tim McLaren 1h 42m 42s, 1; Tim Grammar 1h 44m 37s, 2; Paul Wilford 1h 45m 22s, 3; Daryl Forsyth 1h 49m 32s, 4; Tina Leona and Lance Roozendaal (dble ski) 1h 56m 28s, 5; Peter Dallimore 1h 56m 40s, 6; Max Charles 1h 57m 34s, 7; Bruce Murphy 1h 58m 30s, 8; Katie Pocock 2h 00m, 9; Dene Simpson 2h 0m 43s, 10; Tim Eves 2h 13m 40s, 11; Hamish Pedersen 2h 13m 44s, 12; Pierre Chemaly 2h 19m 32s, 13; John Land 2h 40m 40s, 14; Sean Murphy DNF, Mike Hall DNF.
Relays and other
Hokianga Solid (OC6 crew) 2h 20m 50s; Dave and Tupu (waka relay) 2h 43m 20s; King and Tappert (relay) 3h 15m 37s; Muth and TC (relay) 3h 16m; Nigel Draper and Birgit Meister (mixed relay) 3h 9m 3s; Pauline and Joe (mixed relay) 3h 16m 56s.