Waka ama: Kiwis paddle Tahiti

Northland waka ama is known around the country for producing some great paddlers, and with a quarter of the New Zealand team competing in Tahiti hailing from our shores it's no wonder.

Richard Pehi, of Parihaka Waka Ama Club, Stephen Roulston, of Mitamitaga o le Pasefika Vaa' Alo's, and Tupu King, of Te Puu Ao, join nine other Kiwis as part of Team Aotearoa New Zealand who come up against professional waka ama paddlers at the three-day Tahiti Nui Va'a event.

Pehi said it's an exciting team as each of the 12 members have won a major senior race this year, giving them hope when they come up against the 800 other paddlers - some boasting petroleum giant Shell as their sponsor.

"Because we've never done this sort of criteria we don't know [how we'll go against other teams]," Pehi said of the competition which starts today. "We'll definitely be able to tell in the first hour though.

"We've done some acclimatising by training in thermals and jumping in saunas to get used to that humidity. This is probably one of the few teams I've been paddling with and seen this level of elite paddlers."

The bi-annual Nui Va'a event usually includes some New Zealand competitors who have been entered by clubs or individuals on an elective basis, never as a sole Kiwi team.

"A couple of paddlers in Auckland thought we should put a New Zealand team in [so we did]. The team is made up of the open men paddlers who've won a [major] race over the last 12 months.

"Whoever won those races has been asked, so we've probably got the best paddlers in the country.

"It's an open team with ages ranging from 19 to 46, so [in a way] we are representing the elite amateur paddlers [whereas] the Tahitians are professional paddlers."

Pehi, who is a current world champion and was Northland's Master Sportsperson of the Year in 2012, explained the 12 paddlers would form two six-man teams which would switch in and out of the waka to ensure a cracking pace is maintained. He added that switches were water changes, meaning six paddlers would jump out of the waka while six jumped in simultaneously in the ocean.

Today sees the trio paddle 70km around the outside of Tahiti, tomorrow they will do about 50km, and on Sunday the remaining 50-or-so-km.

Pehi said special mention needed to be given to Anchor and Moana Nui who have helped get them to Tahiti.

"With Moana Nui, when we go to the islands the general protocol is we take over a gift for the supporting club because we'll be hiring a canoe ... so we're taking over a [donated] Moana Nui paddle as a gesture."