Junior lifesavers first to conquer Cook Strait on surf rescue boards

Junior members of the Lyall Bay Surf Lifesaving Club have made history as the first to paddle across Cook Strait on surf rescue boards.

Thirteen "nippers squad" lifesavers aged between 10 and 14 shared the 27km journey, taking it in turns to paddle two boards for 15 minutes each using their hands.

The group, with support crew on two launches and an inflatable dinghy, left Ohau Pt near Wellington about 7am yesterday and arrived at Perano Head at the entrance to Tory Channel just before midday.

Their arrival after four hours and 47 minutes was marked by the sounding of a horn and a victory swim.

The paddlers each claimed a white stone from the beach as a trophy of their trip to the South Island.

The return journey north by boat took two hours, but the sunburned, salt-encrusted young people looked elated as they were met at Mana Marina by their proud parents.

Lexi Windsor, 12, said paddling was hard work and there were lots of jellyfish and a stingray along the way.

Each member of the team had paddled two or three times.

Stephanie Bennington, 12, said most of the kids were so tired from their efforts they fell asleep on the trip back.

There was some debate about which paddlers had arrived at the South Island first.

The junior lifesavers, sponsored by Transpower, trained for about four months. Good weather meant the event went ahead yesterday after two weeks on standby.

Lyall Bay club's junior surf coach, Des Jacobson, said the successful crossing was a tribute to the "gutsy" junior members.

"They did an enormous amount of training. It's a good team effort and Lyall Bay is in the history books once again. They'll look back at a memorable day, and they'll probably tell their kids about it - that they were the first kids to paddle Cook Strait on rescue boards."

- NZPA