KEY POINTS:
SYDNEY - Two kayakers paddling from Australia to New Zealand are back on course after removing a rope which wrapped around the rudder, causing them steering problems.
Sydneysiders James Castrission, 25, and Justin Jones, 24, are more than halfway through their 2200km journey to Auckland.
They ran into problems at about 8pm (2200 NZT) yesterday when the back end of their nine-metre custom-made kayak lifted up on a wave and an anchor line wrapped around the rudder, which they feared might break under the strain.
They had to wait until this morning to try to fix the problem because conditions were too dangerous last night.
Tom Mitchell from the land-based support team said the kayakers reported they had fixed the problem overnight.
"These guys are one, very tough; two, very, very smart - everything they've done has been designed with contingencies in mind," he told ABC Radio.
"So if there was a problem with the rudder - say if it got severely bent or damaged last night - we have a spare rudder on board."
The pair set off from the NSW mid-north coast on November 13.
They reached the halfway point two weeks ago and have battled headwinds and a long detour when they had to paddle around a whirlpool of ocean currents.
- AAP
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