Canoe Racing New Zealand

01/10/2026

27/09/2026

🏆Congratulations to our 2026 New Zealand 10km National Champions! 🇳🇿
The national championship race was held yesterday at a drizzly Lake Karapiro, also the final race of this year's Paddler Winter Series. Great turn out and great event to wrap up the winter racing series.

Full results here: https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=449442

24/09/2026

Congratulations to Liam Lace and Garth Spencer, selected to represent Aotearoa New Zealand at the 2026 Canoe Marathon World Championships.

The 2026 ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships will take place from October 19 to 25 in Gualeguaychú, Argentina.
Both Garth and Liam will race K1 as well as teaming up for the open K2 Marathon.

All the best for the final month of preparation and stay tuned to follow the action from Argentina!

23/09/2026

The final race of the 2026 Paddler Winter Series and the Canoe Racing NZ 10km National Championships is coming up this Sunday!

After a winter of races at clubs around the motu, this bonus points race at Lake Karapiro will determine the series winners, plus national titles and medals are up for grabs for Sunday's winners. There are 5km and 2.5km races for junior paddlers or anyone else not keen for the full distance. Open to all type of paddle craft.

It is not too late to enter! All online entries will receive a FREE beanie thanks to Zhik, who proudly support this series. We will also accept on the day entries.

Check out race details, results and current series standing on the Paddler.nz website
https://www.paddler.nz/winterseries

21/09/2026

Canoe Racing New Zealand are pleased to announce the New Zealand representatives for the 2026 Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships, coming up in October in La Vila Joiosa, Spain. 🇪🇸 🇳🇿
Congratulations to the following athletes:

Grace Richardson, U23 Women SS1
Julia Padrutt, U23 Women SS1
Rebecca Cole, Open Women SS1 / Open Mixed SS2
Gene Prato, Open Men SS1 / Open Mixed SS2
Ron Cole, Masters (60+) Men SS1

The 2026 Canoe Ocean Racing World Championships, being held on 9-11 October at Club Nàutic La Vila Joiosa, will bring together the world’s best ocean racing paddlers, with athletes travelling from different countries to compete on the Mediterranean sea for the world titles. The world championships is also a celebration of ocean ski paddling for all paddlers, as it is an open event that any ocean ski paddler can attend.

Good luck to these paddlers and stay tuned to our channels as we follow these athletes on the world’s biggest ocean stage.

Event website – https://www.icfcanoeoceanracingspain.com/

21/09/2026

🏆Congratulations for our New Zealand Ocean Ski Champions for 2026! 🌬🌊

The National Championships were held at the Tawhiti Rahi Coastal Challenge on Saturday, with paddler racing from Tutukaka out to Tawhiti Rahi (the Poor Knights Islands). It was true ocean race, with 15-20kt winds taking paddlers out to the islands 24km off the Northland coast and not one for the faint-hearted.

It is a second ocean ski open national title for both Rebecca Cole and Gene Prato, and a first in the doubleski for Caitlin Ruddle and Simon Woods, with age group winners also recognised in the single ski.

Full results can be found here https://www.webscorer.com/race?raceid=448068
Congratulations to all paddlers, and massive thank you to race director Tim Eves, and all the volunteers and safety boat crew who helped make this iconic event happen.

09/09/2026

We had an incredible day at the Canoe Racing event at Aims Games yesterday. Amazing kids, awesome teachers and parents, epic paddling conditions 🌞. So good! Thanks to everyone who made it such a special day.
Thanks to Zespri AIMS Games School Sporting Championships for the photos- go check out the full gallery on our page

09/09/2026

We had an incredible day at the Canoe Racing event at Aims Games yesterday. Amazing kids, awesome teachers and parents, epic paddling conditions. So good! Thanks to everyone who made it such a special day.

06/09/2026

The return of the Poor Knights crossing on the menu of downwind course options has the paddling community abuzz for this year’s Tawhiti Rahi Ocean Challenge event in Tutukaka in just two weeks time.
The race, which also doubles as the 2026 NZ Ocean Ski National Championships, is set for Saturday 19th September and is open to ocean skis, waka ama and paddlefoil boards.

The Poor Knights Islands / Tawhiti Rahi are located east of Tutukaka, and feature some of nature’s most impressive works of art, including extraordinary sea caves, walls and arches. The Rikoriko Cave shown here is one of the largest sea caves in the world.

Once a staple on the domestic event calendar, the Poor Knights Crossing course hasn’t been run since 2022, with organisers instead running the Tawhiti Rahi Coastal Challenge along the coastline in recent editions.

Re-opening the course legs to or from the Poor Knights Marine reserve 24km off the Tutukaka Coast has taken a collaborative effort with the new management team at Dive! Tutukaka, the Tutukaka Marina Trust and the event sponsors Te Putahi Projects, The Watertight Co, Land Pirates and Robinsons Asphalts.

Combining the forces of four Northland based companies alongside Dive! Tutukaka will provide the rare opportunity for ocean paddlers to get some blue water racing experience in Aotearoa.

Wind permitting, paddlers will be either racing from Tutukaka to Tawhiti Rahi (Poor Knights) or return, a prospect race organiser Tim Eves has been keen to get back on the event calendar for the past five years.

“First it was covid—remember that— then the weather decided to not play ball. Until now Dive! Tutukaka was not in a position to support the event. But now we can plan for another potential crossing race which is just awesome,” Eves said.
“Logistics is always a challenge for the crossing but, if the wind lines up, it’s always worth the hassle,” he said.

This is an iconic NZ ocean paddle and definitely one for all paddlers’ bucket list, although given the environment and nature of the event, strong ocean paddling skills and experience are required to tackle the challenge

Alternate course options if the wind doesn’t line up for a crossing is a down the coast course, an epic adventure paddle along the wild northern coastline.

Entries close on Thursday 10th September. But be quick, as ferry spaces may be limited to about 80 racing craft.
Enter here: https://www.webscorer.com/register?raceid=435588
All Entries received by Sept 7 go in to the draw to win a free race accommodation package and/or a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses from Paddle Sport NZ.