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What they say about self-fulfilling prophecies must be true.

Even before arriving in Rarotonga, Australias Crown Beach Kings were named the top contenders in yesterdays open mens Round Raro Race and as predicted, they finished six minutes ahead of the Cook Islands national squad to claim the coveted Pacific Cup.

With a time of 2:40:57, they narrowly missed the chance to beat last years winning time 2:39:10 set by the international Boiler Boys, a crew comprised of Te Tupu O Te Manava paddlers and New Caledonian ring-ins.

Still, they clinched the Cup, which is what they set out to do.

The Crown Beach Kings came out strong this year they were, as organiser Victoria Dearlove put it, stacked, and determined to beat their third-place finish last year. The crew comprised five of the best paddlers in Australia Travis Grant, Greg Long, Chris Maynard, Danny Sheard and Todd Cohen and powerhouse paddler Adam Fisher, stroker Rob Pomie and Jackson Maynard.

Just minutes after officials dropped the red flag to signal the start of the Round Raro, the Crown Beach Kings were a boats length ahead of Cook Islands national squad Team Tumutevarovaro.

By the time they reached Nikao the gap had widened substantially the Kings held the lead right around Rarotonga, never losing their glide and pulling off changes quickly and efficiently.

Either the Aussie boys were exhausted or they were being modest, but pulling into the harbour they didnt seem overly enthused by their win the spectators on boats lingering around the buoy, though, did.

Toward the rear of the winning vaka that pulled into the harbour was father-son duo Chris Maynard and his 20-year-old son Jackson a quick change of the number five seat at Tamarind ensured that the Maynard boys finished together.

The local boys finished second with a time of 2:46:24 while they were more than a kilometre behind the Crown Beach Kings, their finish was strong and their technique looking good. During a recent training session the Cook Islands crew managed to paddle around the island in 2:34, earning them the title of the Crown Beach Kings biggest rival and while they didnt take out the race they put the pressure on and put up a good fight.

They were all smiles coming into the harbour, popping their ama for a shrieking crowd.

The gap between second and third was more than 20 minutes wide, but Kiwi crew Turangawaewae paddled hard to pull into the harbour with a time of 3:09:13.

The skies were blue and the sun shone bright for yesterdays race, but for the paddlers it was rough going, especially around the south side of the island. The seas were lumpy and heaving, the wind whipping the chop into two-metre waves, but the boys managed to hold their ground and clock some impressive times.

Even the masters crews finished in under three hours.

In the masters division the Aotearoa Natives finished in 2:55:03, clinching their third win of the week. Following on their heels was Te Tupu O Te Manava with a second-place time of 3:02:35. Mana Menz managed third place just two minutes behind Te Tupu with a time of 3:04:39.

Senior masters crew Noosa won their division in 3:06:56 just 10 minutes behind the masters winners and Team Tofs took second with a time of 3:20:12. Men in Black pulled into the harbour at 3:27:06.

Though the race was clouded by the tragic death of a local paddler, it drew an outstanding effort from the Pacific Cup paddlers rendering a years worth of training and time on the water worth it.