Rarotonga and Atiu dominated the Cook Islands Games medals in Monday’s oe vaka V1 marathon, with top paddlers Reuben Dearlove (Rarotonga) and Serena Hunter (Atiu) taking out the open men’s and women’s divisions.

Windy conditions greeted paddlers on the 10-kilometre course which saw paddlers bashing upwind to Club Raro and facing a surf leg down to Vaianas, and back upwind around the Boiler and into Trader Jacks.

The masters and junior paddlers kicked off the afternoon’s racing, with juniors tackling a shorter 5km course.

Aleida Tere took the gold for Rarotonga in a time of 41.34 minutes with Emii Akava (Mangaia) doing her first ever singles race in a time of 45.09 min, and Makenna Gribble of Mangaia taking bronze in 50.17 min.

It was an impressive work by the young paddlers tackling testing race conditions.  

In the masters race, Arno Theijssen claimed gold for Atiu in 1.01.51 hour with Allen Sullivan (Mangaia) 1.03.26 hr and Fletcher Melvin taking bronze for Palmerston in 1.04.29 hr.

In the masters women’s, Vaea Melvin took the gold for Palmerston in a time of 1.19.26 hr, with Rakahanga’s Teina Taulu in 1.24.00 hr. Grace Henry of Rarotonga braved the start line, but was unable to finish due to the challenging conditions. Paulina Beddoes of Atiu participated in the race on her OC1, completing the course in 1.04.45 hr.

The highly anticipated opens race saw Dearlove dominate both upwind and in the surf leg, finishing in 51.44 mins with Tutaka George taking silver for Atiu in 55.14 mins and Tupuna Amo claiming bronze for Mauke in 57.31 mins. 

Ina Nooroa repping Mangaia finished in 1.10.03 hr with Tiati Akava of Manihiki rounding off in 1.11.14 hr.

Tain Armstrong of Aitutaki was the only U18 to tackle the 10km course, in his first ocean race in Rarotonga, finishing in 1.19.30 hr. Teava Hunter participated on OC1, finishing in a time of 56.15 mins.

Teava’s mum Serena Hunter took the lead in the women’s race in a time of 1.04.19 hr with Ioana Turia of Aitutaki taking silver in 1.07.15 hr, and Hereani Amo of Mauke unable to complete the course due to the conditions. Talissa Koteka representing Atiu participated on her V1, completing the course in a time of 1.09.17 hr.

Oe vaka kicked off on the first day of the 2024 Cook Islands Games on Saturday at Nikao with a day of sprints racing which saw juniors sprinting their hearts out for their respective islands.

The youngsters raced in U14 and U18 divisions over 200-metre and 400m courses, with some impressive paddling, and some surprise results.

Lots of smiling faces, aka-ei following each race reflected the spirit of the games. 

The medal ceremony saw medals spread among the islands, with proud parents and juniors laden with medals and flowers.

This Saturday sees the completion of oe vaka with V6 racing from Trader Jacks, at 1pm for open men and women 10km and U18 girls 5km, and 4pm for open mixed crews 8km and junior mixed 5km. Some exciting racing expected with paddlers battling for island pride and club paddlers spread among the islands.

• CICA