Champion oe vaka paddler Reuben Dearlove won huge respect at Tahiti’s 25th Te Aito outrigger race on Saturday – recording what many considered the best ever result by an international competitor.

Among officials, race commentators and Tahiti’s top echelon of competitive paddlers, Dearlove was mentioned many times for his powerful race, standing out as the only non-Tahitian among the top 50 of mainly professional paddlers aged 19 to 25.

Coming up the finish chute, hundreds of people crammed in for a Tour de France type finish, race organiser Charlie Maitere cheered for Dearlove on the PA, hailing him with personal greeting: ”From Rarotonga, Reuben Dearlove, aged 37, returning after his 2010 race when he finished 65th, the Cook Islands Te Aito unbeaten champion, here with Tahiti’s finest.“

Dearlove finished in 42nd place, 10 minutes behind the winner Steve Teihotaata who clocked a time of 2:22 flat.

Dearlove improved on his 2010 time finishing in 2:32.

The first 60 to 70 canoes were nose to tail over 100-200 metres, boat lengths apart, and it was an exciting scramble at the finish line.

A squadron of 50 super athletes battled each other for two and a half hours in a tense and closely fought race over two 14km loops from Point Venus to the first turn bouy, a marker for the passage paddlers turned through into the lagoon before heading back to Point Venus to a mass of supporters for the second 14km loop.

The scene was spectacular.

Hundreds of support and spectator boats churned up the ocean course, thousands of Tahitians packed the beaches and headlands to see their national sport in action.

Competing in a record field of 722 V1 paddlers entered in this year’s 28km race, Dearlove as the Cook Islands Te Aito champion was in peak condition and supported by his wife Victoria and friends.

He said he was thrilled with his performance, felt fit and strong throughout the race, and enjoyed the conditions of relatively calm seas and wind, which he is used to in Rarotonga.

He had a new lightweight canoe, and despite the ama taking in water, which he discovered afterwards, he was happy with 41st place.

The vaka carried the logos of his sponsors Pacific Resort and Spa and daily newspaper Cook Islands News.

On reflection he felt he might have done better if he had taken an outside angle on the outside reef leg, but without local knowledge he followed the paddlers ahead.

But now he is concentrating on taking part in the Super Aito, a 36km channel crossing from Moorea to Point Venus in Tahiti in three weeks’ time.

With fine tuning of his new canoe, following a strict training regimen back home, he will be stronger and eager for the unknown challenge.

Fellow Cook Islands paddlers Paul Pearson and John Beasley were both happy with their race which saw them come in at around 500 place mark.

Both were thrilled to have been part of the spectacular race where the start called for nerves of steel as hundreds of paddlers ran to the water with their canoes in hand and at times running over other canoes, breaking amas and dodging enthusiastic boat and jet ski drivers.

In the morning Cook Islands Toa Vaine paddlers Vaea Melvin and Jane Pearson took on the 14km women’s race with Melvin coming home in 39th place from a field of 47 followed a few seconds behind by Pearson.

The women paddled side by side for motivation and had planned to finish the race in under an hour and a half.