Te Aito Tane rescheduled for today

Pumped male paddlers playing a waiting game may get their chance to race the Te Aito Tane today after Saturday’s postponement.

However, the course for the men’s race is still yet to be confirmed with a number of options on the table including a combined lagoon and ocean race. The Te Aito Tane race was rescheduled on Saturday morning because of the high winds and big seas.

While the race was called off – a couple of game men took their canoes out of Avarua harbour and tested the conditions.

Top local paddler and the favourite to take out Te Aito Tane Reuben Dearlove along with fellow paddler Josh Burrell managed to get out of the harbour and as far as Tamarind House before heading back home on the crest of huge waves.

A handful of other male paddlers loaded their vaka on trucks and headed to Muri lagoon.

Te Aito Cook Islands organiser Fletcher Melvin says because Kiwi paddler Clayton Wikaira had to leave on Saturday night – they decided to have a paddle in the lagoon and were met with fun and challenging conditions.

The crew paddled from Muri to Tikioki and back – one of the course options for the men’s Te Aito race. However, the likely course for today’s race, scheduled for 4pm, will be a 20km course that will start in Muri lagoon in front of Pacific Resort.

Paddlers will do a loop of the lagoon before heading to Avana and out the passage heading to the Matavera point and back in to the lagoon through the natural passage in the reef.

Fletcher says they have yet to decide if the paddlers complete one more loop of the lagoon before finishing or race towards Tikioki and back to the start/finish line.

Either way – local and Tahiti paddlers are at the ready to compete for 2012 Te Aito Tane supremacy.