Te Tupu take out Sails sprints

Wednesday 22: The 2009 Sails Restaurant sprint championship title has gone to Te Tupu o Te Manava Canoe Club with (58 points) ahead of Ngakau Toa Vaka (52 points) in second place and Club Live Free (28 points) in third place.

Last Saturday’s 14 races covered the V1 250m, V6 500m, 1000m, and 1500m finals in the novice, master and open divisions. A number of V12, V1 and V6 finals had been held earlier in the series.

The last race of the day showcased the Ngakau Toa open women’s skill in executing turns and power through the straights to win the 1500m race.

Te Tupu open men’s crew did the same in their 1500m final managing to stay ahead of the fired-up Ngakau Toa crew who despite running into another crew after the third turn fought back to close the gap and come second.

On the day, Te Tupu also managed to secure wins in the master and novice mixed divisions with Club Live Free winning the novice men and women titles.

In the V1 races, Serena Hunter won the masters women division while Sani Sosene took out the master men singles title.

Richard Denny won the open men’s and junior paddler Emilene Taulu won the open women’s race. This weekend we will see representatives from all clubs head to Aitutaki for the inaugural ANZAC race series.

Hosted by the two clubs in Aitutaki, races will include sprints and a long distance team relay race. Also coming up on May 9 is the popular V12 Corporate races. - CICA