Windsurf and SUP school opens

Captain Tama’s Windsurf School has been dormant for a decade, but no longer.

Now it’s Captain Tama’s Windsurf and Paddleboard School, and Tama ‘Captain Tama’ Tuavera says already he’s running four or more lessons daily.

He’s stocked with three learners’ and intermediate windsurf boards and three faster boards, and a range of metred sails. The new school is offering stand-up paddleboard lessons in addition to windsurfing lessons. For several years Captain Tama’s has been hiring out stand-up paddleboards, but now Tama has a certified instructor.

Bill Tangapiri, known among Captain Tama’s staff as ‘island boy’, has passed a two-day certification course, along with Brynn Acheson and Ina Nooroa of KiteSUP, to become a paddleboard instructor.

At the time of certification Captain Tama purchased eight more Red Air boards – 10-foot inflatable stand-up paddleboards that can deflate into such neat, small packages that they constitute carry-on luggage.

The boards are equipped with handles and ”light enough so a kid can carry them“, Captain Tama says.

He is now the Rarotonga agent for Red Air paddleboards and is selling them, complete with a pump and a bag.

These complement his stash of eight carbon fibre boards, two of which are top-of-the-line Naish models.

Captain Tama says he is thrilled about the re-opening of his school, as he is passionate about giving local kids an outlet and developing the sports of windsurfing and paddleboarding.

”We’re gearing up for the local school holidays and (putting together) packages for kids,“ he said. ”They can come and learn to windsurf and paddleboard – that’s the aim of our school, really.“