This was a race of two very different halves. First leg, from Tauranga Bay into the mouth of Whangaroa Harbour was a couple of kilometres of paddling through very confused swell and chop, causing plenty of wipe-outs. But then, once into the harbour, it was a glassy smooth drag race for the remainder of the race, down the harbour to finish in front of the Marlin Lodge. About 8km in all.
It came down to a photo-finish at the end between Matt Anderson and Scott Keon, while Marlene Bergh continued her dominance of the women’s fleet.
