Just wanted to let you all know that the Te Aito Nui race was held on December 12th and was a huge success.
After a year off, race organizer, Stephan Lambert, put together a 3 day event that was very special. Wednesday was a kids race that included a clinic where stars like Lewis Laughlin, Manutea Owen, Georges Cronsteadt and Kamehameha Tamarii taught the children about stroke techinique, rigging of the va'a, etc.
Thursday was the 50 meter sprint race. There were 3 divisions, womens vaa, mens vaa and SUP.
Friday was the endurance race. 55km for men, 35km for women and 30km for SUP paddlers.
The race was great with Georges Cronsteadt winning followed by Kamehameha and Mautea Owen. The course is so rigorous due to its length and extreme conditions(summertime sun and humidity is extreme in French Polynesia) that despite prize money and competition there was a great spirit in the water because we were all pushing ourselves to the limit amidst the beauty of the island.
I do not know the winner of the womens division. There were maybe 10 paddlers. Including one 13 year old that was not allowed to compete due to insurance reasons but she launched her canoe from matira beach after all the females started and paddled the race anyways, even beating several women. Stephan rewarded her with some special gifts and had her on stage at the awards dinner Friday Night.
Only 4 paddlers entered the SUP race. I spoke with many paddlers in Tahiti who just didn't want to paddle that distance. Hopefully next year there will be more as 30km took us all around 4 hours to complete and while it was grueling, it was a great challenge and there was good prize money. The SUP race was won by Patrice Chanzy.
