Teams from as far as Rotorua will be battling it out on Lake Te Anau this weekend for the fourth Ki Uta Ki Tai Waka Challenge.
Races kick off at the Marakura Yacht Club from 9am but there will be plenty going on onshore too, with play equipment and competitions for tamariki, a market, health promotions and giveaways.
Kōrari Māori Public Health kaimahi Nadine Young said the event was growing bigger each year.
“We are particularly proud that this is the second year that we will be running rangatahi races to support the hauora of our young people,” she said.
The challenge is hosted by Kōrari – the Māori public health team at Ngā Kete Mātauranga Pounamu Charitable Trust – in conjunction with the Ōraka Aparima Rūnaka.
“Ki Uta Ki Tai offers more than a waka ama competition – it is centered on whakawhanaungatanga, connecting whānau to te taiao, and hauora,” Young explained.
Health initiative cheers up community
Kōrari manager Karina Davis-Marsden came up with the idea of starting the event while driving to Te Anau one day, and looking out over the roto (lake), she thought it would be a great place to take rangatahi to paddle.
It was also a way to uplift the Fiordland community, which was doing it tough after severe flooding closed most of the tracks in 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic stopped tourists from visiting.
This year, 23 teams will compete over four race distances: 500m rangatahi sprint races, a 5km “have a go” race for new kaihoe (paddlers) and longer 10km and 15km races for experienced paddlers.
The W6 outrigger canoes are each manned by teams of six, and teams will be travelling from as far as Ōtautahi, Ōtepoti, Tāhuna and Rotorua to compete.
-Stuff.co.nz