But the conditions did not faze the 102 athletes who made the best of the day, battling through various conditions at the Taieri Mouth Multisport and Duathlon yesterday.
Jimmy Feathery, of Christchurch, won the open men’s multisport category and Coast to Coast champion Simone Maier won the women’s multisport.
Dan Kelleher won the junior duathlon.
"It was awesome. It went really, really well," organiser Scott Weatherall said.
"We’re really happy. Everyone seemed to have a great day."
The races comprised road biking, mountainbiking, kayaking and running and competitors faced a challenging kayak with a "double-banger" outgoing tide and a head wind, while the road bike to Brighton had a challenging crosswind.
Organisers altered the course slightly this year.
There was a Le Mans start and a longer kayak and run.
"During it they said they weren’t appreciative," Weatherall said.
"Afterwards, on reflection, I think they all actually thought those were pretty good changes."
About 15 people also competed in the new "have a go" events, a taster of what duathlon and multisport had to offer.
Organisers were rapt with how the event unfolded, attracting athletes from Christchurch, Invercargill and Central Otago.
There were no injuries to report.
