Wayne Fa’asega, Michael Hastie, Tom Orchiston and Ken McHoull combined to win the canoe category of the annual White Island Race at St Clair Beach on Saturday.
But they had a little hiccup at the end. They capsized when a wave flipped their canoe over. The St Clair crew was closing fast but Warrington won the dash for the beach, winning by just two seconds after having led by a minute and a half.
Warrington recorded a time of 34 minutes flat for the 5km journey around White Island and back. But it was Fred Teear from Taylors Mistake Surf Life Saving Club who claimed the major prize on his surf ski. He recorded the fastest time of 26min 14sec to win the White Island Shield.
The race record of 21min 11sec is safe for another year. It was set by Geoff Walker in 1981 on a single surf ski. Teear set a good pace early but faded on the return leg.
"He got around the Island in about 11 minutes so he was on track. But there was a head wind coming home," race convener Michael Trembath said.
"I think when Geoff did it he had a tail wind going out. Then it switched around and he had a tail wind coming home."
Four people swam the race this year, including former Invercargill woman Hannah Morgan, who will try to swim from Bluff to Stewart Island — a 30km trip or so — in February.
St Clair’s Richard Murray was the first swimmer out of the water in 1hr 40min, while Natalie Ashton was the quickest woman in 2hr 12min 52sec.
The event is organised by St Clair Surf Life Saving Club each year, and marks the beginning of the season.
Entries were down 10 this year to 63. But Trembath said he hoped the event would attract more in its 50th year in 2019.
