Despite threats of less-than-average conditions over the past few days, the sun and wind pulled through for the brand-new addition to the Darcy Price NZ Ocean SurfSki Series on Lake Wakatipu yesterday.
The Deep South Downwind featured paddlers from across New Zealand and Australia, swapping the open water for the lake in one of eight series races.
One of the organisers, Southern Lakes Multisport Club’s Kat Bulk, said the club was not sure how successful a lake-based event would go, but it had plenty of support.
She said she was "really keen" to get everyone’s feedback.
Bulk, a paddler herself, said the club was approached by Canoe Racing New Zealand last year to host, and planning began about August.
Being on the organising side of things had been "a humbling experience", but there was a lot of support from everyone involved in the club, she said.
Slightly worried about weather conditions in the lead up to yesterday, Bulk was stoked with the beauty of the day.
She admitted she was a "little bit" disappointed not being out on the water herself.
Liam Lace beat runner up Tobias Brooke by a mere 3sec to top both the open male division and overall leaderboard with a time of 1hr 52min 10sec.
The first solo female across the line and ninth overall was Tara Smith, just 11min 13sec behind Lace.
