Kia ora koutou
Another update on happenings in Jan-Apr 2024 highlights.
Club Captain’s Report
National Champs
This season we took ten Novice Women, two Novice Men, one Intermediate Women and one Coxswain to compete at the 2024 NZ Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro from Tuesday 13th to Saturday 17th of February.
Arriving in Cambridge on the Sunday before racing commenced, the rowers all got settled into our fantastic accommodation at the Cambridge Football Club, which included a massive touch screen T.V. Perfect for watching movies, live streaming the racing, and even a bit of Just Dance.
At the course tents were erected, boats were unloaded and rigged, in preparation of the week of competition.
Racing at a Championship regatta means multiple races spread across numerous days, everyone gets to race in heats and repechages, hopefully then progressing through to the semi-finals and finals where medals are up for grabs. Over the week, the amount of racing can begin to take its toll on the rowers, understanding how to manage that is as important as learning the process of how to row. As it was the first regatta of this type for all, this was an invaluable experience for our members in their individual rowing journeys.
The novice women of Amelie, Chloey, Hannah, Jade, Jess, Lucy, Maddy, Mia, Pippa, Zoe and coxswain Hamish competed in novice doubles, coxed fours, coxed quad and the eight. The novice men of Albert and Jordan in the novice and intermediate double. Lelia competed in the intermediate and club single sculls and a with Petone RC in a composite intermediate eight.
Everyone raced with distinction, and to the best of their ability with notable results in the events.
- Womens intermediate single sculls – A Final. Leila
- Womens intermediate eight – A Final. Leila
- Womens novice coxed four – B Final. Zoe, Jess, Amelie, Mia, and Hamish
- Womens novice eight – B Final. Zoe, Chloey, Pippa, Jess, Amelie, Mia, Lucy, Maddy and Hamish
- Mens novice double – B Final. Albert and Jordan
Thanks must go to the coaches for their time and effort, as well as the parents and supporters that assisted with driving, cooking, supervising the athletes or just making the trip to the course to get behind the rowers.
The comradery and vibe of the group was outstanding, it was amazing to see the interaction between all, not just with the rowing, but also with other activities like spotlight or having a kick around with a football in the evenings, a great time was had by all.
Secondary School regattas and the Maadi Regatta
Following on from the National Champs the focus switched to the Secondary School regattas. Unfortunately, the McLachlan Sheild at Korokoro was postponed and then cancelled, which meant that most of our rowers couldn’t compete locally.
The decision was made to take a small group of five rowers from Aotea College to the North Island Secondary School Champs, affectionately known as NISS. Results were outstanding with everyone competing in a final.
- Girls under 17 single sculls – B Final. Leila
- Girls under 18 single sculls – C Final. Leila
- Girls under 18 novice coxed four – B Final, Pippa, Chloey, Lucy, Jade and Leila
- Girls under 18 novice double – C Final. Pippa, Chloey
The final regatta of the season was the 2024 Maadi Regatta at Lake Ruataniwha from Monday 18th to Saturday 23rd of March, Leila was the only member of PRC to compete this year. This was Leila’s first opportunity to compete at a Maddi Regatta for Aotea, it was also her first time racing on the picturesque aqua blue water which comes straight from the Southern Alps. Over 2100 secondary school students competed from all over NZ. Thanks to Danielle and Tim for driving the van to Karapiro for NISS and supporting Leila at the Maddi Regatta.
Winner of the Christmas Raffle – Lisa and Strat Campbell
March 24 – New 24/7 webcam!
For free, we now have in place a streaming webcam that shows water conditions. Along with weather forecasts, the webcam helps our members who may be working in Wellington or Waikanae decide if the conditions are good enough to come down and row.
This service is helping a lot of other recreational water users as well. https://poriruarowing.co.nz/porirua-harbour-web-cam/
April Grants
– Hutt Mana Community Trust
We received a grant for a new electronic key for our main door, and a video security system. 150 applications were received and 97 approved.
Our physical keys pose a security risk, as previous members may still have these keys. Changing key locks is costly and should be done every year. The new electronic lock will be installed soon which means:
– we can assign everyone a unique PIN code to enter the building (which can be changed every year). This improves security and reduces cost.
– the door can be opened remotely (for visitors etc)
– will help speed up membership application and payment (access PIN issued once sorted)
The security system will reduce risk from vandalism and tagging (2 tags in March alone), damage to the web cam and enhance security in the car park, which is a designated Freedom camping site.
– New Zealand Community Trust (NZCT)
The NZCT have made a significant contribution ($30k) to the costs of replacing our club walls and roof ($135k +GST). The committee are seeking additional grants. We would all prefer to buy new boats and enhance the facilities however, we need to focus on getting the roof and walls fixed. Part of our work and process was to confirm the building remains fit for purpose. After an engineering assessment we confirmed structurally, the building is sound. But the cladding is an eyesore and the deterioration of the cladding will only accelerate, and start to damage plant and equipment inside the club. Replacing the cladding will ensure the club can remain and provide opportunities to our future members for the next 30+ years.
Member’s Prizegiving 6 Apr 2024
See this post about the prizegiving results. https://poriruarowing.co.nz/2024-prize-giving/
Ex-Porirua Rower made NZ U21 mens team
Titahi Bay local Liam Collins rowed at Porirua for 3 years 2019-22. He then moved to Wairau for the last 2 seasons, with 3 other Porirua Rowers over this time (Liam Kirkland, Joe Hughes and James Ripley). As a parent, I was so proud of Liam because he worked hard over the winters. We have spent many hours down at the club in the cold winter, just plugging away with the correct type of training.
I’m mentioning this here because our club has the systems, knowledge, coaches and support to take you to whatever level you want to aspire to, in this sport (or coastal rowing)!
Get in contact and come on down to get fit, enjoy a water sport, meet some great people and compete at whatever level you wish – its all here for you!
Ngā mihi
Tony Tikiku
PRC President