Sport
21 March, 2022
Grand prix regatta storming success
TINAROO Dam was jam packed full of eager paddlers and fans recently with the first regatta of the 2022 North Queensland Zone Grand Prix season kicking off.
Over 500 participants from 11 different clubs took to the waters on Saturday 12 March for the first of five NQ Outriggers regattas, numbers for the first regatta have made it one of the best attended events in the sport.
The regatta was jointly hosted by The Dam Outrigger Canoe Club and the Cairns Beaches Outrigger Canoe Club with 12 separate divisions for people to register in.
Clubs from across Queensland and further afield made the journey to Tinaroo Dam’s shores to participate in the regatta, some coming as far as Thursday Island or Mooloolaba just north of Brisbane.
It was a 29-race program ranging from 500 metre sprints for the eight to nine year old division Minnows through to an 8km marathon for the 70 plus year-old Platinum Masters division.
Race director Tuki Brown said the regatta was a great success and it was good to see new faces in the canoes and out on the water. “I’m thrilled the program ran on time with no incident,” he said.
“It was great to see so many new people joining the sport after two years of Covid restrictions. “The future is look bright for outrigger canoeing.”
The standout in the Junior divisions were The Dam Outrigger Canoe Club paddlers Jessy Carlow and Kyra Long, who both won their 4 km OC1 and V1 races with times of 28m45s and 35m41s respectively.
For the seniors 4km, Kathy White from Mission Beach and Susan Markwell won their consecutive divisions. Matt Abbott won the very competitive Open Men’s division with a time of 20m43s.
The overall club winner was Mission Beach while the Yorkeys Knob club, Hekili, won the most points in the OC6 division. Torres Strait Outrigger Canoe Club brought a large contingent and claimed victory in the competitive Novice division.
Grand Prix Round 2 will take place in Airlie Beach hosted by the Whitsunday Outrigger Canoe Club from 30 April to 1 May.
