There must be something in the local water. Last month, at the conclusion of the national Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) championships at Takapuna, the six overall championship podium places, plus other awards, were won by North Shore paddlers. Christine Young spoke to three of the winners.
But first, a few details about the competition, which attracted 66 entries from New Zealand and overseas. To win any of the ‘overall’ titles, competitors raced in three disciplines that test the athletes’ all-round prowess. Sprint racing took place on Friday 6 March, a short, high-speed race with buoy turns. On Saturday attention turned to technical racing – a challenging 900m course, with seven buoy turns, featuring beach chicanes and a three-lap final. Sunday was devoted to distance racing.
“The three disciplines are completely different, and each one has its own challenges,” says Jordan Zagonel. “For the sprints, nailing the starts is fundamental, since the race is only 200m long and takes one minute. For the technical race, being good at turns gives you an upper hand since we do lots of turns (we had 18 turns at the final). And finally for the long distance, technique and endurance are key.”
Bruce Curson is a self-described “50-year-old amateur”. “The long-distance race was definitely most gruelling,” he says, “an 11km grind after two days of racing. The technical is probably most challenging but also most fun, with a bunch of different elements involved. Beach starts, mid-race portage (beach run with board) and a ton of turns.”
It seems SUP is a relatively informal sport, with few organised clubs – until you get serious about it. But even at competitive level, it’s largely up to individual motivation and training.
Bruce became involved through a social paddle board club in Devonport, and took part in “casual weekly racing. I’m attracted to the sport by my love of all things ocean and my competitive nature. And the local SUP crew. A top bunch of blokes and girls.”
He says he “very loosely” belongs to the casual Cheltenham Paddleboard Club, which has “largely faded of late as everyone has gone wingfoiling instead”. He mostly trains, two to three times a week, from home in Bayswater and with the Takapuna SUP group at Takapuna Beach.
Jordan started paddling on an inflatable board in 2015. When he moved to Orewa, he bought his first race board, and “started to paddle almost every day, before or after work (this was my gym). Then I met a group of paddlers who would train every Saturday morning in Orewa, and racing was kind of the next step, since it gives you a goal.
“I don't really belong to any club. Sometimes I train with the group that paddles in Takapuna, but most of time I'm on my own up at Red Beach, where I live now. I try to be on the water all year round (three to four times a week is the goal, not always achievable), but in the weeks prior to the nationals I tend to focus on skills like beach starts and turns, and keep the momentum going. “
Takapuna Grammar student Rosara Davis is a multi-sport athlete, also excelling in cycling and kayaking. She got into SUP racing as she grew up watching her parents race, but “soon fell in love with it through paddling at Takapuna and quickly loved the mix of endurance, skill and ocean conditions. Every race is different depending on wind, swell and tactics, which makes the sport really exciting.
“I train mostly at Takapuna Beach or Lake Pupuke locally with a group of North Shore paddlers, known as the Taka SUP Squad. We’re lucky to have a really motivated group who enjoy training hard together, and local paddler Steve Dunlop often helps organise our Saturday morning sessions.”
Rosara, like the other two women on the Championship podium this year, has represented New Zealand internationally. She’s aiming to compete at the ICF Stand Up Paddleboarding World Championships in Italy in October this year, as it is her last year competing as a junior in the U18 category. She has previously competed in the ISA SUP worlds in 2022 in Puerto Rico and the ICF SUP worlds in Thailand 2023. “I am buzzing to get back into the racing scene overseas which is massive, as there are so many strong junior and open women paddlers which makes awesome competition!”
Locally, she’s also driven by the paddlers around her: “I was thrilled to win the 11km distance race. It was a very close and tough race with Maddie McCasey and Brianna Orams, which I loved. We were still together with about 500m to go before I managed to pull out a final sprint to take the win.
“I also really enjoy technical racing. I won a bronze medal in the Under-19 technical race at the World Championships in Thailand in 2023. The final technical race [in the national championships] had around 18 buoy turns and very tight racing. My start didn’t go to plan and Brianna blocked me well early on, but it was great fun racing so closely. Maddie definitely had the edge on the day to take that win.
“I love SUP racing because it is so diverse. You need to be able to have a good sprint but also be able to hold a fast pace over a long distance race and have the technical skills of balance and timing in the technical race which is sometimes in the waves, which adds to the diverse skill set you must have especially well, being on narrow boards.”
Jordan has also competed internationally, but currently has no plans for future international events. “I went to Thailand a couple of years ago to do the ICF World Championship,” he says. “It was amazing to be amongst all the athletes I usually see on the internet, and it was pretty interesting the see the level of organisation required to put together such a big event (there were just above 1000 paddlers of all ages and categories).”
Most of the local paddlers take part in the summer-long 14-event Takapuna Beach Series (a 4km technical race every Tuesday night), and Jordan and Bruce also entered the mammoth 26km Cambridge to Hamilton race on the Waikato River at the start of summer, where Bruce finished second to Jordan.
The paddlers Channel Mag spoke to all mentioned the training benefits of, as Bruce puts it, “paddling in everything”. Rosara comments that training at Takapuna “helps prepare for different conditions because it gets lots of different conditions which I paddle in – wind, crosswinds and often some swell – so you learn to adapt quickly. “
Jordan is perhaps a little more considered in his approach. “I always try to have similar training conditions that I know I'll find during a certain event. For example, for the Cambridge to Hamilton race, I try to do longer paddles on the Puhoi River, close to home.”
Whatever the approach, it’s clear there’s special about the local SUP community, creating some outstanding paddlers. Bruce attributes the success to the “close knit paddling community who paddle regularly together out of Taka Beach”.
“I think the Saturday training sessions associated with the Beach Series are responsible for keeping people active,” adds Jordan. “There were other groups like the one in Orewa that slowly thinned out and disappeared, but the Takapuna one continues strong.”
Rosara agrees. “North Shore paddlers did really well overall and I think that’s because we have a strong local paddling community. A lot of us train together regularly and push each other, which really helps everyone lift their performance.”
And with at least one of our national podium winners heading to offshore competitions later this year, watch this space….
Side bar: [Please place near the start of the article]
2026 NZSUP National championships championship division winners
Men
Women
