Vaka Eiva Iron Races

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So I don't have much else to do today so I'm writing the text. Truthfully, this happened half a year ago and I don't really have too much to add, looks like my photo captions took care of most of it. But I can clarify about the race, I forget if that's in the captions or not.

So this was the Vaka Eiva Iron Race, mixed category, which means 3 girls, 3 guys in a boat. I had been trying to get into the regular men's race, but I didn't, I think our club only raced one boat for it. Anyways, I think this Iron race was 12k's or something, which I think took around an hour. As far as Iron races go, it actually wasn't that long at all. All Iron means is you go continuous and it's a long distance. That can range from 8k's to 30 probably.

The race was pretty good from what I recall. It always takes a little getting used to a new crew, and I'm still pretty low confidence, but we got into a decent rhythm and it worked out alright. I was definitely the youngest in our crew. That's about it, the pictures say more than I can.

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Photos

Launching
Queued up, waiting to get on the water. We got a pretty good boat, it's pretty much brand new. Ngakau Toa got one and Te Tupu (the opposition) got another. This is the Te Tupu canoe.

Getting Gone
Finally got our canoe to the ramp to put in. Too many canoe and only one launch ramp.

Finally in the Boat
Finally in the boat. I'm sitting two seat, which puts more pressure on me than five but I like it more.

Head Out
Heading out over the finish line, back in 12k's.

Crossing the Line
Crossing the finish line 12 kilometers later. Pretty tired at this boat, having chased that yellow boat for almost the whole race. Really wish we had caught them but they were faster...

Further Across the Line
See title

Getting Out
As I'm hoping out of the boat after the race. Pretty damn exhausted at this point. Refreshing to jump in the water, but I wish it were cooler.

On the Ramp
It took forever to get to the ramp so we could get our boat out of the water. Way too many canoes in too small an area. Plus crews kept cutting us off.

The Lineup
Here's the crew. It's actually a compilation of three teams, the steerer was from Team Phoenix. I can't remember the name of the team the other four are from, it was a Maori name and I have more trouble with those.

Awards Ceremony
So this was a surprise. We thought at best we got 3rd. When it wasn't us I almost left. And, better yet, when they called our team, I didn't know the team name so I didn't realize it was us until I saw the others walking up. A pretty cool surprise. Unfortunately the pic didn't come out great, I'm trying to get a better one from some of the other paddlers on the boat but haven't received it yet.