Ok we've been discussing it on the western buggy circuit thread but it really needs its own thread.

The challenge is Himatangi to Waikanae. Some 68km.

Course record set by Yaker NZ at 2.00hrs kitsurfing.

This challenge is open to any type of kite powered device weather is kitesurfing, landboarding, buggying or what ever else you have.

For the land based guys there is there issue of crossing the manawatu river and a number of smaller streams. including the Otaki river.

We need a trophy for the record holder. perhaps a piece drift wood off the beach?

Anyone can attempt the challenge at any time. Ideally with gps evidence.

Butch did you give it a shot yesturday?

Yep, I hit it from Tangimoana to Otaki before i ran out of beach.
Was cranking bout 30 knots and rode my new Ground Industries Conflict, my new Decay Custom Estuary board and my 8m Ozone Instinct Light XC.

Was plain sailing all the way down travelling bout 40-45km/hr mostly.
Manawatu estuary crossing was a piece if cake on the Decay board, as was the Otaki crossing.
I had to wade across the Ohau river (waist deep but narrow) and the Kuku river,(thigh deep and narrower)Forgetting my Mp3 was in me pocket , so i had to ride in silence from then on.

At Otaki the beach ramps up quite a bit and gets all gravelly. Had i have been there at the lowest of low tide i may have made it thru but alas. Next time.

Took me a bit over 2 hours jus cruising and not pushing too hard.
Travelled just under 50km distance.

Good laugh and am planning the next run from further up the coast closer to Wanganui.

A good start.

Butch

Waiting for my ride home..

sweet. how wide was otaki?

sounds like you needed the granny tyres for the gravel....

SLE is ordered and a number of kitesurf boards are on the watch list. Hopefully i'll be able to attempt the challenge with the kite surf crossings sooner rather than later.

i went to mokau and cruised mokau to awikino and back and there and back and there and back etc.
managed 46km in 2 hours but that included the upwind tack at 10-20kph. i also got side tracked juming a stream. The cliffs and steep hills stuffed up the wind abit. but it made for a challenge.

are any of those smaller rivers less that 20m wide? it would be super cool just to peel along and jump them. i'd feel quite manly if i jumped an actual river.

Hey Dave,

Was that a sea breeze you were riding in? I've looked at both the Awikino and Mokau river mouths for kitesurfing - they look like great setups. Never been any wind when I've gone past tho.

Cheers

DK

Plummet
The challenge should be from Tangimoana as there is still usable beach above Himitangi. It is easy to drive up there along the beach from Foxton at low tide.
In keeping with naming the event with a silly/catchy name what do you propose?

I have uploaded the original track from a few months back onto sportstrack live.
www.sportstracklive.com/track/detail/yak...ngi/kitesurfing/4773

The site is fantastic for analysing gps tracks and sharing for an event like this. After going back though the track and the exact time is 2 hours 4 min. I am sure others will go faster, but this is a starting point for people to aim for. I have done faster but don't have a full track to show for it. The track starts at 15 min and ends at 2 hours 19 min. Roughly 70km as I went way out to sea at the start. So 68 km measured on Google earth sounds about right.

Butch is right that there is some good beach further up the coast between Wanganui and Tangi. Much longer walk if things go wrong though! We could also make a second challenge as well for 100km. Tangi to Waikanaie is accessible to most for a start.

the river mouths aren't that big. at low tide about 20 to 30 meters for awakino and maybe 100 for mokau. maybe double that at high tide? I don't think the river mouth its self would be of much use. on both rivers theres a cliff/bank about 40 meters high on the south side which would limit you.

Wind was wnw direction on that day. I suppose you could have called it a sea breaze.