Waipu set to host first major IRB competition of the season

Close to 200 athletes from 17 different Surf Life Saving Clubs will head to Waipu Cove this weekend for the first round of the 2016 BP Surf Rescue Series, the North Island Championships. 

Four events including the assembly rescue, mass rescue, tube rescue and single rescue will be contested across the Under 21, Senior, Women's and Premier divisions. The event line up will be finished off with a team's race which, last season, was won by Papamoa.

The Bay of Plenty Club also took out the overall points at last season's event held at Fitzroy, Taranaki. They finished on 70 points, well ahead of Sunset Beach in second (43) with Waimarama (31) in third.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand Sport Manager Mike Lord says Papamoa continues to dominate IRB racing and they'll be the ones to watch out for on Saturday, along with crews from Paekakariki and Sunset Beach.

"It will be a fantastic event at the first major IRB based sports event of the season. The crews are geared up and ready to race. It's sure to be a great weekend of fast and exhilarating racing from some of the best IRB racers in the country," he says.

Social media:

Help us share some of the great moments from the BP Surf Rescue Series via our social media hub.

You can now share your photos and videos by visiting https://community.surflifesaving.org.nz/members/register. Simply register then start uploading.

You can also share you photos and video through Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #BPSurfRescueChamps to have them automatically appear on our story board.

Alternatively, you can email them to BPSurfRescueChamps@sendpix.org.

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Smith, Media & Communications Specialist, SLSNZ
Phone 09 303 9335 or 0276 488 823
Email lisa.smith@surflifesaving.org.nz