St Kilda win 2018 BP South Island IRB Championship title

A solid performance from St Kilda saw the Dunedin club retain their BP South Island Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) Championship title over the weekend.

The annual event, held at Warrington Beach, was attended by close to 40 crews from 10 Surf Life Saving Clubs, predominately from the South Island.

In similar fashion to last year, the event was dominated by neighbouring clubs St Kilda and St Clair but ultimately saw the reigning champs take the win with a total of 120 points, just four points ahead of St Clair on 116.

Sumner Surf Life Saving Club from Christchurch took the third podium spot with 95 points followed by fellow Cantabrians North Beach (87) and hosts Warrington in fifth (34).

Surf Life Saving New Zealand Sport Manager Mike Lord says the 0.5m wave and light winds made for some close and exciting racing from all of the crews.

This year saw an increase in the number of event entries and Mr Lord says it was great to see the change in age groups with good numbers across most divisions creating some tight racing.

"We couldn't have asked for a better day on the beach, with awesome weather, surf, sun and great racing. A massive thanks to the officials, water crews and volunteers who made the day a real success."

The BP South Island IRB Championships followed the BP North Island IRB Championships, held in Taranaki last month, which was won by Port Waikato's Sunset Beach Surf Life Saving Club.

The crews now have just under a month to prepare for the finale of the 2018 BP New Zealand IRB Championships which is set to take place at Waihi Beach from April 7 and 8 as they all battle it out for the honour of top IRB racers in the country.

Club points:
St Kilda, 120
St Clair, 116
Sumner, 95
North Beach, 87
Warrington, 34
Wainui, 31
Taylors Mistake, 18
Sunset Beach, 17
Waimairi, 9
Nelson, 5

Assembly Rescue
Open Mens. St. Clair (Niam Chronican/Scott Fraser/Anaia Wiparata) 1, Sunset Beach (Shane Edwards/Mark Edwards/Siobhian Oliver) 2, Wainui (Yannis Kokkosis/Mitchel Brady/Katie Kirkpatrick) 3.
Open Womens. Sumner (Kate Suter/Melissa Patterson/Tia Rosengrave) 1, Sumner (Jade Jeffery/Katie Plom/Hannah Bayliss) 2, St. Clair (Briar Taylor/Maysha Ahrens/Alesha Ahrens) 3.
U22 Mens. North Beach (Bailey Pouaka/Gianni Ruffino/Olivia Hawtin) 1, North Beach (Sjoerd Nolten/Aidan Duffy/Cheyne Milligan) 2, Waimairi (Jackson Smith/Kelly McClure/Callum Jeffery) 3.
U20 Womens. St. Kilda (Hannah Prout/Hannah Rogers/Shanae Sparrow) 1, Sumner (Maddie Peterson/Harakeke Mote/Charlotte Doogue) 2, North Beach (Mikeely Milligan/Xandea Burns/Cheyne Milligan) 3.
U19 Mens. St. Kilda (Duncan New/Abe MacCormick/Meg Sayers) 1, Warrington (Taryn Doyle/Kayle Harris/Jordyne Harris) 2, St. Kilda (Danyon Noakes/Matt Lloyd/Cameron Jefferies) 3.

Mass Rescue
Open Mens. Wainui (Yannis Kokkosis/Mitchel Brady/Katie Kirkpatrick/Jack Virtue/Joseph Puddick) 1, St. Kilda (Justin Reid/Nicholas Harwood/Natalie Jane Reid/Madi Loudon/Shanae Sparrow) 2, Sunset Beach (Shane Edwards/Mark Edwards/Siobhian Oliver/Oliver Gordon/Taylor Shrimpton) 3.
Open Womens. St. Clair (Steph Laughton/Carla Laughton /Lucy Duncan/Anaia Wiparata/Isaac Davies) 1, St. Clair (Briar Taylor/Maysha Ahrens/Brenna Ahrens/Alesha Ahrens/James Coombes) 2, Sumner (Kate Suter/Melissa Patterson/Tia Rosengrave/Tom Denman/Phoebe Sugrue) 3.
U22 Mens. North Beach (Sjoerd Nolten/Aidan Duffy/Cheyne Milligan/Xyron Burns/Olivia Hawtin) 1, North Beach (Bailey Pouaka/Gianni Ruffino/Olivia Hawtin/Cheyne Milligan/Xyron Burns) 2, Sumner (Jake Simpson/Gareth Evans/Sophie Berrill/Charlotte Doogue/Hannah Bayliss) 3.
U20 Womens. St. Clair (Mikayla Garforth/Maddison Crawford/Anaia Wiparata/James Coombes/Alesha Ahrens) 1, St. Kilda (Hannah Prout/Hannah Rogers/Shanae Sparrow/Molly McDowall/Meg Sayers) 2, Sumner (Maddie Peterson/Harakeke Mote/Charlotte Doogue/Kristy McDonald/Eden Cotter) 3.
U19 Mens. St. Clair (Jackson Aluesi/Flynn Steel/Anaia Wiparata/Alesha Ahrens/James Coombes) 1, Warrington (Taryn Doyle/Kayle Harris/Jordyne Harris/Eli Familton/Isabella Aldrich) 2, St. Kilda (Duncan New/Abe MacCormick/Riley Allibone/Fiona Schultz/Meg Sayers) 3.

Single Rescue
Open Mens. Wainui (Yannis Kokkosis/Mitchel Brady/Katie Kirkpatrick) 1, North Beach (Hayden Andrews/Matthew Aplin/Olivia Hawtin) 2, St. Kilda (Justin Reid/Nicholas Harwood/Shanae Sparrow) 3.
Open Womens. St. Clair (Steph Laughton/Carla Laughton /Anaia Wiparata) 1, Sumner (Kate Suter/Melissa Patterson/Tia Rosengrave) 2, St. Clair (Briar Taylor/Maysha Ahrens/Alesha Ahrens) 3.
U22 Mens. North Beach (Bailey Pouaka/Gianni Ruffino/Olivia Hawtin) 1, North Beach (Sjoerd Nolten/Aidan Duffy/Cheyne Milligan) 2, Sumner (Jake Simpson/Gareth Evans/Sophie Berrill) 3.
U20 Womens. St. Clair (Mikayla Garforth/Maddison Crawford/Anaia Wiparata) 1, St. Kilda (Hannah Prout/Hannah Rogers/Shanae Sparrow) 2, North Beach (Mikeely Milligan/Xandea Burns/Cheyne Milligan) 3.
U19 Mens. St. Kilda (Duncan New/Abe MacCormick/Meg Sayers) 1, St. Kilda (Danyon Noakes/Matt Lloyd/Cameron Jefferies) 2, Taylors Mistake (Ben Graham/Taylor-Paiariki Cook/Georgia Scott) 3.

Teams Race
Open Mens. North Beach (Bailey Pouaka/Gianni Ruffino/Hayden Andrews/Matthew Aplin/Olivia Hawtin) 1, Sumner (Tom Denman/Scott Burrows/Steven Parratt/Eden Cotter/Phoebe Sugrue) 2, Wainui (Yannis Kokkisis/Michell Brady/Jacques Clevs/Warren Muir/Katie Kirkpatick) 3.
Open Womens. St. Clair (Steph Laughton/Carla Laughton /Briar Taylor/Maysha Ahrens/Alesha Ahrens) 1, Sumner (Kate Suter/Katie Plom/Jade Jeffery/Melissa Patterson/Tia Rosengrave) 2, St. Kilda (Natalie Ashton/Sarah Thomas/Hannah Prout/Hannah Rogers/Riley Allibone) 3.

Tube Rescue
Open Mens. Wainui (Yannis Kokkosis/Mitchel Brady/Katie Kirkpatrick) 1, Sunset Beach (Shane Edwards/Mark Edwards/Siobhian Oliver) 2, Sumner (Steven Parratt/Scott Burrows/Jade Couch) 3.
Open Womens. St. Clair (Steph Laughton/Carla Laughton /Anaia Wiparata) 1, Sumner (Kate Suter/Melissa Patterson/Tia Rosengrave) 2, Warrington (Charlotte Becconsall-Ryan/Rebecca McNaughton/Sarah McNaughton) 3.
U22 Mens. Sumner (Jake Simpson/Gareth Evans/Sophie Berrill) 1, North Beach (Bailey Pouaka/Gianni Ruffino/Olivia Hawtin) 2, North Beach (Sjoerd Nolten/Aidan Duffy/Cheyne Milligan) 3.
U20 Womens. St. Clair (Mikayla Garforth/Maddison Crawford/James Coombes) 1, St. Kilda (Hannah Prout/Hannah Rogers/Shanae Sparrow) 2, Sumner (Maddie Peterson/Harakeke Mote/Charlotte Doogue) 3.
U19 Mens. St. Clair (Jackson Aluesi/Flynn Steel/Anaia Wiparata) 1, Taylors Mistake (Ben Graham/Taylor-Paiariki Cook/Lochlan Murray) 2, Warrington (Taryn Doyle/Kayle Harris/Eli Familton) 3.

Ends

* Editor's note: A former media release stated St Clair was the 2017 title holder but it was in fact St Kilda- we apologise for the error.

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Smith, Media & Communications Manager
Phone: 0276 488 823
Email: media@surflifesaving.org.nz