‘The Ultimate Waterman’ – The battle is about to begin

The Ultimate Waterman disciplines

Shortboard surfing 
Shortboard surfing is the most common of surfing disciplines with surfers riding a short board generally ranging from under 6ft through to over 7ft depending on a surfer’s ability and weight/height.

Longboard surfing 
Longboard surfing is carried out on surfboards over 9ft in length. The longer boards require a more traditional approach to riding waves and the discipline can be related back to the origins of surfing in Hawaii. Surfing on a longboard requires surfers to walk the board and complete manoeuvres that would otherwise not be completed on a shortboard.

Big Wave paddle in surfing 
The ultimate test for all surfers challenging themselves against the might of the ocean with only the power of their arms.

Waka ama (Outrigger Canoeing)
Waka ama is the New Zealand term for the sport of outrigger canoeing. Waka Ama is one of the fastest growing sports in New Zealand and has several disciplines in regards to boat size and number of paddlers. The Ultimate Waterman event will have an endurance race for single man waka within the Hauraki Gulf.

Stand Up Paddle (Surf) 
SUP boards enable surfers to paddle farther into the ocean than is typical or to paddle standing up as a sport unto itself.

Stand Up Paddle Endurance 
In endurance racing, SUP boards are used to race long distances, generally downwind where they have the ability to catch and ride unbroken ocean waves to help them get from A to B. The Ultimate Waterman event will have a 17km endurance race within Hauraki Gulf with several course options depending on wind direction.

Cyclone Pam Aligns with ‘The Ultimate Waterman’

Press release : The Ultimate Waterman

Organisers of The Ultimate Waterman surf competition are rubbing their hands together at the prospect of unprecedented conditions thanks to Cyclone Pam due to hit New Zealand early next week.

The category four cyclone is expected to deliver huge swell the length of the East Coast starting on Sunday in the north and into the middle of the week in the south. The Ultimate Waterman Contest Director, Ben Kennings, says the timing is uncanny and is set to deliver the best possible conditions for the big wave paddle in component which could take place as early as Monday.

“It’s looking like we’ll head to the east coast of the North Island to capitalise on the conditions there. We have always planned to go where the surf conditions are best, but never expected a cyclone of this magnitude to dictate where we would be surfing!” says Kennings.

The Ultimate Waterman official forecaster, Swellmap.com is expecting some unprecedented swell sizes from the cyclone says swellmap.com Director Brett Beamsley.

“We are looking at Cyclone Pam delivering the peak of the swell to the North East Coast during Monday with the swell falling away rapidly as the system tracks below the East Cape. From that point the system will deliver swell down the entire coastline all the way to the Otago Region where we predict it will peak on Wednesday,” says Beamsley.

The watermen arrive in New Zealand today and are set to face some of the toughest conditions on the planet. The first competition takes place on Saturday with the Waka-ama endurance race at Takapuna Beach and continues over eight days until 21 March.

SUPboarder will keep you up to date on all the event action as it unfolds over the next week. New Zealand is the perfect location for an event like this and it looks like they may be luckily enough to have perfect conditions too, thanks to Cyclone Pam! Let the battle begin.

Who do you think will be the ‘Ultimate Waterman?’ 

For more information about the event visit the event website here.