KING OF THE HARBOUR OCEAN RACE, AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

The King of the Harbour (KOH) is NZ’s premiere surf ski race. Held in Auckland it doubles as the National long distance ski championships.  The race is unique as a Ferry either takes competitors to a start line, or picks them up at the finish, ensuring a pure downwind,  assuming the wind comes to the party. The Ferry  also gives family and friends a birds eye view of the race unfolding, shadowing the leaders throughout the event. It was enough to attract Jeremy Cotter back to the race along with other international paddlers from Australia and Tahiti. Local boy Roger Gocking, from New York, made the long trip down to compete as the solo American.  
With a 15-20 knot tailwind, the race was from Waiheke Island to Princes Wharf in the Auckland CBD, a distance of 23km. 
 

View

 
 
 
Competitors disembarking from the Ferry at Waiheke Island
 

Diembarking from Ferry, Waiheke Island

 
   
This year’s race also included Stand Up Paddlers (SUP) for the first time. They started around 30 mins ahead of the ski paddlers. The field included NZ professional paddler, Annabel Anderson, currently ranked 2nd in the world and at home for the summer. The start of the ski race was frenetic as usual. Sam Newlands, a K1 paddler in the Stellar SES Elite, lead the charge out of Waiheke into the Motohuie Channel. Hardly surprising as he won the 200m sprint champs the night before. 
 

Start of Race

 
 
 The rest of the Elite pack just behind. 

Elite Pack at Start of Race

 
Roger Gocking (# 62) just after the start in a Think Eze. 
 

USA Roger Gocking, Foreground

 
 
Jeremy Cotter showed his class and started to pull away from the field. 
 

Jeremy Cotter Winner

 
Unlike the flat conditions of last year, it was no easy ride this year. Confused seas and large cross chop from an incoming tide and boat washes made conditions difficult this year. The Australians took command of the race early on and were never headed, filling the top 3 spots. The rest were chasing for the minor money.
 
 

Richard Ussher

 
 
Multiple Coast to Coast winner, Richard Ussher (foreground), dueling with long time NZ paddling champion Simon McLarin as they pass Browns Island.
 
 

Travis Mitchell

 
Surf Lifesaving champion Travis Mitchell, 4th overall, and 1st resident kiwi. Came 5th at Molokai in 2009.
 
 

Tim Maclaren

 
Tim McLaren, 2012 RAYC paddling champion, 5th place  
 

Mike Walker

 
Mike Walker, K2 Beijing Olympian and 2010 KOH winner, 6th overall.  
 

Travis Mitchell Leading Chasing Pack

 
 
Travis Mitchell leading the chasing pack behind the Australians.
 

Field of skis

 
 
The field spreading out heading towards Auckland and Princes Wharf.
 
 

Paul Green/Sup Annabel Anderson

 
Paul Green, 2nd overall, and a Kiwi turned Ozzie, surfing past Annabel Anderson off Kohimaramara Beach. 
 

SUP

 
The leading SUP chase pack trying vainly to catch Annabel. 

Paul Green

 
 
If conditions weren’t testing enough, those following Paul Green had to negotiate their way around a car transporter that arrived ahead of time.
 

Jeremy Cotter at Finish

 
 
Jeremy on his way to a well deserved victory in 1hr25s, just over two minutes clear of Paul Green, who in turn was 2min30s ahead of Mark Anderson.Because of large ship movements, the Harbour Master required competitors to keep well clear by paddling close to the right hand side of the inner harbour. This made for a sharp left hand turn around a buoy just off Stanley Point and a tricky 1,500m paddle across the harbour in a cross swell to the finish line. 

Special thanks to Steve Knowles of Sportzhub for the use of his images.

 

Results 

Name

Time

Category

Place

Category place

Country

Jeremy Cotter

1.25.42

Open men

1

1

Aus

Paul Green

1.28.00

Open men

2

2

Aus

Mark Anderson

1.30.27

Open men

3

3

Aus

Travis Mitchell

1.31.05

Open men

4

4

NZ

Tim Mclaren

1.31.24

Open men

5

5

NZ

Mike Walker

1.32.02

Open men

6

6

NZ

Leopold Tepa

1.32.14

Open men

7

7

Tahiti

Simon Mclaren

1.33.26

Veteran men

8

1

NZ

Sam Newlands

1.33.49

U23 men

9

1

NZ

Garth Spencer

1.34.10

Open men

10

8

NZ

Tim Grammer

1.34.42

Master men

11

1

NZ

Bill Barff

1.34.56

Master men

12

2

Tahiti

Jason Pocock

1.35.48

Open men

13

10

NZ

Richard Ussher

1.35.58

Open men

14

11

NZ

Garren Cooper

1.36.13

Master men

15

3

NZ

James Feathery

1.36.23

Open men

16

12

NZ

Daniel Busch

1.36.24

Open men

17

13

NZ

Nathan Faavae

1.36.37

Master men

18

4

NZ

Brendon Davey

1.36.47

Open men

19

14

NZ

Jeremy Kuggeleijn

1.36.52

Open men

20

15

NZ

Ryan Mofett

1.37.28

Open men

21

16

Aus

Robbie Ford

1.38.14

Open men

22

17

NZ

Simon Clegg

1.38.25

Master men

23

5

NZ

Sam Dillon

1.39.38

Master

25

6

NZ

Nick Sullivan

1.40.56

U23 men

24

18

NZ

Lance Roozendaal & Tina Leone

1.40.58

Double ski

25

1

NZ

John Sokolich

1.41.49

Veteran men

26

2

NZ

Greg Kendrick

1.42.03

Master men

27

7

Aus

Sven Hansen

1.42.30

Veteran men

28

3

NZ

Viala Temaiana

1.42.42

Open men

29

19

Tahiti

Dene Simpson

1.43.38

Open women

30

1

NZ

Peter Dallimore

1.43.47

Veteran men

31

4

NZ

Reid Forrest

1.43.59

Open men

32

20

NZ

Sean Murphy

1.44.08

Master men

33

8

NZ

Robert Askew

1.44.10

Master men

34

9

NZ

Glenn Gray

1.44.31

Master men

35

10

NZ

Rebecca Cole

1.46.05

U23 women

36

1

NZ

Warren Trethewey & Rohan Lord

1.46.08

Double

37

2

NZ

Bruce Murphy

1.46.12

Veteran men

38

5

NZ

VaughanReed

1.46.15

Open men

39

21

NZ

Sophie Hart

1.46.25

Open men

40

2

NZ

DocGodfrey & Becky Mehew

1.47.22

Double ski

41

3

NZ

Tim Eves

1.47.25

Master men

42

11

NZ

Peter Grantham

1.48.18

Master men

43

12

Aus

Andrew Czar

1.48.21

Master men

44

13

NZ

Simon Koller

1.50.35

Master men

45

14

NZ

Tracy Wilson

1.50.38

Open women

46

3

NZ

John Barker

1.50.59

Open men

47

22

NZ

Neil Taylor

1.51.32

Veteran men

48

6

NZ

Cameron Scott

1.51.33

Master men

49

15

NZ

Mark Van Den Anker

1.53.16

Veteran men

50

7

NZ

Allan Williscroft

1.53.36

Veteran men

51

8

NZ

Bianca Teague

1.55.32

Open men

52

4

NZ

Louise Mark

1.55.42

Open men

53

5

NZ

Mark Roozendaal

1.55.59

OC1

54

1

NZ

Dave Chambers

1.57.18

Veteran men

55

9

NZ

WarwickSmith

1.57.20

Veteran men

56

10

NZ

Andy Logue

1.57.28

Open men

57

23

NZ

John Land

2.00.56

Veteran men

58

11

NZ

Suzie Lecren

2.01.26

Open women

59

6

NZ

Pierre Chemaly

2.01.35

Veteran men

60

12

NZ