With the remnants of Cyclone Pam spinning on down past the Chatham’s, we  have a good setup for swell this Saturday to mark one hundred years of Duke Kahanamoku demonstrating his surfing skills to a crowd of thousands at Lyall Bay as a guest of Lyall Bay SLSC in 1915.

Details from the  Wellington Boardriders Club:

Aloha nui

Help us celebrate the important role Lyall Bay plays in NZ’s surf history by joining us at The Duke Kahanamoku Centenary Surf Exhibition this Saturday (21st). We’re kicking off with an opening ceremony @ 9:30am led by local kaumatua Ray Mercer with representation from the Duke’s whanau.

We’ll then kick into a range of activities and wrap it up with an after party featuring live music from Renee Coffee and Aloha or Die.

Unlike serious surf comps, the day is going to be centered around having fun, exhibitionism and just taking part. There will be prizes for best costume, craziest board, most entertaining rides, youngest and oldest surfers and biggest crowd pleaser (whatever cranks the crowd’s hootometer the most).

 
The community has seriously jumped on board, providing some generous support. For example, the Lyall Bay Surf Lifesaving Club are helping out big time on the day and thanks to RealSurf there will be free surfing lessons (valued at $75 each) for 16 groms who want to give it a go.

Spruce Goose will be dishing out vouchers for some delish treats, our mates at Empire Skate and Manky Chops have hooked us up with some mean gear to give away and the Home Loan Shop have some cash on offer for some lucky winners. We’ll be dishing out lots of other goods donated by more generous folk throughout the day.

Runsheet:

• 9:30am = Opening ceremony at the Corner – Eastern end of the beach
• 10:00am = Comp starts with heats throughout the day. Prizes awarded for craziest board, coolest costume, most entertaining ride, biggest crowd pleaser
• 10:45-12:15pm = Grommets/learn to surf
• 12:30pm = Group photo (all surfers lined up with boards behind like back in the day)
• 1:30pm = Paddle race (any board but no paddles)
• 6pm = Prizegiving
• 7pm = Party (featuring live music)

The sun will be out and the waves will be perfect for the occasion. Dust off your single fin, get into some vintage gear and we’ll see you there!

James Whitaker
Wellington Boardriders Club Inc
021580155