One of the primary duties of NZSUP is running the national stand up paddleboard racing championships, which it has done since 2013. Here, in reverse order, is the history of the NZ SUP National Championships:
2022 Eves NZ SUP Race championships
A fantastic 3 days of competition! Sprints on the Wairoa River, 4k and 8km distance races in Pilot Bay and a 15km marathon for the elite paddlers, starting in Pilot Bay and going round the Mount and along the ocean front, then a final day of technical racing, both inshore (Pilot Bay) and oceanside. The event was run as part of the Waterborne festival, which also included SUP Ninja racing, wingfoil racing and the NZ national beach volleyball championships. 
2021 NZ SUP National Championships, 12-14 March, Takapuna.
Another event severely curtailed by Covid, but nonetheless a great competition. Sprints on the Friday on Lake Pupuke, distance racing (2km, 4km, 8km, 16km) on the Saturday at Takapuna beach and technical racing on the Sunday, again on the beach. The event was part of the Waterbourne festival, with lots of other stuff going on too – windsurf racing, foil racing, SUP ninja and much more.
Youtube vid of the sprints here
NZ SUP National Distance Championship Races 31 October 2020
A truncated event due to Covid, but it happened. 8km and 16km distance races were run from Takapuna Beach, in some extremely testing conditions!
Youtube vid of the start and finish
The 2020 Technical and Sprint Championships were run as part of the City Surf Series, and saw 72 competitors battling it out in the Coromandel surf.
More to follow when we’ve tracked them down!
Barfoot and Thompson 2019 NZ SUP Sprint and Distance Championships, Waitangi, 13-14 April 2019
The Nationals go north! A fabulous event right beside Waitangi bridge, seeing 4km, 8km and 16km distance racing on the Saturday, and sprints on the Sunday.
A fantastic open-ocean surf race. Results to follow shortly.
The Hoe Toa event. Distance racing and technical racing at Orewa.
The biggest ever NZ SUP Championships, with nearly 300 competitors!
Saturday saw the Red Paddle Co sponsored 4km and 8km races in Omaha Harbour, and then in the afternoon a Magrette sponsored 10km downwinder from Leigh in some good breezy conditions.
Sunday was a fantastic day of technical racing on the surf beach.
Technical Race Results
12’6 Men
1. Ollie Houghton
2. Marcus Hansen
3. Cormac McCullough
12’6 Women
1. Annabel Anderson
2. Penelope Strickland Armstrong
3. Victoria Stuart
14 Foot Open
1. Felipe dos Santos
2. Sam Thom
3. Marius Lina
Junior Male
1. Jack Evans
2. Oscar Murrell
3. Luca Menzi-Smith
Junior Female
1. Brianna Orams
2. Nadia Murrell
3. –
Masters Men
1. Gavin Houghton
2. Mike Tohill
3. Shane Murrell
Masters Women
1. Nicola Hocking
2. Kristin Percy
3. Rosie Houghton
Surfboard Men
1. Mike Ward
2. Mike Gundry
3. Phil Ash
Surfboard Women
1. Angela McKee
2. Dana Harvey
3. –
International Men
1. Titouan Puyo
2. Peter Kosinski
3. Paulo Junior
Saturday Magritte Offshore race Leigh to Tawharanui
14′ Open
1. Jeremy Stephenson
2. Trent Jones
3. Graeme Sutherland
Unlimited – sponsored by SIC
1. Oscar Murrell
2. Karl Wannemacher
3. Nic Sams
16km race results
Rayglass National SUP Festival
Distance racing and some fantastic technical racing in perfect surf conditions. Results to follow shortly.
Check out the fabulous Sky TV show about the event here, showing loads of the action
Another great event at Orewa, with some fantastic distance and technical racing. Results to follow.
The first ever NZ SUP championships was an incredible event! For the distance race, all the competitors boarded a boat and were taken out 15km offshore and upwind, to paddle home. Unfortunately the wind didn’t blow so it was a long hard slog, but still a very memorable day. The technical racing was in overhead and extremely powerful surf, which nobody who took part in will forget. A great event, and fabulous to take the Championships to a completely new part of the world.
