Winter paddlers have nine chances to stay race-sharp across New Zealand this season, with clubs from Taranaki to Gisborne hosting events from August through to September’s national 10km championship at Lake Karapiro.
The 2026 Paddler Winter Series kicks off in Waitara on 1 August and runs through to the series finale on 27 September, giving kayakers, skiers, waka ama paddlers, and SUP athletes a structured pathway to compete without the commitment of summer’s longer racing calendar. Each paddler’s best three races count toward overall points, with a bonus multiplier applied to the Lake Karapiro 10km Champs finale—giving competitors a strategic incentive to front up for that final showdown.
The series spans K1s, oceanski and surfski boats, multisport craft, canoes, waka ama, and stand-up paddleboards, making it genuinely inclusive across disciplines and age groups. That breadth is deliberate. Winter racing in New Zealand has historically been fragmented, with club-level events struggling to draw paddlers from neighbouring regions. By coordinating dates and promoting the series as a connected tour rather than standalone races, Canoe Racing NZ and the Paddler platform are trying to knit the community together during months when training motivation often dips.
Auckland hosts two events: North Shore Canoe Club on 8 August and Waitemata Canoe Club on 16 August. The same weekend sees Nelson Surfski Club’s Motueka race. Christchurch, Gisborne, and Cambridge round out the provincial spread, with Cambridge hosting both a standalone event on 23 August and the Cambridge to Hamilton River Race on 13 September before the nationals.
Zhik is backing the series as title sponsor, supplying branded gear as giveaways across all nine events. That kind of commercial support signals confidence that winter paddling deserves a higher profile than it’s traditionally enjoyed in New Zealand.
Full details, including race divisions, start times, and course specifics, are available through the Paddler website and the Canoe Racing NZ event calendar. Club organisers are the backbone here: without their willingness to commit resources and volunteers, this distributed series wouldn’t exist.
