IRB Champs signals end to season

Waipu Cove hosted some of the best Inflatable Rescue Boat (IRB) racers in the country early this month for Surf Life Saving's last major event of the sport season, the 2017 BP New Zealand IRB Championships.

Eighty-three crews from across the country gave each other hot competition in the lumpy seas that followed some unseasonal weather.

"Overall, it was another fantastic weekend of BP New Zealand IRB Champs,” said event manager, Todd Cations-Velvin. “The crews all raced to the highest standard.”

Mr Cations-Velvin praised the Waipu Cove Surf Life Saving Club for being wonderful hosts, as well as the local Waipu community, who both contributed to the overall smooth running of the event.

Owning the title of top IRB racers in the country is a big honour as crews strove to finish off the season on a high note.

For the second year in a row the overall points prize was narrowly won by Sunset Beach Lifesavers from Port Waikato.