Tauranga kayaker aims for world record

Tauranga kayaker Tim Taylor has one eye on the 10-day weather forecast ahead of an ocean kayak attempt that he hopes will land him in the record books.

His goal after Easter is to kayak 220km from Omaha Beach on Auckland's North Shore to Tauranga in just 24 hours – and beat the current record of 194.1km in the process.


Tim Taylor is paddling for another record, and hopes to get underway over the coming days. Photo: Supplied.

Tim, whose day job is a kayak fishing guide, has been paddling an additional 30-50km each day over the summer to build up for the endurance event as he aims to beat the 1986 record.

Now, he's waiting on the weather.

For his surf ski to perform at its optimum, Tim needs light north-north east winds and a swell of up to one metre. There are no rules on what conditions he's allowed to set the record in, so he is just planning to watch the forecasts and go when the combination is right.

And though the trip is weather dependent, he's hoping his Omaha departure will give him a straight run across the Hauraki Gulf.

'I want a bit of a northerly swell to be following me the whole way,” says Tim.

In an ideal world, he'll have the same sea state right through instead of having to punch into a northerly while paddling out of Auckland and face potential cross winds across the Firth of Thames.

'It's more of a straight run if you go across the Gulf and down the Bay of Plenty,” explains Tim. 'It's a bit easier with the forecasts. Then you have also got tides, which affect you if you are inside of the harbour.

'It's a nice stretch, and Auckland to Tauranga happened to be about the right length. It's also quite cool to be able to paddle to Tauranga as well.”

Tim's no stranger to kayak records. He's the first person to attempt to paddle around New Zealand as a solo voyage and only the second person to have kayaked around the country and Stewart Island.

He's also the youngest and the quickest, setting out from the Wairoa River for East Cape on November 27, 2010, and returning from Tairua on February 28, 2012.

'When I did some research I learnt that there are many types of kayaking records,” he adds, 'but the one I was drawn to was the ‘Greatest Distance in 24 hours in a kayak - male – ocean.'

'It turns out this is 194.1km, but I was shocked to find this was set in 1986 - the year I was born.

'Kayaking for 10-12 hours was the norm while on my NZ circumnavigation, so I already know that my body can handle the big days.

'I reasoned that if I was in a kayak that weighs a quarter of my old sea kayak, I should easily be able to paddle for 24 hours”

Tim will be paddling a Think EVO 11 surf ski, supplied by Ferg's Kayaks, and using a Millennium Pleiades wing paddle. He's got a chart plotter for navigation and will be showing navigation lights.

Food will be simple and safe; muesli bars, nuts and raisins, sausage rolls and mini pies, and he'll be accompanied by a support boat that will ensure his safety and record the journey for Guinness.

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