Tauranga paddler Paul Roozendaal isn't quite on top of the world, but his New Zealand men's white water rafting team have moved another step closer to the summit.

Paul is the only Tauranga representative in the six-man crew, dominated by Rotorua paddlers Sam Sutton, Tim Pickering, Brendan Bayly, Brad Lauber and Joel Flamank.

The New Zealand rafting team in action against the Brazilians in Indonesia. Paul Roozendaal is second from the left. Photo: International Rafting Federation.

The team came second at the World Rafting Championships in Indonesia yesterday – one place better than their third place in 2013. Brazil have retained their title ahead of New Zealand and Argentina.

Paul had to battle through a tummy bug yesterday for the team's final race, the downriver event, which the team won.

'The final day of the world racing champs and I was up spewing all night,” admits Paul.

The downriver was a gruelling 14km of rapids and rocks, with the Kiwis finishing in a time of 49 minutes and 51.72 seconds, with the Brazilians right behind them.

Both teams traded places a few times along the way until New Zealand managed to power through and take the win.

Paul says the side were happy to grab gold in the final event.

'It almost went exactly to plan,” Paul says.

'Three medals in the four events with just missing out on gold overall – we've got to be happy with that. The boys are now off on the scooters while I try to recover.”

In the Open Women's division the overall title was taken out by Czech Republic, with New Zealand second and Japan third.

The Master Men's division saw New Zealand retain their world title with Czech Republic second and Indonesia third. The Master Women's division was also taken out by New Zealand.