A shivering but elated Tim Taylor stood on the pontoon at Tauranga's Salisbury Wharf this morning, safe in the knowledge that a new kayaking world record was his.

After paddling an estimated 214km in 24 hours, Tim beat the previous record of 194.1km, set 29 years ago.

Tim Taylor successfully completed his world record attempt after paddling an estimated 214km in 24 hours. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

The original plan was to kayak to Opito Bay and back, setting a 220km record, but the conditions forced a change of plans.

Tim actually stopped paddling shortly after 7am because of the cold.

'I stopped at 23-hours, frozen solid,” explains the 28-year-old. 'And I just couldn't even move.

'We were just down by Leisure Island and I thought ‘why bother?' - I was just dying and it was getting pretty dangerous with how cold I was.”

The chill factor from the wind on his wet gear forced the paddler into a quick change at 3am, 'but after that, we were sweet,” admits Tim.

'About sunrise, at 5-6ish, it got real cold. A combination of that and my body seizing up from five o'clock onwards meant it was a battle even just to move.”

The conditions were behind the decision to shorten the journey, with the revised turning point at Cathedral Cove instead of Opito Bay.

'It was real windy up the coast,” he adds. 'Once we got past Waihi it was gusting 15knots.

Tim was all smiles on Salisbury Wharf this morning. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

'It was good because it was pushing me, but we knew that once we got across Mercury Bay it would be firing straight out there.”

The Cathedral Cove turn-round was at 100k from Salisbury Wharf. It meant the record was secure if Tim made the return journey, and anything extra was a bonus.

'And I knew that I could hide under the cliffs the whole way,” he says.

'It was really rough during different parts of the night. It was just all wind. It was coming over the tops of the hills.

'I didn't want to get too close to the rocks because I couldn't see them, and I also had the boat which couldn't get in, so there was a trade-off.

'The worst one was from the tip of Waihi Beach. I had to take quite a big detour around the Bowentown Bar, and once I got out there the wind was insane.

'There was a period of an hour and a bit when it was just the scariest paddling I have ever done.”

His plans today are to look after his ‘brilliant' crew on board the support boat Klingon before a shower, a feed and sleep.

Blisters were just one of the challenges that faced Tim during his record attempt.

The exact moment Tim paddled his way into the record books. Photo: Facebook.

Tim stops for a refuel on the last leg of his historic journey. Photo: Facebook.