There are happy smiles all around following a dramatic battle along the Bay of Plenty coastline this weekend.

The Bay of Plenty IRB Long Haul celebrated its 10th anniversary on Saturday with an 80km race from Ohope Beach to Mount Maunganui.

Normally it takes just over an hour to drive, however the event called upon some of the best inflatable rescue boat teams in the region and beyond to join the ‘stage race' and battle it out along the magnificent Bay of Plenty coastline with challenges along the way.

Oli Hanson, Flynn Weatherall and Ella Weatherall from Omanu Surf Lifesaving Club arrive at Mount Maunganui after completing the 80km BOP IRB Long Haul to Mount Maunganui. Photo: Mark Weatherall.

'It was an amazing day,” says Omanu Beach SLSC sport director Mark Weatherall. 'We had 25 teams, with the furtherest coming from Orewa in the north and Nelson in the south. There was a good spread from Foxton, Gisborne, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel and Raglan.”

Mark was also the ‘pit crew' for his son and daughter Flynn and Ella Weatherall and their club mate Oli Hanson who competed as a team for Omanu.

The 2023 Stage Race set off from Ohope Beach at 9am with location tasks set at Thornton Beach, Matatā, Pukehina, Papamoa, Omanu and finishing around 1.30pm at Mount Maunganui.

The Pukehina IRB team. Photo: Andy McDowell.

All teams began as a mass start, racing to the next destination, where they received instructions to complete each challenge before making their way to the next location and stage challenge.

Each IRB must have a crew of three current and refreshed SLSNZ members. Of the three crew there must be one refreshed IRB Driver, and at minimum two qualified IRB Crewperson.

'The Long Haul is a combination of speed as part of it but at each stage they refuel and completed different challenges. There is long running, a memory challenge, and a three-person challenge where one of the team has to swim out and the others rescue them.

"At Omanu, one had to pretend to be unwell, and the other carry them up the beach. They are judged on all aspects of life saving.”

The Raglan IRB team. Photo: Ella Kennedy.

'We had a great day competing in the 10th annual Long Haul IRB race yesterday [Saturday],” says Pukehina Surf Lifesaving club's Andy McDowell. 'It was a big effort running from Ohope to Mount Maunganui completing challenges along the way.

'It wasn't without drama, one of our boats DNFed, our boat coming in a respectable third in the open; the other Pukehina boat finishing not too far down after taking a wrong turn. Thanks everyone involved it was very cool.”

The five divisions in the race are Open Male. Open Female, Open Mixed, U19 Male, and U19 Female.

The team of Jack, Connor and Dom from Onemana won the Open Men's category. Photo: Supplied.

For the Onemana team of Jack, Connor and Dom it has been a huge success, glowing from their first-time competing gold-winning result.

'Big day on the water today for team Onemana! Our first ever IRB race competition at Eastern Region IRB Long Haul, with Jack, Connor and Dom. Came away with the win, getting gold in the Open Men's category. Charlie Toumadj also joined a composite team with Tairua. A great start to our IRB racing, looks like we might have to do a bit more of this. Awesome work everyone.”

Volunteers helped out at each stop, with the IRB teams also required to have a support crew and support crew vehicles which do not travel along the beach or have access to the beach but drive to each destination. In the event of an IRB suffering mechanical breakdown, access may be approved by the event organisers for the support crew to come down onto the beach.

Crews must carry a VHF radio (capable of VHF Ch16) and a cell phone contained within a waterproof bag.Crews can use two fuel bladders per IRB, however only one bladder is to be carried at any one time.

The team of Jack, Connor and Dom from Onemana won the Open Men's category. Photo: Supplied.

'It was an awesome day with positive attitudes and smiles all round and so cool to see all teams encouraging and supporting each other in the true values of surf lifesaving,” says Poppy Crouch, one of the many supporters posting to Facebook following the event.

Mark says over the winter months lifeguard training and upskilling continues, along with paddling, and pool rescue championships coming up in October.