Bay of Plenty's best canoe slalom paddlers will pit their skill and stamina against the powerful waters of the Tarawera River in the Canoe Slalom North Island Championships this Saturday.

The championships, a fine warm up race prior to the Nationals held in a few weeks, will see some of the Bay's best canoe slalom paddlers including Olympian Luuka Jones and senior team members Ben Gibb and Malcolm Gibson compete on the turbulent white water of the Tarawera River in Kawerau.

Under-14 girls' competitor Claudia Paterson will be in action on the Tarawera River this Saturday.

In an exciting adrenaline filled race against the clock, paddlers navigate gates similar to slalom skiing on rapids, in one of two canoeing disciplines in the summer Olympics.

Also entered are recently announced New Zealand junior team members Luke Robinson and Dan Munro in the C2 , Matthew Arnott (Waikato University), and local stars Haylee Dangen, Callum Gilbert and Patrick Washer who are also New Zealand junior and Under 23 representatives.

Canoe Slalom NZ chairperson Sue Clarke says a large number of up and coming paddlers are using this opportunity to hone their skills ahead of the NZCT New Zealand Secondary School White Water Championships and NZ Open Nationals later this month.

She says more than 50 competitors, aged between 10 and 50-years-old, are arriving from Hawkes Bay, Wellington, Hamilton and Palmerston North to battle it out for slalom supremacy with the strong Bay of Plenty contingent.

The Kawerau course provides several options for competitors with the more demanding grade 2-3 main course used for this weekend and the national championships while the lower course is used for novice races and the secondary school grade.