Latest news with #ChristchurchStar
Otago Daily Times
12-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Christchurch surf club searching for its old canoe
Waimairi Surf Life Saving Club's original Christchurch Star canoe from the mid-1960s with Phil Davies and Mike Sheppard in the back and Bob Mouat and Terry Jay up front. The club is seeking help finding the canoe. Photo: File image Where is the Waimairi Surf Life Saving Club's radical surf canoe from the 1960s? The club is appealing for help finding an important part of its heritage. Waimairi has a strong tradition in surf canoe racing, with numerous national championship titles over the years. And it was all kicked off by the invention of a new, cutting edge surf canoe in the mid-1960s. Former club member and historian John Brock said the canoe crew at the time wanted to leap ahead of their competition who were using rigid fibreglass vessels. The Waimairi Surf Life Saving Club wants to be reunited with its 1960s Christchurch Star surf canoe. Photo: File image A new racing canoe was designed and built following sponsorship from the Christchurch Star in 1965. John Brock. It featured a canvas-covered, single-hull wooden frame with a turned-up bow, designed to bend as it cut through the waves. The canoe's five-year domination at the national championships in the 1960s and 70s established Waimairi as the club to beat. However, by the mid 1970s, the canoe was superseded by newer, faster craft equipped with rudders to assist steering. It then disappeared into obscurity. Brock said the Christchurch Star canoe was the most radically designed surf canoe of its time. However, no one at the club can recall what happened to it. He said the club is keen to solve the mystery of the canoe's disappearance and recover an important piece of its history. 'It's probably a long shot after all these years, but worth a try. 'We would really welcome knowing the answer to the canoe's vanishing mystery, if it still exists and if so, in what capacity.'
NZ Herald
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Christchurch music festival Electric Avenue breaks visitor spend record held since 1974 Commonwealth Games
The city was at 98% occupancy from Thursday through to Saturday. Festival Director Callam Mitchell said it was phenomenal to be compared to an international event such as the Commonwealth Games. 'Inflation may have contributed to that comparison, but, you know, we'll take it nonetheless.' He said they wanted the festival to move to a two-day event for a few years. 'So to pull it off and have 40,000 people through the gates each of the two days is incredible. 'And just to see the way the city embraced it, the whole city came alive.' Mitchell said, essentially, 60% of their audience came from outside the city. 'We've got a big role to play now and just keep building on the success that we've carved out over the last 10 years. 'It's a lot of pressure, but pressure that we welcome nonetheless, and it's a big responsibility to deliver an event on the scale of knowing what it means for the city.' ChristchurchNZ head of major events Karena Finnie said this year's festival certainly resulted in the biggest visitor spend this decade. 'We could potentially go as far [as] to say that it was the biggest since the 1974 Commonwealth Games, but willing to be corrected on that; we'll wait and see.' She said it eclipsed other recent events, such as the 2019 Phil Collins concert ($5.8m), 2023 Sail GP ($4m) and Riccarton race week ($3m). Electric Avenue's 2025 event drew 22,848 visitors to Christchurch, with people staying an average of 2.75 nights. 'We can confidently say that the majority of these visitors stayed in paid accommodation, and we believe that hotel occupancy was close to 100% that weekend,' Finnie said. 'So, on average, each visitor spent close to $459 during their weekend stay here in the city. That's excluding ticketing costs and everything like that.' Mitchell said there were always little improvements to make for next year, to ensure the event becomes bigger and better. 'We're working pretty hard to have a line-up together for September, and all going well, we'll be able to announce some dates in a couple of weeks.' Christchurch Star.
