In Huahine, excitement fills the offices of the organizing committee of the Hawaiki Nui Va’a. With only a few hours to go before the competition kicks off, teams are busily wrapping up the final preparations. Among the priorities: handing out the official outfits to the crews, delayed by strike movements.
In the committee’s premises, crates are piling up. Each batch must be carefully prepared, the outfits sorted, checked, and allocated before being handed to the rowers. It’s a meticulous job that takes time as the deadline closes in rapidly.
“We had to ensure distribution to the rowers today and tomorrow, before departure. We’ve already brought back all those from Raiatea for the Vahine Taurea, it’s set to go on the Apatehi. A supervisor will receive them and distribution will take place on Tuesday,” says Élise Maamaatuaiahutapu, president of the organizing committee of the Hawaiki Nui Va’a.
To meet the deadlines, volunteers and committee members are not counting their hours. Some continued the preparations late into the night to assemble as many lots as possible.
“There are quite a few packages because we have to do one for each stage. We finished at midnight yesterday,” testifies Manina Teihoarii, a member of the organizing committee.
Despite these setbacks, the first distributions could begin. The Mato Ura crew, coming from Arue, is among the first to have collected their official outfits. One more formality completed before turning focus to the competition.
The countdown is now underway. The organizing committee continues its preparations so that everything is ready on Wednesday, at the start of the first leg of the Hawaiki Nui Va’a, in Huahine.
