After clinching the sprint between Raiatea and Taha’a on Thursday, the Postal Services’ V6 crew crossed the Bora Bora finish line first in the third stage of the Hawaiki Nui Va’a on Friday. But Shell, which had held more than two minutes of lead in the general classification after its emphatic Huahine-Raiatea showing, never truly allowed its rival to break away. The Yellow team, who had already claimed the OPT trophy in 2025, preserves the title with roughly a one-minute advantage in the overall standings. It marks Shell’s 11th victory at the Hawaiki Nui Va’a.
Carrying swell, rough seas, and a determined challenger for this third and final stage of the 2026 Hawaiki Nui Va’a. After Shell’s standout performance in the opening leg between Huahine and Raiatea, the OPT team—champions in 2024 but whose trophy had been wrested away the previous year on the last stage—sought to “set the record straight.” The postal workers had led the Raiatea-to-Taha’a sprint from start to finish, but could not fully erase the deficit: Shell started Friday morning with a 2 minutes 8 seconds lead. Not insurmountable for a 58-kilometer race, the OPT crew figured, and therefore aimed to break away before even leaving the lagoon to avoid being tagged as the underdogs like the day before. The black-and-yellow crew’s determination, which at several moments seemed to have carved out enough distance to seize the overall lead, kept the suspense alive until the final seconds.
But once entering Bora Bora’s lagoon, Shell was down to roughly a hundred meters. And as the postal workers, victors of the second consecutive stage, passed through the supporters’ victory arch near Matira Beach, everyone knew the shell-bearing crew would keep their trophy. The 11th title for Shell, and the second consecutive overall victory, having claimed only one of the three stages of the Hawaiki Nui Va’a. That had been the scenario last year, in a breathtaking finale. For this 2026 edition, the first stage had already been enough for them. In a conversation with our partner Va’a News, the OPT team had little to regret: “We knew it would be the paddlers who would deliver the Showtime,” said Temoana Taputu, the captain of the OPT team. “In this game, Shell, which has just recruited Hotuiterai Poroi, was better and that’s that.” “We gave everything, but there is always a winner and a loser; you have to accept it. Our objective was to pursue the overall victory, that didn’t happen for us, but we stay close,” added the rower.
