Challenging conditions for the start

While it’s still too early to accurately predict next week’s weather, our local champion Reuben Dearlove has been studying tried-and-true weather websites to get a feel for what this year’s Vaka Eiva conditions will be like.

Saturday is forecast to be 29 degrees and ‘breezy’ with 25 km/hr easterly winds and a 1.5-2 metre east-southeast swell – “not really crazy but good, challenging, fun stuff”.

Weather experts are also predicting a bit of rain but nothing much – perhaps a couple of millimetres.

Monday looks like the wind will be about the same, but it’s too far away to accurately predict the conditions.

From Avarua to about Kiikii, the wind will be on the ama side, which might prove tricky for some steerers, Dearlove said.

He said that in the next few days, it might be a bit windy but that wind will ease up a bit as Vaka Eiva gets underway.