Named after one of New Zealand's most beloved figures in paddle sport, the Darcy Price Ocean Ski Series returns this weekend with the Windy City Downwind in Wellington, marking the start of the 2025/26 season. The opening leg carries extra significance, doubling as the 2025 NZ Ocean Ski National Championships and drawing a strong field of competitors ready to tackle the notorious winds and swell of Cook Strait.
Wellington rarely disappoints when it comes to raw, testing conditions, making it a wholly appropriate place to kick off the country's premier surfski competition.
Across the full season, eight major races are spread throughout Aotearoa, each chosen for the quality of ocean racing conditions on offer. October alone delivers two standout events: the Tawhiti Rahi Coastal Challenge at Tutukaka on 11 October, and the Deep South Downwind in Queenstown on 6 December. From there, the circuit carries competitors through some of New Zealand's most celebrated coastal and harbour venues between January and May, including Mt Maunganui's Bhutty Moore Memorial, the Tasman Bay Queen and King of the Bay showdown, Whakatane's Heads to Harbour race, and the iconic Auckland King & Queen of the Harbour. That Auckland event holds a special place in the series, having been founded by Darcy Price himself.
A virtual racing option in January broadens participation further, giving paddlers around the country the chance to compete regardless of their location.
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Series points are accumulated across the season, with each competitor's three best finishes counting toward their final tally. Weighting reflects the relative difficulty of each race. Titles are contested across male, female, and mixed doubles categories, and age divisions run from juniors through to the over-70s. International paddlers are also welcome to enter, adding further depth to the competition.
The Auckland King & Queen of the Harbour serves a dual function within the series. Alongside hosting the NZ Ocean Ski National Championships to crown the country's top paddlers, it acts as the tiebreaker wherever competitors finish the season level on points.
Several events on the calendar also include waka ama divisions, broadening the series' reach and celebrating New Zealand's unique paddling culture.
The series takes its name from Darcy Price, who passed away in 2018 and left a lasting mark on New Zealand paddle sport. A skilled anaesthetist and researcher as well as an enthusiastic paddler, Price was instrumental in founding the Auckland King & Queen of the Harbour and the Takapuna Beach Series.
With Wellington set to send the first competitors out into Cook Strait's challenging waters this weekend, the Darcy Price Ocean Ski Series brings together paddlers from across the country to pit themselves against wind, waves, and one another. At its heart, the series is a celebration of New Zealand's coastline, its waterways, and the paddling community that thrives on them.
