Weeds under control for Maadi regatta
Managing the weed problem at Lake Karapiro is a big operation. Although the situation has vastly improved, floating weed caused minor delays on day one of Maadi.
Maadi officials have been clearing weeds between races at Lake Karapiro, to keep the competition running smoothly.
A boat patrolling the racing area was seen pulling clumps of floating weed from the water.
Regatta controller Tony Nelson said racing had continued without issues after two races were delayed on Monday.
“There’s not really a weed problem here. Little bits floats down the lake from other places,” he said.
“[Weed] gets caught on an outside wire, but doesn’t get into the rest of the lanes though.”
He said the issue begins further up the lake, where ski boats are cutting the weeds with their propellers. The weeds float down with the current and into the rowing area.
On Monday, two races were delayed due to weeds caught in the lane wires.
“We put some races off the other day just to sort out the wire problems.”
No weeds grow in the 34m depths of the racing lanes.
“It only grows around the edge where it is shallow as it needs sunlight,” said Nelson.
Nelson said the weeds problem were much worse in 2008, before the 2010 World Champs held at Lake Karapiro.
A $380,000 weedeater machine was bought for clearing the weeds in the lake. It was built overseas and the same machine as the one they used at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.
Nelson said no complaints have been made about the weeds from schools during the Maadi regatta.
