Canoe slalom is back in Tauranga after a number of years of absence.

Racing returned to the Wairoa River near Tauranga over the weekend, with a number of local paddlers relishing the chance to compete on their home river.

The Kaimai Canoe Club has a long history of running white water races on the river near the Ruahihi power station but the development of a new slalom course in Kawerau in the early 2000s gave better access for both officials and spectators.

Organiser Joe Anderson says it was fantastic to be able to return to the Kaimai venue for a number of different events over the weekend.

"Kawerau is a great spot and really accessible, especially for those spectators who can't do without their takeaway latte, and the Wairoa is a bit more of an adventure with bush track access and a bit more of a hike.

"You can't deny the quality of the river and the beauty of the environment, however, and there's an increasing push by the International Canoe Federation around reducing the carbon footprint of the sport, so we relished the chance to host something local, with a lot of top paddlers hailing from either Tauranga or Matamata."

Kate Hawthorne lines up a move through gate 8 on her way to victory at the Kaimai Canoe Club event on the Wairoa River at the weekend.

With the help of former NZ national slalom representative and now Ruahihi resident Jason Marra, and Canoe Slalom BOP, the club set up a new course and held training on Saturday morning, followed by a creek boat slalom race in the afternoon, won by Isaac Sandman (Mourea) and Tauranga's Tess Pateman.

Sunday's action saw proper canoe slalom racing, featuring international paddlers Marisa Kaup (Germany) who won the women's C1 and Hungarian sprint kayaker Zita Lakner, who has recently moved to slalom paddling. Both are in New Zealand to train in their off-season.

CSBOP coaches Nico Boudain (France) and Adria Martin (Spain) posted the best times in men's K1 and C1 respectively, in their demonstration runs, while Tauranga's Ben Pilbrow won the men's K1 and C1, and Kate Hawthorne took out the women's K1.

The day finished with a kayak-cross event - featuring four boaters at a time, duking it out in a knock-out competition.

This is a new sport, which will debut at the Paris Olympics next year, and Joseph Sampson was the men's winner and Lakner showed her sprint prowess by winning the women's title.

Zita Lakner leads the field in the womens kayak cross at the Kaimai Canoe Club event on the Waoroa River at the weekend.