This August, crews from across the world line up in Singapore for the IVF Va'a World Sprints. We're going with a new updated design on the blade - Kotahitanga 2026.
The design
Our 2024 World Sprints paddle strung each nation along a tī leaf lei - a design we named Hilo. For 2026, with the championships in Singapore, we swapped the lei for a Singapore chain as the base, and hung all 39 national taonga from it, each country's treasured flower, fern or tree.
Every one of the 39 was illustrated for this paddle, carrying the detail of Southeast Asian batik. Flat colour made way for gold edging and texture.
The design carries the taonga of all 39 member nations: American Samoa, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Cook Islands, Fiji, France, French Guiana, Germany, Great Britain, Guam, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Rapa Nui, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sweden, Tahiti, Taiwan, Tonga, USA, Vanuatu, and Wallis & Futuna.
Five of those have joined the International Va'a Federation since 2024, on the blade with us for the first time - mauri ora Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mexico and Vanuatu. This is the whole federation whānau, carried on one paddle.
Carried as one
A World Sprints campaign is never one person. It's a crew, a club, whānau on the bank, and the people who got you on the water in the first place. Kotahitanga is a nod to all of it - the idea that we go further when we go together. Whether you're racing in Singapore this season or training on your home awa, that's the design we wanted in your hands.