{"id":293880,"date":"2026-02-20T18:58:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:58:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/293880\/"},"modified":"2026-02-20T18:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-20T18:58:26","slug":"sunlive-black-falcons-to-soar-over-oceans-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/293880\/","title":{"rendered":"SunLive – Black Falcons to soar over Oceans \u201926"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Zealand\u2019s biggest junior surf lifesaving festival is unfolding on P\u0101p\u0101moa sand this week \u2013 and it will come with a high-flying salute from the Royal NZ Air Force\u2019s Black Falcons aerobatic team.<\/p>\n

More than 750 young athletes aged 10-13 from 52 surf clubs will descend on P\u0101p\u0101moa Surf Life Saving Club from Thursday to Sunday, February 19-22, for Oceans \u201926: Festival of Junior Surf Lifesaving.<\/p>\n

Racing runs 9am-3pm daily, with events including beach sprints and flags, board paddling, surf swims, relays and rescue simulations.<\/p>\n

Four days<\/p>\n

The four-day festival has shifted from its traditional home at Mount Maunganui after the recent landslide tragedy. The relocation, the second time in 25 years, was made by Surf Life Saving New Zealand in conjunction with Tauranga City Council, Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service and P\u0101p\u0101moa Surf Life Saving Club<\/p>\n

SLSNZ National events manager Luke Smith said pulling together an event of this scale with just three weeks\u2019 notice had been no small task.<\/p>\n

\u201cP\u0101p\u0101moa Surf Life Saving Club have been amazing in the way they\u2019ve opened their doors and offered so many fantastic volunteers to allow us to deliver an event of this size with three weeks\u2019 notice,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service, despite facing a tough few weeks of its own, had also stepped up to provide experienced volunteers and support.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a huge few weeks of organising, especially given the circumstances,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the whole goal is to provide the most enjoyable experience we can for these kids attending. We can\u2019t wait to get on the beach with them and have an awesome four days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Participants

\nParticipants in the Oceans ’25 festival. Photo \/ Jamie Troughton: Dscribe Media<\/p>\n

The focus <\/p>\n

While Oceans is fiercely competitive event-by-event, there is no overall club champion. Instead, the focus is on participation, connection and building the next generation of volunteer surf lifeguards.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen really positive data around engagement in these events,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThose who participate have a much higher retention rate through to when they turn 14 and become eligible to be volunteer surf lifeguards.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 100 volunteers \u2013 from officials and water safety crews to first aid teams and coaches \u2013 will support the festival, reflecting surf lifesaving\u2019s strong volunteer culture.<\/p>\n

The festival atmosphere will spill beyond the beach, with families travelling from throughout New Zealand and staying across Mount Maunganui and P\u0101p\u0101moa, continuing to support local caf\u00e9s, shops and accommodation providers.<\/p>\n

Adding to the excitement, the Black Falcons will perform a 17-minute aerobatic display at 1pm on tomorrow, February 21, flying offshore directly out from P\u0101p\u0101moa Surf Life Saving Club.<\/p>\n

The five-aircraft team, which is made up of qualified flying instructors from Central Flying School and No. 14 Squadron at RNZAF Base Ohakea, will fly the T-6C Texan II.<\/p>\n

Lieutenant Commander Stephen Knowles, the first Royal New Zealand Navy pilot to join the Black Falcons, said the team is looking forward to engaging with the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cStanding in front of the surf club on the beach will be the best spot to watch from, but anywhere around that area will give a great view.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five aircraft<\/p>\n

The display will feature five aircraft flying in tight formation \u2013 sometimes just five metres apart \u2013 before splitting into smaller elements to perform a range of manoeuvres with smoke and high-energy passes over the water.<\/p>\n

\"RNZAF's

\nRNZAF’s Black Falcons Aerobatics display team will be conducting a display at Papamoa at 1pm on Saturday, February 21. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s approximately a 17-minute display,\u201d he said. \u201cThere are different elements where we split into three and two aircraft formations, approaching from different angles with smoke on and off to provide some cool visual effects \u2013 a bit of noise and smoke for the crowd to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Black Falcons season runs January to April, with about 10 displays nationwide. The team trains for several months before the season begins and all members have day jobs training the next generation of military pilots.<\/p>\n

\"RNZAF's

\nRNZAF’s Black Falcons Team 2026 Season. Lieutenant Commander Stephen Knowles. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

For Lieutenant Commander Knowles, a helicopter pilot by background, being part of the team had been a career highlight. \u201cFormation aerobatic flying is exhilarating, and if I\u2019m honest, I still get a bit nervous before each display, but that keeps you on your toes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The purpose of the displays is twofold: \u201cFirstly, we want to inspire and educate \u2013 hopefully reaching the new generation of pilots and aviators \u2013 and secondly, we want to show the flying skills of the Air Force and Navy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Community resilience<\/p>\n

The team will arrive in Tauranga today, February 20, to perform at P\u0101p\u0101moa tomorrow, February 21.<\/p>\n

For a community still reeling from recent events at the Mount, the timing feels significant, Lieutenant Commander Knowles said.<\/p>\n

\"RNZAF's

\nRNZAF’s Black Falcons Team 2026 Season. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can provide a bit of distraction for families and people watching, then I think that\u2019ll be a great outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

With club colours, chants and beachside buzz below, and five aircraft carving arcs of white smoke above, Oceans \u201926 promises to be a celebration not only of youth sport and surf safety \u2013 but of community resilience along the Bay of Plenty coastline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New Zealand\u2019s biggest junior surf lifesaving festival is unfolding on P\u0101p\u0101moa sand this week \u2013 and it will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293881,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-293880","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293880\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293881"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}