From young to old, a total of 643 people participated in the paddle out on Saturday, November 24.

Zac's father, Kevin Young, organised and took part in the paddle out.

He said he was "overwhelmed" by the show of support for the event.

"The amount of people in the water was incredible," he said. "We had anyone from quite senior people to really young children.

"It was a celebration of our community."

Port Macquarie shark attack survivor Toby Begg was among those taking part in the paddle out.

Supported by fellow surfers, he returned to the water for the first time after being bitten by a shark at Lighthouse Beach in August, where he lost his right foot and suffered serious injuries to his left leg.

"That was a highlight for me," Kevin said. "For him to get out in the water was evidence of his bravery.

"I think we had about 15 shark attack victims there on the day cheering [Toby] on and celebrating the event."

The paddle out on Saturday morning was part of Love Thy Neighbour, a community event to honour the life of Zac Young, 10 years after he died following a shark attack in Coffs Harbour.

While they had enough numbers to beat the previous record of 512, the paddlers were unable to meet the requirement of holding hands for 60 seconds.

"Even though we went way above the record number, I'm not sure we held all our hands together in the swell, but we certainly gave it our best shot. We are still reviewing the footage."

Kevin said the the event had a larger message than the world record attempt.

"When you look at people like Toby, you think about how much this event has brought the community together... that was the biggest thing about this event," he said.

The paddle out followed an evening of live music and food stalls at Town Beach on Friday, November 24.

Kevin is also working on a documentary to tell his son's story. Clips of the documentary were shown at the Love Thy Neighbour event. More information about the documentary can be found on their website.