International surf champions to challenge Kiwi young guns
The 2008 Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour is set to descend on Kaikoura for the fifth leg of the Tour on the 15th March. The R&R South Island Longboard Pro Am is a three day event and is the richest on the Tour with $8,500 in cash and prizes attracting competitors from around the world including ex world longboard champions.
The early exit of Daniel Kereopa (Rag) in the small and tricky conditions at the most recent event on the tour held in Christchurch combined with the ratings points gathered by eventual winner Daniel Proctor (Gis) has thrown the tour championship wide open yet again. This will make the R&R South Island Pro Am in Kaikoura critical for all surfers who are in striking distance of the top eight positions on the ratings. Ohope surfer Dylan Barnfield now holds the slimmest of leads over Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck).
The Kaikoura event by virtue of its prize money is the highest rated event of the tour and with the five star rating comes more points. An added attraction is the challenge of competing with a clutch of internationally ranked surfers who traditionally travel to the Kaikoura event.
This year in the open men’s division the New Zealand surfers are likely to come up against former Australian champions Josh Constable and Jackson Close who have shown significant interest in attending this year’s event.
Constable the 2006 Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) World Champion and Close ranked 5th on the 2007 ASP world ratings will ensure the Kiwis will have their work cut out to take first place. Other internationals that the Kiwis can benchmark themselves against are Taylor Jensen (USA) - 2006 US Champ and winner of this event in 2006 and Elliot Dudley (Eng) who was the 2005 European Longboard Champion.
A number of Hawaiian names are also considering making the trip over to New Zealand after having competed in the Noosa Festival of Surfing which is held the week prior to the event.
Nava Young (Aus), who regularly ranks in the top four females in Australian events may also add more glamour than usual to the women’s division. Younger brother Bryce, an up and coming star, is also attending this year’s event in Kaikoura. Nava and Bryce have impeccable pedigree through older brother Beau - 2003 ASP World Longboard Champion and their father and four times World Champion Nat.
The R&R Kaikoura Longboard Pro Am is in its sixth year and has established itself as the top surfing event on the longboard calendar. Organised by the Sumner Longboarders (Christchurch) and hosted by the Kaikoura Longboarders and Mangamaunu Marae, every event has produced world class surf that the Kaikoura region is famous for. The local Mangamaunu Marae hosts the surfers for the weekend and puts their own stamp on the event with a traditional Powhiri (welcome), event blessing and hangi. Visiting surfers are also welcomed to stay on the marae in a unique opportunity to embrace the culture and values of the indigenous people and their affinity with the sea and local region.
The roots and culture of surfing in the sixties are endorsed by the inclusion of additional events such as the Noserider, Old Mal and Legends divisions. Noseriding is considered the ultimate essential skill in traditional longboarding and entails the surfer defying physics by "hanging" 5 or 10 toes over the front end of the 9 foot plus boards. The Old Malibu division is surfed on boards that are pre 1969 and the Legends division is a chance for the older surfers to show off their years of surfing experience.
The mix of surfers from 12 to 60 years of age attracts a warm ambient family atmosphere which belies the fierce competition in the water.
The three day contest that sees 120 surfers competing also has a social side which this year sees local band Foreshore and Sunshine Sound System from Queenstown play in Kaikoura on the Friday night.