A
beautiful sunny day and a clean 2-3 feet of northeast swell greeted the
competitors at Sandy Bay this morning for day one of the third event on
Hyundai Longboard Tour. The day started off at 0830 with the first round if
the mens open and was followed by the second round of the mens open. Daniel
Kereopas display in heat 7 was a sight to be with seen. He locked two high
scoring waves and proceeded to show the rest of us mere mortals. The master
versus the apprentice though with 16 year old Rick Williamson entering the
Men's Open and the young age of 16. The earlier heats had young talent as
well with Sam Guthrie , Ant McColl, and
Kirk Beyer winning their heats
A
steadily building seabreeze made conditions a little more difficult for
those surfers with a heat during the lower tide in the middle of the day. As
the tide dropped away and the surf deteriorated, wave choice became a bit of
a lottery. With no major upsets the contest moved through to the mens
over 40 round one.
The Juniors round of 16 was next and reflected the growth in Longboard
surfing with an entry list comprising more names than last year. In
the first heat Eli Barnfield showed that longboard surfing was in his genes
and won his heat with local mate Hone Douglas second. The next three rounds
showed that the future of longboarding is good hands.
Next up was the over 50 mens who had to deal with conditions that were challenging at best but as usual the cream rises to the top and tomorrow is looking like an exciting day for the over 50s with four talent packed heats coming up first thing in the morning.
The women got their turn next and in the first heat Daisy Thomas showed why she is the womens tour leader and convincingly won here heat. The numbers were up this year for the women as well and the next three heats provided an insight to where New Zealand women longboarding was heading. Tomorrow will have an interesting heat when Shelly Jones a prime contender for the womens title will clash with Daisey Thomas.
The best was saved for last with the mens quarters providing stacked heats that looked like finals. The Hyundai cocktail hour had kicked off just as the Mens Open heats hit the water and the band fired up. Spectators and competitors a like were treated to a fine display of longboarding and fantastic hospitality provided by I.C. Motors in Whangaraei.
The first
heat was a strong one and dark horse Sam Johnson fired up to win the heat
with Sam Guthrie from the Mount taking the next spot. This left current tour
leader Thomas Kibblewhite out of the next round. Mike Burling took out heat
two convincingly. The third heat was won by Darren McBride who was excelling
in the beach break conditions with a distinctly traditional style.
The last heat of the day was what we were all waiting for. It had the 2007
Hyundai Longboard Champion Daniel Kereopa along with heir apparent and just
out of the Juniors Dylan Barnfield. The hot as Gisborne talent Daniel
Proctor and just to ad and international flavor Trent Lillis. The two Dans
came straight to the party and immediately dominated the heat with DK taking
the number one slot and DP slipping comfortably in to second.
And that was it. A long as day with the last heat getting out of the water at 1945. Tomorrow is looking very promising with swell and clean conditions in the morning. A strong line up in all divisions will make for a great days surfing.
Mens Open
Round of 40
Heat 1 Geoff Calvert (Piha) 2, John Ayton 3, Nicolas Brikke 1.
Heat 2 James Shedwy (Auk)4, James Tanner (Gis)1,Matt Cockayne
(Mangahwai)3,Braedon Williams(Whmata) 2.
Heat 3 Trent Lillis (Auk) 2, Dave Burbage 4, Duncan Cameron (Mount) 1,
Carlos Aarsen 3.
Heat 4 Sam Bradford (Pakiri) 3, Dave Reed 4, Rick Williamson (Whtane)1,
Daniel McKenny (Mount) 2.
Mens Open Round Of 32.
Heat 1
Ant Mc Moll (mount)1,Matt Gillespie (Auk) 2, Che Philips (Auk) 4,Nicolas
Burkile 3.
Heat 2 Sam Guthrie (Mount) 1, Isaac Johnston (Mangwhai) 4, Warren Mackenzie
(H Bay) 2, Geof calvert 3.
Heat 3 Aidan Comrie ( Waihi ) 1, Sam Johnson (Gis) 2, Rhys Fitt (Auk) 4,
James Tanner 3,
Heat 4 Thomas Kibblewhite (auk) 2, Warrick Grey (Waihi) 3, Micheal Burling
(Auk)1. Branden Williams 4.
Heat 5 Dylan Branfield (Ohope) 2, Darryn McBride (Mount)1, Steve Tyro 4,
Duncan Cameron 3.
Heat 6 Kirk Beyer (Wgtn) 1, Emanuale Lai (Auk) 4,Tyler White (Gis) 3,Trent
Lillis 2.
Heat 7 Daniel Kereopa (Rag)1, David Storck(Piha) 3, Alex McKenzie (H Bay) 2,
Rick Williamson 4.
Heat 8 Daniel Proctor (Gis)1, Matt Hands (Mount) 4, Mal Brady 3, Daniel
McKenny 2.
Mens Open Quarter finals.
Heat 1
Ant Mc Coll ( Mount) 4, Sam Johnson (Gis) 1, Sam Guthrie (Mount) 2, Thomas
Kibblewhite (Auk) 3.
Heat 2 Aidan Comrie (Waihi Bch) 2, Matt Gillespie (Auk) 3, Micheal Burling
(Auk) 1, Warren McKenzie (H Bay) 4,
Heat 3 Darryn Mc Bride (Mount) 1, Alex McKenzie (HBay) 2,Kirk Beyer (Wgtn)
3,daniel McKenny (Mount) 4.
Heat 4 Daniel Kereopa (Rag) 1, Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) 3,Daniel Proctor
(Gis) 2, Teent Lillis (Auk) 4.
Mens Over 40 Round of 24.
Heat 1
John Ayton (NCB)1, Neil Dawber 2, Richard Dorahy 3.
Heat 2 Bryan Western (North Shore) 2, Kevin Stiffe (NCB)3, VIv Tracey 1.
Heat 3 Robert Hawkins(Rag)1, Dave Espiner (Whngrei) 2, Roger Lyall 3.
Heat 4 Mark Calcutt, Steve Bowling (NCB), Rupert.
Junior
Division Round of 16
Heat 1 Eli Barnfield (Ohope) 1,Mac Sykes (Whangarei)4,Hone Douglas (Whktane)
2,Jesse Josephs 3.
Heat 2 Rick Williamson (Ohope) 2, Braedon Williams (Whmata) 1, Sean Aitkens
3.
Heat 3 Tim Thompson 1, Lachie Ayton 3, Tim Gibb (Mnt) 2.
Heat 4 SHaun Goddard (Auk) 3, keiran Pullman 2, Sam Guthrie (Mnt) 1.
Mens Over 50 Round of 24
Heat 1
John Goddard (Auck) 3, Trevor Red Crosby 1,Dave Reed 2.
Heat 2 Nick Matich (Dargaville) 1, John Duff (NCB) 2.
Heat 3 Paul Browne (Orewa)1, Hilton Leith (Whangarei) 3, Mal Eggington 2.
Heat 4 John Ayton (Sandy Bay) 1, Alan Sykes (Whngrei) 2.
Womens Division Round of 16.
Heat 1
Rea Ansin (Auk) 2, Demi Poynter ( Nrthlnd) 1 , Amanda Currie 4 , Kelsi
Efford 3.
Heat 2 Daisey Thomas (Chch) 1, Kirstie Thompsen (Whangarei) 2, Melody Spaul
(Whangarei) 3
Heat 3 Shareen Lobb (Port waikato) 4, Claire Norman1 , Monique Waitzer 2,
Bryony Barlow 3.
Heat 4 Belinda Galley (Gis) 2, Shelly Jones (Auk) 1 , Tsuneyo Yoshida (Rag)
3 , Elle Gibson Ocean Beach 4.