Early Start Catches Competitors out
The first day of the R&R South Island Longboard Pro Am held in association with Hyundai started at the crack of dawn today (Friday 14th March). By mid morning the second round of the open men’s division had been completed with the top seeds all securing quarterfinals berths. Alongside them was red hot Australian Jackson Close who has flown over to New Zealand specifically to compete at the event. Day one of the R&R South Island Pro Am was held at the Meatworks surf break in shifty 1.0m surf conditions. The event is the fifth of seven events on the 2008 Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour.
The event’s opening blessing was held at 0600 down at the waters edge of the venue for the day. Located seven kilometres north of Kaikoura, Meatworks has gravely sand bottom combination reef and beach break. Competition was underway before the sun had risen out of the ocean.
The top five rated surfers on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour ratings all had a successful first day of the event after entering the water in round two. Current number one rated surfer Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) won his heat as did last year’s runner up at this event Daryn McBride (Mnt), 2007 tour winner Daniel Kereopa (Rag) and Daniel Procter (Gis) who is currently ranked third on this years tour.
Kereopa again surfed with a heavily strapped ankle with many present were under the belief that he would not enter the water. However a solid performance saw Kereopa ride his way to a pair of six point rides to win his heat. The small peaky conditions also suited Procter was has a knack of performing critical vertical re-entries in the pocket.
Round two is where the ‘big boys’ come out to play and the surfers who have progressed through the first round are sent out to do battle with the top seeds. The swell pumped for this round and the top seeds impressed. The crowd was getting lulled into a sense of ‘one man stand outs in the heats’ until heat eight. The sole international surfer at the event, Jackson Close (Aus) came out blasting and racked up the highest single wave score of the day with 8.67 points out of a possible 20. Micheal Burling (Gis) accepted the challenge and proceeded to blast big re-entries and float over long sections to move through the heat racking up 16.57 points to win by the narrowest of margins (0.40). This pushed Close back to second also moving through to the quarterfinals. The two surfers eliminated sixth seed Sam Johnson (Gis) and Auckland’s Che Phillips.
Late this afternoon the over 40 men took to the water and the large field of surfers were whittled down to sixteen. Current ratings leader Mike Thomson (Rag) had the luxury of not having to enter the water in for heat when only two surfers showed up. Current runner up on the ratings David Storck (Piha) was not so lucky when he was eliminated in the first round of the event. Others to win their first round heats included Dave Burbage (Ham), Glenn Shuker (Cant), Mark Andrews (Cant) and Mark Elham (Cant).
The competition will continue throughout the weekend with all finals being contested early on Sunday afternoon. A decision on the location for day two will be made at 7.00am on Saturday morning.
Please see below for results from day one of the R&R South Island Longboard Pro Am held in association with Hyundai.
Open Men’s Round 1 (First and second progress to the second round and seeded surfers)
Heat 1
Mal Brady (Mnt) NS, Mark Boomer (ChCh) 1, Warwick Gray (Waihi Beach) 2
Heat 2
Rick Williamson (Whtane) 3, Michael Willman (ChCh) 1, Tristan Murray (Cant) 2
Heat 3
Paul Culpan (Auck) 1, Jason Lawn (ChCh) 2
Heat 4
Steve Tyro (ChCh) 1, Mark Elham (ChCh) 2, Ben Angell (Cant) 3
Heat 5
Jay Reeve (Mnt) 1, Matt Campbell (Cant) 2, David Burbage (Auck) 3
Heat 6
Tom Owens (ChCh) 1, Troy Scott (ChCh) 2
Heat 7
Warren McKenzie (H-Bay) 1, Jackson Close (Aust) 2, Fang Smith (Cant) NS
Heat 8
Che Phillips (Auck) 1, Jason Lamb (Cant) 2,
Open Men’s Round 2
Heat 1
Daryn Mcbride (Mnt) 1, Matt Hands (Mnt) 2, Tristan Murray (Cant) 3, Mark Boomer (ChCh) 4.
Heat 2
Daniel Kereopa (Rag) 1, Michael Willman (ChCh) 2, David Storck (Piha) 3, Warwick Gray (Waihi Beach) 4.
Heat 3
Kirk Beyer (Wgtn) 1, Paul Culpan (Auck) 2, Ant McColl (Mnt) 3, Mark Elham (ChCh) 4.
Heat 4
Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) 1, Mathew Cockayne (Mngwhai) 2, Steve Tyro (ChCh) 3, Jason Lamb (Cant) 4.
Heat 5
Shayne Baxter (Dun) 1, Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck) 2, Troy Scott (ChCh) 3, Jay Reeve (Mnt) 4.
Heat 6
Sam Guthrie (Mnt) 1, Tom Owens (ChCh) 2, Matt Campbell (Cant) 3, Duncan Cameron (Mnt) 4.
Heat 7
Daniel Proctor (Gis) 1, Matt Gillespie (Auck) 2, Jason Lamb (Cant) 3, Warren McKenzie (H-Bay) 4
Heat 8
Michael Burling (Gis) 1, Jackson Close (Aust) 2, Sam Johnson (Gis) 3, Che Philips (Auck) 4