Media Release: Surfing NZ. Written by Ben Kennings, Wednesday, 16 January 2013
Day four brought an improvement in conditions at the National Surfing Championships at Piha with a 2.0m swell and lighter onshore winds bringing a reprieve from the last two days of strong winds and rain. But the surfers in the Over 40 and Over plus divisions battled the messy conditions over the full tide which produced some tight low-scoring heats. Rick Lasch dominated the Over 45 Men’s Division with big turns on the righthanders running into the cove. Taranaki’s David Farr also claimed a win as did Geoff Hutchison of Raglan.
The Under 18 Boys Division highlighted day four of the 2013 Hyundai National Surfing Championships at Piha today (Wednesday 16th January) with the next generation of New Zealand’s best surfers pushing hard to progress through to the final eight surfers in the event.
Local Piha surfers Waretini Wano and Elliot Paerata – Reid used their knowledge of the break to claim the best waves of their respective heats for comfortable wins.
Wano surfed some exceptional waves completing big re-entries on both his forehand and backhand. While his waves only comprised single manoeuvres the power of the manoeuvres was enough to net him an 11.43 point heat total and the win.
Paerata – Reid was equally impressive smoothly stringing together his turns to achieve a 10.67 point heat total in the last heat of the day.
Both Paerata – Reid and Wano, who are good friends, now avoid each other in the semifinals. Wano will face Sean Kettle (Tara), Kayden Mayes (Mnt) and Mackenzie Christie (Mnt) in the first semifinal. Paerata – Reid will face Jules Craft (Gis), Dune Kennings (WGM) and Josh Taylor (Mnt). Mount Maunganui surfers fill three of the eight remaining positions in the division.
The Over 28 Men’s Division was dominated by Taranaki surfers with number one seed Jarred Hancox leading the way. The ex-two-time senior men’s champion (2010, 2011) dominated the lefthanders on the bar. Likewise Bachelor Tipene thrived in the big solid conditions scoring 12.33 points out of 20. Rounding out the Taranaki trio was Jamie Andrews who, despite a low score, progressed through to the semifinals in second place behind Kayne Duncan (Port Waikato).
Maz Quinn (Gis) made his entry into the men’s age group divisions contesting the Over 35 Men’s Division and he made quick work of his heat posting the highest single wave score (9.73) and the highest heat score (16.90) of the event to date. Quinn was joined by Cale Tolley (Mnt) who also scored highly with a 13.93 point heat total. Morgan Cronin (Auck) and Ben Kennings rounded out the heat winners moving through to the semifinals.
The surf is expected to decrease overnight before building again throughout the day on Thursday (17th January). Winds will remain strong from the westerly quarter. Competition will commence at 8:00am on Thursday 17th January.
See below for results from day four of the Hyundai National Surfing Championships held at Piha Beach, Auckland today (Wednesday 16th January).
Under 18 Boys Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Kayden Mayes (Mnt), 11.5, 1, Mackenzie Christie (Tau), 9.33, 2, McKenzie Bowden (Whmata), 9, 3, Ella Williams (Whmata), 7.23, 4
Heat 2
Waretini Wano (Piha), 11.4, 1, Sean Kettle (Tara), 9.87, 2, Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 7.33, 3, Manu Scott Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 4.47, 4
Heat 3
Jules Craft (Gis), 11.3, 1, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 9.67, 2, Max Marshall (ChCh), 4.7, 3, Matt Mcgregor (Sandy Bay), 2, 4
Heat 4
Elliot Paerata Reid (Piha), 10.7, 1, Josh Taylor (Tau), 10.3, 2, Levi Stewart (Waihi Bch), 5.17, 3, Luca Cressy (Arataki), 4.47, 4
Over 35 Men’s Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Cale Tolley (Mnt), 13.9, 1, Marc Moore (Rag), 12.1, 2, Mike Christeinson (ChCh), 9.07, 3, Mike Mulcahy (Auck), 4, 4
Heat 2
Ben Kennings (Whmata), 11.9, 1, Geoff Hutchison (Rag), 6.33, 2, Adrian Bray (Auck), 5.2, 3
Heat 3
Maz Quinn (Gis), 16.9, 1, Stu Millar (Piha), 6.23, 2, Deane Hishon (Rag), 2, 3
Heat 4
Morgan Cronin (Auck), 9.6, 1, Shaun Coffey (Auck), 7.57, 2, Bevan Wiig (Auck), 6.37, 3, Tully Farrell (Mnt), 5.03, 4
Over 28 Men’s Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Kayne Duncan (Port Waikato), 6.67, 1, Jamie Andrews (Tara), 4.23, 2, Simon Deken (Tara), 2.57, 3
Heat 2
Jarred Hancox (Tara), 10.5, 1, Andrew Robinson, 10.4, 2, Cale Tolley (Mnt), 10.1, 3, Jeremy Grainger (Tara), 4.07, 4
Heat 3
Bachelor Tipene (Tara), 12.3, 1, Jason Ruddell (Whgrei), 9.23, 2, Justin Souter (Mnt), 6.77, 3, Tully Farrell (Mnt), 6.33, 4
Over 40 Men’s Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Geoff Hutchison (Rag), 5.83, 1, Mike Christiansen (ChCh), 5.8, 2, Morgan Cronin (Auck), 3.6, 3, Tui Eves (Piha), 1.37, 4
Heat 2
Rick Lasch (Auck), 2, 1, Glenn Marsom (Auck), 1, 2, John Roussey (ChCh), INJ,
Heat 3
Deane Hishon (Rag), 3.17, 1, Scott Braithwaite (Whtane), 0, 2, Armie Armstrong (Rag), N/S
Heat 4
David Farr (Tara), 8.17, 1, Shaun Coffey (Tara), 7.87, 2, Mike Mulcahy (Auck), 7.5, 3
Over 45 Men’s Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Andrew Mann (Auck), 5.57, 1, Phil Wallis (Piha), 4.8, 2, Nigel Hunt (Auck), 2.77, 3, Blair Walker (Piha), N/S
Heat 2
Rick Lasch (Piha), 12.7, 1, Michael Fitzharris (Gis), 10.8, 2, Geoff Hutchison (Rag), 5.6, 3
Heat 3
Tui Eves (Piha), 7.17, 1, David Mann (Auck), 4.43, 2, Shane Wilson (ChCh), 3.4, 3, John Roussey (ChCh), INJ
Over 50 Men’s Semifinals
Heat 1
Garry Pike (Piha), 2.00, 1, Glenn Shuker (ChCh), 1.00, 2
Heat 2
Phill Griffin (Mnt), 4.53, 1, Phil Wallis (Piha), 2.63, 2, David Storck (Auck), 1.47, 3
A complete lists of all National Champions are located on the Surfing New Zealand website under History.
Further Information
For further information on the 2013 Hyundai National Championships please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.