Daniel Kereopa looks forward to stand up paddleboard

Written by Ben Kennings, Surfing NZ, 19 February 2011

Near perfect waves greeted surfers in day one of round four of the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour at Mount Maunganui today (Saturday 19th February). Over one hundred surfers from across New Zealand plus as far afield as Australia and California have been competing in the four star event. The premier Open Men’s Division revelled in 1.0m clean, offshore waves at the start of the day.

Local surfers used their inside knowledge of the waves with Ant McColl picking off a couple of waves right through to the beach to win the first heat of the day. McColl repeated his performance later in the quarterfinals and says he is pleased with the surf conditions, after the competition was cancelled at the Mount for the last two years.

“I’m really stoked that there’s waves and they’re kind of fun” said McColl.

Owen Barnes, another local, won his first heat with a long peeling right hander with three solid roundhouse cutbacks and a shore break re-entry. However he was beaten by tough competition in the quarterfinals, with National Champion Thomas Kibblewhite (Auckland) finding his form and last year’s tour winner Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) also making it through.

Daniel Kereopa (Raglan) got through the first heat with some powerful turns but was another surfer to come unstuck in the quarters. He is now looking forward to the stand up paddleboard division where he believes the larger waves will favour the bigger guys.

The overseas surfers performed the best in the day one conditions, with former world champion Josh Constable (Noosa, Aus) scoring an 8.5 out of 10 for one wave with a mixture of smooth turns and nose rides all the way to the beach.

Constable says he was pleased he came to the contest after initially being undecided. “I saw the waves and got excited. I’m loving being here – great weather, really fun waves and the water’s warm.”

American surfer Taylor Jensen was also a standout performer, scoring one of the highest heat scores in the first round and backing it up in the quarterfinals with massive floaters and aerial moves.

Despite the sea breeze getting up, the women’s surfers also enjoyed the conditions, with one of the standout surfers being Nava Young (Australia), daughter of surfing legend Nat Young. “I was really lucky to find a couple of nice rights. The other girls in the heat surfed really well and I just lucked into some of the cleaner ones.”

The activities for families are happening on and off the water, with Sustainable Coastlines leading two beach clean-ups on Saturday and more on Sunday.

The remaining event on the 2011 Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour follows:

Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour Event 5, 4-5 March, Port Waikato (6-star)