Written by Ben Kennings, Surfing NZ Saturday, 05 January 2013
Raglan’s famous point breaks gave Hyundai Tour competitors the perfect start to the season with clean 1.0m waves rolling down the acclaimed point break all day today (Saturday 5th January). The surf provided the platform for some excellent surfing and a massive day of competition to start the 2013 Hyundai Tour.
The Open Men’s Longboard Division dominated the day’s proceedings as the premier division surfed through to the final eight surfers over two rounds of competition.
The quarterfinals were dominated by none other than local surfer Daniel Kereopa (Rag) surfing at his home break. Kereopa used his near 30 years of Manu Bay surfing knowledge to navigate his way through the Men’s Longboard Division as well as the Stand Up Paddleboard Division for both surfing and racing. Exceptional performances across all three disciplines were highlighted by his 15.67 point heat total in his quarterfinal match up of the Men’s Longboard Division. Kereopa surfed with aggression to progress to the semifinals alongside Phil Morris (Auck) after having focussed solely on the stand up paddleboard discipline in recent years.
Kereopa later went on to place fifth in the Stand Up Paddleboard Race before moving through to the semifinals of the Stand Up Paddleboard surfing division.
Mount Maunganui’s Owen Barnes used a similar approach to Kereopa completing vertical turns on his backhand and posting 17.37 out of a possible 20 points to easily win his match up and progress to the semifinals alongside Jamie Andrews (Tara) who placed second.
The Gisborne pairing of Daniel Procter on his forehand and Sam Johnson on his backhand rounded out the quarterfinal match up winners. Both surfers again dominated their heats scoring 16.6 and 15.17 respectively. Procter is the sole goofyfoot surfer left in the Men’s Longboard Division heading into the final day of the event.
The Over 50 Men’s Division enjoyed the clean waves over the full tide. The rivalry between local Michael Thomson and Mark Hoyle (Orewa) did not take long to reignite with the two going head-to-head to record the highest heat scores of the round. However they were both eclipsed by the performance of David Storck (Auck) who scored 13.27 points to move through to the semifinals with a comprehensive heat win.
The surfers in the Stand Up Paddleboard Division continued to pump up the performance levels with the likes of Kereopa busting one crazy backhand aerial manoeuvre in his heat. Karl Arsene (WGM) and Shayne Baxter (Chch) were equally as prominent notching up big heat wins to move into the semifinals.
Earlier in the day the 3.5km long Stand Up Paddleboard Race took place with a paddlers having to complete three laps of the course that took them through the Manu Bay line up. Paddlers that had the ability to catch waves down the point made the most of the conditions and it was local paddler Armie Armstrong (Rag) that dominated the race breaking out to a massive lead by the third lap. Shayne Baxter (Chch) claimed second place ahead of Jeremy Stephenson (Auck) after Stephenson lost his paddle whilst riding the same wave as Baxter on the final lap.
Surfing action on Sunday (6th January) will take place from 8:00am. The location of the final day of surfing will be confirmed once conditions are assessed at dawn. The surf is expected to decrease further and a venue change is possible. Seven hours of surfing is required to complete the event.
Please see below results from day one of the first event of the 2013 Hyundai Tour held at Manu Bay, Raglan today (Saturday 5th January).
Men’s Longboard Round 1
Heat 1
Glen Johnson (Auck), 13.67, 1, Daryn Mcbride (Mnt), 9.63, 2, James Schedwy (Auck), 4.97, 3, David Rae (Auck), 3.5, 4
Heat 2
Paul Culpan (Auck), 12.3, 1, Craig Davies (Aust), 9.53, 2, Isaac Johnstone (Mngwhai), 3.27, 3, Sam Bradford (Pakiri), 2.3, 4
Heat 3
Daniel Proctor (Gis), 16.2, 1, Owen Barnes (Mnt), 15.5, 2, Eli Barnfield (Ohope), 8.93, 3, Tane Wallis (Piha), N/S
Heat 4
Zen Wallis (Piha), 11.43, 1, Jamie Andrews (Waitara), 9.33, 2, Ambrose McNeill (ChCh), 9, 3, 0, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 6.03, 4
Heat 5
Phil Morris (Auck), 15.1, 1, Dylan Barnfield (Ohope), 14.1, 2, Sam Poulter (Rag), 11.5, 3, Blake Barnfield (Ohope), 4.67, 4
Heat 6
Matt Cockayne (Mngwhai), 7.33, 1, Duncan Cameron (Mnt), 3.7, 2, Tim Renouf (Gis), 2.83, 3, Sam Bound (Tara), 2.5, 4
Heat 7
Sam Johnson (GIS), 14.33, 1, Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 12.67, 2, Ant McColl (Mnt), 11.1, 3, Charlie Bush, 4.93, 4
Heat 8
Dave Elley (Rag), 12.4, 1, Ben Poulter (Rag), 9.57, 2, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 8.97, 3, Branko Vela (Auck), 7.07, 4
Men’s Longboard Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Owen Barnes (Mnt), 17.37, 1, Jamie Andrews (Waitara), 14.6, 2, Glen Johnson (Auck), 12, 3, Paul Culpan (Auck), 9.77, 4
Heat 2
Daniel Proctor (Gis), 16.6, 1, Zen Wallis (Piha), 12.7, 2, Daryn Mcbride (Mnt), 10.5, 3, Craig Davies, 9.9, 4
Heat 3
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 15.67, 1, Phil Morris (Auck), 15.6, 2, Matt Cockayne (Mngwhai), 10.83, 3, Ben Poulter (Rag), 10.07, 4
Heat 4
Sam Johnson (GIS), 15.17, 1, Dylan Barnfield (Ohope), 11.93, 2, Duncan Cameron (Mnt), 11.4, 3, Dave Elley (Rag), 8.77, 4
Over 40 Men’s Longboard Round 1
Heat 1
Peter Mihailof (Mnt), 11.17, 1, Scott Braithwaite (Whktane), 8.2, 2, Bart Davis (Auck), 2.77, 3
Heat 2
Craig Anderson (Mnt), 17.3, 1, James Atutahi (Maketu), 9.83, 2, Brett Sims (Waihi Bch), 8.77, 3, Ray Finlay (Rag), 8.17, 4
Heat 3
Justin Bambery (Auck), 10.23, 1, Scotty Riach (Auck), 7.33, 2, Mike Millar (Auck), 6.97, 3
Heat 4
Andy Collins (Mnt), 13.33, 1, Armie Armstrong (Rag), 6.33, 2, Simon Shepheard (Auck), 5.77, 3, Heemi Ngahere (Rag), 3.7, 4
Over 50 Men’s Longboard Round 1
Heat 1
David Storck (Auck), 13.27, 1, Ben Hutchings (Gis), 11.43, 2, Bryan Western (Auck), 11.03, 3, Brendan Horan (Mnt), 9.47, 4
Heat 2
Mike Thomson (Rag), 12.1, 1, Michael Gray (Auck), 6.83, 2, Garth Falconer, 6.6, 3, Max Bound (Tara), 5.43, 4
Heat 3
Mark Hoyle (Orewa), 11.4, 1, Steve Davis (Piha), 10.33, 2, Rob Bayes (Auck), 8.53, 3, Terry Fong (Auck), 2.53, 4
Heat 4
Rupert Newbold (Whngrei), 7.77, 1, Simon Bennett (Northland), 6.3, 2, Barry Agnew (Auck), 5.37, 3, Grant Cochrane (ChCh), N/S
Stand Up Paddleboard Round 1
Heat 1
Troy Reid (Tara), 9.53, 1, Shaan Miller (Auck), 7.1, 2, Wayne Panapa (Gis), 4.23, 3
Heat 2
Jeremy Stephenson (Auck), 10.7, 1, Gavin Broadbent, 7.13, 2, Derek Tingey (Tau), 5.5, 3, Kevin Hosking (Tara), 3.33, 4
Heat 3
Charlie Bush, 12.8, 1, Tony Young (Dun), 11.9, 2, Jason Ashford (Gis), 7.33, 3, Maria Kingi (Piha), 3.77, 4
Heat 4
Paul Culpan (Auck), 9.73, 1, Hamish Imrie (Port Wai), 9.03, 2, Rob Hawkins (Rag), 8.6, 3, Scott Elliot (Auck), 4.03, 4
Stand Up Paddleboard Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 16.17, 1, Gavin Broadbent, 8.5, 2, Troy Reid (Tara), 7.73, 3, Deon Boonzaier (Auck), 5.43, 4
Heat 2
Karlos Aarsen (Whmata) , 14, 1, Jeremy Stephenson (Auck), 10.27, 2, Mike Cann (Auck), 9.93, 3, Shaan Miller (Auck), 8.73, 4
Heat 3
Shayne Baxter (ChCh), 13.43, 1, Daren Jones (Auck), 9.87, 2, Charlie Bush, 7.6, 3, Hamish Imrie (Port Wai), 7.33, 4
Heat 4
Armie Armstrong (Rag), 15.47, 1, Tony Young (Dun), 9.5, 2, Shane Murrell (Auck), 7.37, 3, Paul Culpan (Auck), 5.77, 4
Stand Up Paddleboard Race
Armie Armstrong (Rag, 1, Shayne Baxter (Chch), 2, Jeremy Stephenson (Auck), 3, Reece Muir (Auck), 4
Overall the Hyundai Tour boasts $12,000 in prize money which is boosted to $20,000 with approximately another $8,000 distributed to boardrider clubs and community groups at locations the tour frequents.
Hyundai have teamed up with Global Surf Industries and Starboard to provide boards to raffle off at each event location. All proceeds from this weekend’s raffles go back to Point Boardriders Club to help develop surfing in the region.
The complete calendar of events for the 2013 Hyundai Tour follows:
Hyundai Tour Event 1, 5-6 January, Raglan (4-star)
Hyundai Tour Event 2, 13-19 January, Piha (5-star) – National Championships
Hyundai Tour Event 3, 1-3 February, Sandy Bay (4-star)
Hyundai Tour Event 4, 16-17 February, Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth (4-star)
Hyundai Tour Event 5, 1-2 March, Mount Maunganui (4-star)
Entry into the events can be completed at Surfing New Zealand under “events.” Entry into each event closes on the Monday prior to the event commencing. Complete the entry process online or download entry forms and send them in.
Further Information
For further information on the 2013 Hyundai Tour please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz