Well, what an Awesome weekend! The crew at Billabong have got this event dialled and delivered an epic time for all involved over the long weekend.
The 1st day of the comp on sat morn, saw sunshine and fun, but soft, 2-3ft waves and as the day wore on, the expected front settled in with wind and rain closing up shop by about 3pm in the arvo.
Front runners for standouts of Day1 for me were Larry Fisher ,schooling a few of his Raglan students in power surfing, Luke Cedarman who boosted to score the highest heat total of the day and Bobby Hansen showing why his surfing is world renowed with his variety and ability to turn average waves into a fun-park!
Sunday Morn delivered super fun 3-4ft surf and after scoring a few myself it was cool to get back into the Titanic and watch some of NZ's best take to the water.
Surfers like Sam "Sanga" Willis and Matt Groube in particular were surfing with such power it was awesome to watch.
Huge power turns in the pocket, this is what you want to see as a judge at an event of this calibre.
A heat for me that was sweet to judge was heat 4 in the 2nd round with Billy Stairmand, Jay Quinn, Zennor Wernham and Billabong Boss, Scott Casey.
These guys all took to the diminishing surf and locked in some good waves and solid scores, Jay even nailing a 9 point ride for three huge carving, powerful, backhand turns. Sick!
Round 3 surfer Tim O'Connor was surfing with such speed it was insane. I'm not sure what board he was riding but it certainly looks like him and his shaper have got it sorted!
Heat 3 , Round 3 saw Maz Quinn blow up with a 8.50 and 7.90 to take the win and leaving the other three surfers to fight it out for second place with only .10 of a point seperating all three of them. Heavy.
As the surfers left in the comp diminshed, those left started to absolutely smash turns, knowing that as we entered the quarter finals they had to show up and blow up to win thru!
Maz again delivered locking in a 9.25 and 7.75 to win his heat and eventual higest heat score of the event.
As a judge I know we have been criticised in the past of bias and overscoring Maz because he's "Maz" but I challenge anyway to watch Maz with binoculars and see close up just how technically well he can surf. There's a reason the guy made the QS, nailed it to get on the CT and scored a TEN point ride at Teahupoo. He's fuckin good!
The Jnr Qtrs were more of a struggle with the surf gettin crumbly and shifty and to be honest the juniors struggled with bad wave selection and what seemed to be a lack of a game plan.
This was a bit dissapointing to watch, but with tough conditions like these its never easy and hopefully they will continue to do their time and learn from these types of mistakes.
The surf again was messy with the NE/E wind settling in and the swell in the 2-4ft range with lully sets being random at best.
Sean Peggs from Tairua blazed in his heat surfing with power and flow and making plenty on the beach realise this jnr surfer will be a force to reckon with in future years.
The ladies Semi final heats were a highlight of my weekend! The girls had struggled a bit over the weekend with the conditions and a few def need to put in a bit more water time but those left riding in the Semis delivered some of the best female surfing I have seen in NZ and some turns even comparable to the international standard I have judged abroad. Stoked!
Jayda/Daisy/Kelly/Jess/Alexis and Rosa were all throwing down big turns, carving cutbacks and making the most of the junky surf. It really was cool to view!
Rosa threw down one of the biggest, most powerful turns I've seen a female surfer do, and by far the best turn I've ever seen her personally do in a comp!
And Alexis seemed to find her form, she was surfing on another level! Tight hits in the pocket, variety of repetoire, she put it all together. Mint!
A pretty low scoring affair considering the names, Maz, Jay, Timmmy O and Bugsy but this one was a nail biter with all surfers only seperated by 1 point at heats end!
It went to the wire and as the hooter went Maz and Chris "Bugsy" Malone emerged victorious.
Heat 2. A few more points seperated these lads but with Luke Cederman boosting on any given section and hackin turns that defied surfboard physics it was unreal to watch. If only he'd landed a few or found a wave that offered more than 1 turn! Rangi Ormond claimed the heat surfing with the flair and flow he's respected for and Noelza Santorik was surfing like it was a freesurf throwing spray and rail at any wave that dare get near him to claim second. Tane Wallis had a stellar run knocking a few elders along his way to the semis but finally ran out of steam to take a very respectable third place in the semis.
Ryza and Peggsy both scored single high scoring waves but just couldn't find a back up scoring wave and Blake just seeemed to get a lil lost at sea.
The Open Women suffered a similar fate to the Jnrs with most struggling to finish turns or link together a wave with any number of quality turns.
Jess Santorik however took to the crappy surf with abandon and took the final with a commanding performance locking in an excellent 8 point ride and a good 6 point ride to take the winners goodies!
Jayda/Daisy and Alexis all had moments of promise but just never quite stuck it all together in the tough conditions.
The Open Final was a hard fought battle with everyone ripping but again it came down to who lucked in to a wave that would run and throw up scoring potential. Maz found a couple of runners and didn't dissapoint taking the Final with a heat total of 15 out of a poss 20. Leon Santorik smoked one wave for a 7.25 but just couldn't find the back up he needed in the dying minutes.
Rangi and Bugsy both surfed well but never linked a wave together to really look too threating in the final despite their solid surfing thru-out the event. Just bad luck more than anything else.
All in all this was a sick weekend to be a part of. A big thanks to the Billabong crew for sponsoring such an awesome comp and throwing a hell party on Sun night!
Big ups to Xport Gold too for laying on the complimentary brews! Too much!
Chur, home to the westside for some iinami, catch ya soon,
G
NB. Thanks to Quiksilver for flow and Odyssey 20/20 for shades.
Chur.
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