Kiwi Surf Magazine

Hyundai National Champs

Name: Bisman Mr Gavin. Air New Zealand Flight: NZ 8657. Destination: Gisborne.
There was something about the contagious smile from Vicky, the airline hottie, that told me as we headed into the blue yonder, this was gunna be an easter of epic proportions!
And the Hyundai Nationals for 2010 in Gizzy delivered the delights! My flight touched down a little less than an hour later and cuzzy Steve Ria was on hand to pick me up and shuttle me back to Maungatuki, home for the next 5 days, and so began one of the most epic Nationals I've had in years.

Here and now I want to thank Steve, his amazing wife Kris, and their beautiful girls Phagan and Yvanaga. This family has been awesome to me since I first met them many years ago and I am now lucky enough to call them friends. The work Steve does for Surfing NZ is unreal but the way his whanau have welcomed me and many other travelling surfers into their lives and their home is truely humbling. You people are incredible!

The next morning Steve and I rolled into the carpark at Creeks, and were treated with 2-3ft offshore peeling waves. Gisborne had delivered the goods again! My Hyundai Nationals 2010 was officially ON!
Day One was alot of work judging with a huge draw of Open Mens surfers tearing apart the sweet conditions, and with the contestable surf on offer, early standouts included Richard Christie, Morehu Roberts and Mark Dovey amongst the many.
Day Two and two podiums were being used for the comp, we had alot of heats and surfing to work through. I was on podium two with Lee Ryan head judging. Mint! Back to basics with pop-up tents and pen and paper. Creeks was used for podium 1 and Red Bus was where we were in podium 2. The surf was pumping! The peak was holding four foot of swell and as the Open Womens draw saw some major upsets go down at Podium one, the Junior surfers out at Red Bus, frothed in the peaky, heavy conditions.
Local grom Adam Grimson,was charging, surfing beyond his years and it will be good to see what he can achieve in his surfing in the years to come. Some Juniors "handled the jandal" and dealt with the sizey surf, while some avoided and dodged the bombs and surfed safe and this meant they found themselves in the lower placings as the event went on without them, only the committed, critical surfing will win at Nationals! The surf was too good to be missed and the Open Quarters got sent out before the sea breeze and lower tide killed the mint waves. It was cool to see the likes of Maz Quinn, Blair Stewart, Billy Sairmand and Tim O' ripping. Ricardo was surfing with such power and style, scoring excellent waves and scores. He was showing why he has been featured recently in heaps of mags and vids, his surfing starting to be noticed worldwide.
Day Three was another crispy, clear morning and again we had consistent swell, offshore winds and sunny skies. Two podiums were being used again for the comp, trying to maximise the time we had left, the good waves and the fact that we still had heaps of competitors yet to hit the water. The older crew scored what were probably the best waves of the whole event and old boys like John Gisby, Glen Shucker, Barry McCulloch and Rick Lasch showed that even tho they are a bit older, they can still rip! Lasch in particular surfed one of the best waves I saw over the four days!! Seriously. Rick Lasch was a dark horse too, scoring a 18.10 out of a possible 20.0. Surfing with so much style in the punchy four foot waves. Micheal Fitzharris gave some of the over 40 yr old surfers a lesson in power surfing at his home break too.
Because it was such epic surf it was decided to send out the Open Mens semi finalist surfers. The following 40 mins of surfing was HEAVY! Both heats went to the wire and were decided in the last minute. The second heat was even decided by a countback. Thats how close it got. Maz, Ricardo, Morehu and Billy made the cut for the final.

In the over 35's Clint Daly, Ben Kennings,James Fowell and Kelly Ryan were in form and surfed well enough to make the grade in their division.
Later that arvo we carried on and some Finals were run and a few new National Title champs were decided in the fun waves in front of lots of crew chillin on the beach at Makarori.
John Gisby taking the over 55's title. Pihas' Rick Lasch won the over 40's title. James Fowell taking the title of over 35's National Champ at home. Elliot Paerata Reid was National under 14boys title holder and grom Ella Williams claimed the under 16 Girls Title.
Day Four was all Finals!
The waves at Red Bus eased back to fun 2-3ft peelers and today National Title holders would be found.
The peeling lefts offered up section after section, wave after wave and became a better choice for multiple moves and the more likely waves to obtain better scores.
The Senior Mens heat was owned by Jarrod Hancox right from the start of the heat, and he claimed the title by surfing the best waves of the heat with class!
The U18 Boys final was a much closer affair and with the last two waves of the heat, Ben Poulter stole the show and took the title from Tane Wallis's grasp.
The U18 Girls final was won in a similar fashion,Grace Spiers lead for most of the heat but local grom Jayda took the title in the dying minutes.
The U20 Junior Mens title was action-packed, Johnny Hicks nailing a left to score a 9.0 and lead the heat to the end.
The Open Womens was due to be an upset with many of the higher ranked female surfers knocked out in the quarters and semis. Laura Rishworths committed, critical surfing saw her crowned the Hyundai National Womens surfer for 2010.
The Open Mens Final. A thirty minute fight for the title, thats what we all wanted to see and the four remaining surfers did just that!
Billy Stairmand opened with a good wave but his next left hander was a runner and he smacked the shit out of it! Huge inverted turns earned him an excellent score and a solid chance at the title.
Maz, Ricardo and Morehu all surfed well and started to close the gap but with a seven minute lull in the surf, the tension in the water grew.
Billy was in form tho and found another reeling left and as he threw fins and surfed with flair his backhand surfing was rewarded with another excellent ride.
Maz also found an excellent wave but in the last minute of the heat Morehu was comboed and Maz needed another 8+ wave. Ten seconds left in the heat, Richard Christie paddled into one of the few rights and launched a huge air, stomped it and the crowd went fuckin mental! Was it enough?
Unforunately for Ricardo, it wasn't. He had done enough for second position with the air and its excellent score but it wasn't enough to be champ.
The Open Mens Hyundai Nationals Champion for 2010 was Billy Stairmand!

That night we hit Shed 3, (thank you Carlos) and indulged in a HUGE nite of celebrations, aptly supported with the help of Pete at Export Gold, too much bro, thank you again!
As I mentioned earlier from there it all gets pretty foggy but I just want to say another BIG thank you to Gilly Ria for waking me up and getting me to my plane on time. Epic work.
That was the worst flight I've ever endured but I was glad I had made it home. Til next year..
IINAMI.