Blair Stewart Charging

Above: Blair Stewart straight-lining through a huge barrel at Teahupoo during his second round heat today. Image ASP / Robertson

Blair Stewart (Gis) has surfed his way through some barrels on day one of the Air Tahiti Nui ZonZipper Trials in Tahiti.

Blair won both of his heats contested in solid 6-8ft waves at Teahupoo – the wave regarded as the heaviest in the world.

Stewart was one of 32 surfers from around the world that lined up alongside 32 Tahitian surfers in the trials – the winner getting a wildcard into the main event of the ASP Billabong Pro.

Stewart is only the second Kiwi surfer to ever contest the event behind his close Gisborne friend Maz Quinn who contested the event in 2002.

Stewart defeated surfers from Australia, Hawaii, France, Japan and Tahiti to move through to the final 16 surfers.

The event is likely to be completed tomorrow (Wednesday 18 August).

Heat 1
1, Blair Stewart (NZL) 12.33, 2, Nick Vasicek (AUS) 12.20, 3, Billy Kempur (HAW) 5.23, 4, Ben Sanchez (FRA) 0.00

Heat 2
1, Blair Stewart (NZL) 10.17, 2, Shimpei Hirogushi (JAP) 6.64, 3, Teavanui Dinard (TAH) 6.10, 4, Tereva David (TAH) 5.20