Mount surfer takes win then leaves for Brazil

Mount Maunganui surfer Elin Tawharu won in Raglan before leaving for Brazil. Photo / Matt/NZ Surf Photography

Raglan surfer Taylor Hutchison made it three in a row at the Backdoor GromBash completed at Raglan on Sunday after winning the Premier Under 20 boys' division.

Joining Hutchison was Saffi Vette (Gis) who won the Under 20 girls' division, moving up from the Under 17 girls' division with the biggest win of her career.

The surfers had to endure strong cross onshore winds and wobbly 1.0m - 1.4m waves that only the points of Manu Bay could line up to resemble a clean line up.

Despite missing the Under 20 girls' division final due to pending international flights, Mount Maunganui's Elin Tawharu made up for that earlier in the day with a win in the Under 17 division.

Tawharu posted an 11.7 point heat total for the win. It was her fourth straight win in the division giving her an unassailable rankings lead with one event remaining.

On Sunday night she flew out to Brazil to compete at the International Rip Curl GromSearch final.

Finishing second was Brie Bennett (Rag) with Tiana - Breeze de Mooij (Mount Maunganui) in third and Zhana Hutchison (Tara) in fourth.

Bennett went on to win the Under 14 girls' to take the overall rankings for the year, with the Backdoor GromBash being the final event. Bennett was sitting in second place behind Ariana Shewry (Oakura) for much of the final until Shewry dropped in on the same wave as Bennett and incurred an interference putting her back to second.

Hutchison's win sees him reclaim the No 1 ranking from Harrison Whiteside after his fourth straight win in the division.

Hutchison was simply too strong for his three competitors in the 25 minute final. Double finalist Jared Gebert (Ohope) was his closest rival posting a 12.33 point heat total compared to Hutchison's 14.40. Callum Chuter (Mount Maunganui) placed third in the final ahead of Jay Piper - Healion (Whitianga) who surfed in his first national level final.

Australian Axel Rose-Curotta claimed the Under 17 boys' division but could not repeat his winning performance in the Under 14 Boys' division finishing runner up to Kora Cooper (Rag).

In the final of the Under 17 Boys' division, Rose-Curotta used his polished backhand to post a 13.83 point heat total. It is the third year the youngster has crossed the Tasman Sea to compete at the event and the first time he has finalled. Dylan Preston (Mount Maunganui) was second, Jared Gebert third and Caleb Cutmore (Ham) was fourth.

In the Under 14 boys' it was one near-perfect wave surfed by Kora Cooper (Rag) that completely flipped the final. Cooper went from fourth to first thanks to a 9.17 point ride.

Saffi Vette (Gis) snatched victory in the Under 20 girls' division surfing to a 5.9 on her last wave with 10 seconds to go in the final. Her win came at the demise of Mount Maunganui's Raiha Ensor, who led for much of the 25 minutes.

Vette finished with a 14.8 point heat total piping Ensor's 13.07 with Claudia Fraser (Piha) in third.