TOP CLASS: Elin Tawharu won the girls' under-17 division at Fitzroy Beach on Sunday. PHOTO: Col/Surf2Surf.com
TOP CLASS: Elin Tawharu won the girls' under-17 division at Fitzroy Beach on Sunday. PHOTO: Col/Surf2Surf.com
They don't know where in the world they are going but the thought of competing against an elite group of the young surfers at the International Rip Curl GromSearch Final somewhere on the globe has two young Kiwi surfers fizzing.
Caleb Cutmore (Ham) and Elin Tawharu (Mount Maunganui) won theirrespective under-17 divisions at the Rip Curl GromSearch held at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth on Sunday.
The surf built for the final day of the event as expected and a 1m - 1.5m swell gave the competitors more than enough to play with despite the persistent westerly winds.
Cutmore won the boys' final on his last wave in the dying seconds of the final. Cutmore posted a 7.23-point ride on his last wave for a 14.83-point heat total to leapfrog Jared Gebert (Ohope) who had led the final from the outset.
Gebert posted a 14-point heat total but he was left requiring a 7.57 effort to get the lead back from Cutmore. Shane Kraus (Piha) posted the highest single wave score of the final, a 7.83 early on but never managed to find the 6.18 score he needed to win the event while Waipu surfer Tom Norton placed fourth on 11.90 points.
Mount Maunganui's Elin Tawharu evened up the ledger with Saffi Vette (Gis), taking her second win of the summer. The two surfers have gone back and forward at each event this year with Tawharu winning the last two, including today when she surfed to a 12.20-point heat total by defeating Vette on 10.67.
"I am so stoked to win this event, I have been wanting to win it for the last few years so now I have finally done that and I am lucky because it is my last year in the division," Tawharu said.
"It was good to get that first wave, it just gives you confidence for the rest of the final so yeah, that seven-point ride was vital for me in getting the win."
Tiana-Breeze de Mooij (Mount Maunganui) placed third in the final for the second consecutive event while local surfer Zhana Hutchieson (Waitara) was fourth with her first final finish of the year.
Kora Cooper (Rag) resumed normal transmission in the under-14 boys' division after a comprehensive win. After missing the final last weekend, the young natural foot surfer made no mistake on Sunday. He posted a perfect 10-point ride on Saturday and then in the final he surfed to a 15-point heat total.
Cooper's closest rival, Jack Hinton (Mount Maunganui) needed a near perfect 9.68-point ride to take the win but was more than happy to secure his best ever result. James Ririnui (Mount Maunganui) placed third in the final ahead of Myka Black (Chch), both surfers only finding one good wave in the final.
Anna Brock (Mount Maunganui) got the edge over her sister Sophia in the final of the under-12 girls' division after posting a 12.17-point heat total. The result backs up her finals finish last weekend and Piha in the under-14 girls' division. Amanda Gouldsbury (Levin) placed third in the final.
