Surfing: Kiwis bow out of junior champs in fickle waves

Mount Maunganui surfer Elin Tawharu in action at the ISA World Junior Surfing Championship. Photo/ ISA / Chris Grant

The New Zealand team exited the 2015 Vissla ISA World Junior Surfing Championship on Saturday after their final six surfers bowed out of competition.

Day five of the event at Oceanside Beach, California, US, saw more waves in the 1m range with light onshore winds often making good waves hard to find on the beach break.

Elin Tawharu (Mount) was New Zealand's top placed surfer, finishing 17th in the under-16 girls division.

Tawharu was ousted in the dying stages of her afternoon heat when British surfer Ellie Turner posted a 6.10 ride in the last minute to pip Tawharu by 0.20 points - 12.53 vs 12.33.

Kehu Butler was New Zealand's top-ranked male surfer, finishing 29th overall. After progressing through his first two heats of the day, Butler's luck ran out in the often fickle waves.

"Yeah the waves were really hard today, I managed to get some nice runners in the earlier heats but in that last heat I couldn't get the best waves and the conditions got really harsh. There wasn't much I could do," said a devastated Butler.

Butler has one further year left in the under-16 boys division and hopes to get a better result next year when the event will be held in the Azores Islands off Portugal.

Also leaving the competition in the under-18 division was Callum Chuter (Mount) who finished the event in 33rd place.

Chuter was left requiring a 5.18 point ride to oust his opponents from Peru and Hawaii when the final hooter sounded.

Raiha Ensor (Mount) did not advance in her third-round match up when she was left requiring a 5.24 point ride for progression alongside Tawharu. Ensor finished the event in 25th overall.

The youngest member of the team, 14-year-old Kaya Horne also dropped out of the competition after his first heat of the day after the diminutive young natural footer incurred an interference.

Horne was well within range of progressing had it not been for a slight error of judgment when he mistakenly dropped in on his opponent.

Horne finished the event in 49th place.

It was a tough day for the Kiwi team who now sit in 17th place overall and will at best climb a few spots if results of other teams go their way during the final two days of the event.