Mount Maunganui surfer Tim O'Connor claimed his maiden victory at the O'Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro completed at Gisborne yesterday.
The result has elevated O'Connor to No1 on the New Zealand Pro Series with one event remaining.
"It's an amazing feeling, I have been trying so hard for so manyyears, I have made so many finals and always fell short placing second or third. I always knew I could get over the line though," O'Connor said after the final.
O'Connor started the final well with a 7.0 point ride early on and finished with a 12.73 point heat total.
"I didn't hear anything out there but I knew I got the first one and that if I got another one I could win so that is what I focused on," said O'Connor. He put the win down to wave selection, even though the waves were scattered all over the line-up in the final.
Another Mountie, Matt Hewitt, held the lead for the first half of the final. Hewitt finished with an 11.20 point heat total requiring a 6.74 for the win which he was disappointed about not achieving.
"Not bad coming home and getting a result and getting some coin but second is definitely not like winning," said Hewitt.
"It was pretty hard to hear out there, I didn't know where I was coming, I just scored myself on the waves I got and when I came in I found out the result."
