Mount Maunganui surfers Alex Dive and Matt Hewitt are still in contention after a miserable first day at the O'Neill Cold Water Classic surfing competition in Gisborne yesterday.
Despite conditions being less than desirable with 30 knot onshore winds, cold temperatures and a messy 2m swell, the event kicked off with
a full day of explosive surfing.
After an absence of 13 years for top level Association of Surfing Professionals Men's events in New Zealand, it was still Maz Quinn who impressed on day one, while Dive and Hewitt safely progressed through the first round.
Fourteen years ago Quinn shocked the surfing world by placing second in a New Zealand ASP event before going on to qualify for the ASP World Championship in 2002, the only Kiwi to ever do so.
Now retired from international competition, an event at his home break was too hard to refuse entry.
"It would have been good to have this size comp at home when I was competing internationally but better late than never" said Quinn. "To have a six star event in your backyard is awesome for the local surfers and good for the young kids to watch too."
On his performance, Quinn felt it was a bit of a lucky dip with the average waves on offer.
"I had a slow start but got two at the end and yeah, stoked I made it through in the end."
Quinn is confident the conditions will improve over the coming days for all the surfers.
