Busy Finn eases into round of 16

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Gisborne's Finn Vette topped the scoring in the round of 32 for under-18 boys at the National Surfing Championships in Dunedin yesterday.

Vette posted 13.3 points out of 20 in his heat, comfortably seeing off Luke Rogers (Dunedin), Bill Byers (Piha) and Tana Clapham (Raglan).

Vette was due back in action today in the u16 division and he is also competing in the open men's field.

In the open men's and women's divisions, defending national champions Aimee Brown and Billy Stairmand made light work of the early rounds at St Clair Beach.

Brown posted a 10-point heat total to advance alongside Zhana Hutchieson, from Taranaki.

The two surfers eliminated Elin Tawharu, one of the pre-event favourites in the women's field.

Other surfers to make it into the final eight included 2019 New Zealand Surf Series winner Raiha Ensor and New Zealand junior representatives Ava Henderson and Natasha Gouldsbury.

Stairmand eased through his heat to advance to the open men's quarterfinals alongside Tom Robinson, from Whangarei. Raglan's Caleb Cutmore had the highest score in the heats, 13.37.

Taylor O'Leary, Navryn Malone and Jayden Willoughby were others to advance with impressive performances.

Vette started the champs with a win in his open men's heat. His combined score of 8.16 from his two best waves was enough to beat Aucklanders Cassidy Mann and Jackson Peak and Dunedin's Ruben Peyroux.

The National Surfing Championships is the first of several domestic events where Kiwi surfers will get the chance to push for selection for the New Zealand team to attend the World Surfing Games in May.

The event finishes on Saturday.