Early-round success for local riders

THEIR PLAYGROUND THE OCEAN: The country’s best student wave riders are in town for the National Scholastic Surfing Championships. Day 2 got under way this morning at Makorori Beach and pictured in action is Gisborne surfer Saffi Vette, who won her under-14 girls’ heat. Around 110 students from 12 regions are competing. The contest runs to Friday. Picture by Paul Rickard

THE National Scholastic Surfing Championships began yesterday and the Gisborne under-16 and u18 boys enjoyed some early-round success.

Despite difficult conditions at Makorori Beach during the first round of the contest, all Gisborne’s surfers progressed.

Riaki Ruru and Thomas Dixon-Smith were the standout performers, both winning their heat.

The Gisborne team had surfed well so far and confidence levels were high, coach Andy Vette said.

“Our surfers are as good as any at the event and no one is surfing better than them.

“The standard is really high.”

Big tides and ruffled conditions made it challenging for the young surfers.

“It was a solid three to four foot and quite shifty, especially when the tide dropped mid-morning,” Vette said.

“The paddle-outs were hard and by the time they got out there the situation had changed.

“It was a game of wave selection and being really flexible and focused.”

Otago surfer Elliot Brown posted the single highest wave score of the day with a near-perfect 9.50 out of 10.

In the dying stages of his heat, the goofy-footer stroked in to a perfect right-hander and completed three big backhand turns.

The event continues today with the girls’ divisions and a few elimination rounds later on. Conditions are similar, with light winds and a dropping swell.

Around 110 of New Zealand’s top school-aged surfers will compete in the event.

Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Taranaki, Hawke’s Bay, Wellington, Canterbury, West Coast and Dunedin/Southland teams are contesting the event.

The contest is organised by Surfing New Zealand and presented by Eastland Community Trust.