SURFERS were greeted with a solid four-foot peaky east/south-east swell and offshore winds at “Stockies”, Wainui Beach, on Sunday for the first Gisborne Boardriders Club shortboard competition since June.
Taking the club scene to the next level, competitors were delivered out the back with jet ski help, a GBC first.
Jet skis are used regularly in the World Surf League Championship Tour events to ferry competitors into the line-up, increasing the amount of waves ridden and meaning less energy is spent on paddling.
GBC surfing development manager Kelly Ryan said it made the competition more exciting as more waves were ridden.
Other competitors noted the increased wave count from not having to paddle out through the waves, which were relentless at times.
New Wave NZ Surfboards sponsored the event and had a range of prizes for the winners.
Richard Page took out the over-50 division, Noah Collier the under-16s, Manawa Ruru the under-14s, Kelly Ryan the “well-over-35s”, Ian Roux the under-20s, Stella Smith the open women, and Kelly Ryan the open men.
Next competitionThe next competition could potentially be the Mike Lewin Shapes Surf Competition, on hold indefinitely since July waiting for a weekend with the best waves possible.
However, with the criterion being at least a “7/10 day at Wainui” it is highly unlikely it will get the green light this weekend.
The forecast is for two to three feet of east-northeast swell and light winds.
Based on the unpredictability of those swells, and the short period, it could either be super fun or a little too small and inconsistent.
Either way, it will likely be clean, so there will be no excuses not to get out there.
Next week GBC’s GromLab 2017 runs from October 2 to 5.
The four-day surfing development camp offers young surfers an adventuresome and fun-filled experience.
It looks like the young frothers might have some fun waves and nice weather on the cards, unlike last year’s torrential rain and stormy seas.
The surf camp is held in the first week of the October school holidays in the lead-up to the Surfing New Zealand primary school championships on October 7 and 8, and the Surfing New Zealand national secondary school championships from October 9 to 13.
Both competitions will be held in Gisborne.
See below for coverage of Gisborne surfers Ricardo Christie and Saffi Vette, who are competing in Portugal and Japan respectively.
See you out the back.