Gibbs impressed by next-level moves

BOUNDARIES PUSHED: Steve Gibbs, here in action at the waveski surfing national championships in Gisborne in March, finished fifth in the veterans’ division of the world championships at Pantin Beach, Galicia, in Spain. While disappointed not to make the final, he was in awe at some of the aerial manoeuvres on show. File picture by Paul Rickard

Gisborne waveski surfer Steve Gibbs is back from the world championships in Spain, without a title but exhilarated by the competition and the conditions for the contest.

Two-time world champion Gibbs, 63, got as far as the semifinals, finishing fifth overall in his division.

Waves of 10 to 12 feet at Pantin Beach, Galicia, kept surfers on their toes “and wondering about survival at times”, he said.

“Scoring was very low throughout, with scores of two or three out of 10 showing how difficult scoring was on close-out sets.

“The sporting triplets of ‘Luck, Fate and Chance’ had a big say in proceedings. But that did not detract from the event. The winners were worthy of their achievements at this level.”

Gibbs said this year’s championships had the subtitle “Xtreme Pantin”, which was apt.

The waveski surfers who were crowned champions were remarkable athletes who pushed the sport to another level with the quality of their aerial manoeuvres.

French competitors dominated the competition, but their procession to the podium places was interrupted by two world-class Australian waveski surfers — Rees Duncan, who won the open and masters’ titles, and Steve Farthing, who won the grandmasters’ title.

Gibbs won the world grandmasters’ (50-59) title in Gisborne in 2007 and the world veterans’ (60-plus) title in Santa Cruz, Portugal, in 2016.

That year he was named senior sportsman of the year in the Tairawhiti Maori Sports Awards.

Before the 2016 world champs, Gibbs had talked about that event being his last worlds.

But the opportunity to attend this year’s world titles in Spain as defending veterans’ champion was too good to pass up.

“I didn’t do as well as I would have liked, but it was great to be part of a world championship event and be with like-minded people enjoying the sport of waveski surfing,” he said.

The veterans’ event in which Gibbs competed was won by American Stewart Diesel-Reynolds. South African Tony Dubber was second, Mike Marsh from the UK was third and American Roger Adams was fourth.

Gibbs, an artist and educator who co-founded Toihoukura School of Contemporary Maori Visual Arts at Tairawhiti Polytechnic, said Spain was a “fantastic place to visit”, and the surfing was great.

“The waves are big and the water temperatures are around 12 degrees,” he said.

The next world titles are scheduled to be held in Peru.

Gibbs is hopeful that some of the athletes pushing the boundaries of the sport will be at next year’s New Zealand Open Waveski Surfing Titles, scheduled to be hosted by the Turanganui Waveski Surfing Club in Gisborne at Easter.