Groms rip in Raglan as Saffi Vette makes the semifinals

Carve session: Gisborne teenager Saffi Vette completes a reentry on a Manu Bay wave during a heat of the GromSearch International final at Raglan. Vette made it to the semifinals. Picture by Cory/NZ Surfing Magazine

GISBORNE teenager Saffi Vette showed she could foot it among the world’s rising stars at the GromSearch International at Raglan.

The 16-year-old was among 16 surfers — eight female, eight male — from seven countries to converge on Manu Bay.

Vette won her two-person round 1 heat, posting 15.95 out of 20 for her two best waves to beat Brazilian Anne Dos Santos (15.45).

That put her straight through to the quarterfinals, which featured Dos Santos again and fellow Kiwi Brie Bennett.

Vette won the heat with 15.25 to Dos Santos’s 11.45 and Bennett’s 11.25.

Australian Kirra-Belle Olsson proved too good for Vette in the semis, carving her way to 17.1 to Vette’s 4.9.

Raglan-based Navron Malone, the son of Gisborne’s Chris Malone, also competed. He was eliminated in round 2.

Xavier Huxtable won an all-Australian men’s final held in solid four-to-six-foot waves. He posted 17.8 to beat Finn Hill (15.3).

Huxtable produced the only 10-point ride of the contest as he scored an almost perfect 19.25 in the semis.

Hawaiian Keala Tomoda-Bannert (16.7) defeated Olsson (15.3) in the women’s final.

The GromSearch has been running since 1999, with a focus on nurturing the development of the next generation of elite surfers.

The international final is held at a different location each year.

Among those to have experienced it and gone on to ultimate success are world championship winners Gabriel Medina, Tyler Wright and Steph Gilmore.