That allowed some of New Zealand’s surfing pioneers to put on a show in the over-60 men’s division.
Whakatane’s Tony Ogilvy and Gisborne’s John Gisby made the most of the small waves.
Ogilvy surfed to a 16.13-point heat total to set up a semifinal with Gisby, who holds the record for most New Zealand titles — 36.
These two will be joined by another fiercely competitive surfer and New Zealand surfing icon — Gisborne’s Chris Ransley, an under-18 national champion in 1969.
Gisborne surfers Ben Hutchings, national champion in 1975, and Ross Moodie had the misfortune to be in the same heat as Gisby and Ransley.
The second semifinal features Rupert Newbold (Whangarei) and Gisborne surfers Graham Breckell and Spring Thompson.
Two more of Gisborne surfing’s senior statesmen — Larry Foster and Gary Quinn — were eliminated in the heat where Ogilvy and Thompson took the top two placings.
Defending men’s longboard champion Zen Wallis, of Piha, has started to find form. He will need to be at his best to resist the challenge of three local surfers in the final.
Two-time champion Daniel Procter posted the highest heat score of the semifinals — 13.9 out of a possible 20. Day 1 standout Guy Edge Burns and powerhouse Sam Johnson are the other Gisborne surfers in the final.
Gisborne’s George Zame claimed the first title of the nationals when he scored 7.1 for a ride in the dying stages of the u18 longboard final. It gave him a heat total of 12.2 and a comfortable victory.
Second was Neko Tohiariki, of Christchurch, with Brie Ryan (Gisborne) third and Tom Butland (Taranaki) fourth.
Auckland’s Sasha Brownlie will head to the ISA World Longboard Championships in China next week as the newly crowned women’s longboard national champion.
Brownlie ran away with the final, posting 11.01 points.
Young Christchurch surfer Estella Hungerford nudged past stepmum Donna Henderson to claim second place, with Ariana Shewry (Taranaki) fourth.
Raglan surfer Daniel Kereopa had the best scores in the men’s stand-up paddleboard heats.
He is bidding to regain a title he has held twice, but not since 2013.
Kereopa will have tough competition in the final from Taranaki’s Jamie Andrews, and Gisborne’s Sean Hovell, a New Zealand representative, and Geoff Pardoe.
Poor surf led to low-scoring heats in the u16 boys’ division.
Raglan’s Kora Cooper reached the final. He was already in the u14 final and has yet to contest his u18 semifinal, where he will seek to achieve a finals treble.
Cooper posted a 12.03-point heat total yesterday to advance alongside Whangarei’s Tom Robinson, who had a heat score of 11.50.
In the second semifinal, Whakatane’s Jack Lee advanced in first place. Gisborne’s Finn Vette went through in second place, having taken much of the heat to find his feet in the tough conditions.
In the u16 girls’ division, Raglan’s Brie Bennett followed in Cooper’s footsteps. She had the highest heat score of the round —13.6 — to advance to the final alongside Gisborne’s Stella Smith.
In the other semifinal, Mt Maunganui’s Georgia Wederell and Christchurch surfer Estella Hungerford advanced.
The swell was expected to remain around the half-metre to one-metre mark today, with light morning winds and onshore easterlies in the afternoon.
Day 5 results of the Health 2000 National Surfing Championships Under-16 boys, semifinals, Heat 1: Kora Cooper (Raglan) 12.03, 1; Tom Robinson (Whangarei) 11.5, 2; Tom Butland (Taranaki) 11.17, 3; Myka Black (Christchurch) 8.63, 4.
Heat 2: Jack Lee (Whakatane) 9.93, 1; Finn Vette (Gisborne) 8.9, 2; Luis Southwood (Whaka) 8.27, 3; Finn Johnson (Gis) 7.23, 4.
U16 girls, semifinals, Heat 1: Georgia Wederell (Mt Maunganui) 11.7, 1; Estella Hungerford (Chch) 10, 2; Natasha Gouldsbury (Levin) 8.87, 3.
Heat 2: Brie Bennett (Raglan) 13.6, 1; Stella Smith (Gis) 10.9, 2; Ava Henderson (Chch) 5.93, 3
Men’s stand-up paddleboard, Round 1, Heat 1: Daniel Kereopa (Rag) 16.8, 1; Sean Hovell (Gis) 10.6, 2; Rangitawhiao Kingi (Gis) 9.3, 3; Sam Loader (Chch) 5.9, 4.
Heat 2: Jamie Andrews (Tara) 13.8, 1; Ollie Houghton (Auckland) 12.1, 2; Steev Peyroux (Dunedin) 6.87, 3.
Heat 3: Geoff Pardoe (Gis) 11.6, 1; Jamie Scott (Whngrei) 11.2, 2; Alan Te Moananui (Kaikoura) 9.16, 3.
Semifinals, Heat 1: Jamie Andrews (Tara) 12.4, 1; Sean Hovell (Gis) 9.87, 2; Ollie Houghton (Auck) 9.14, 3.
Heat 2: Daniel Kereopa (Rag) 14.6, 1; Geoff Pardoe (Gis) 9.33, 2; Jamie Scott (Whngrei) 8.86, 3.
Over-60 men, Round 1, Heat 1: Tony Ogilvy (Whaka) 16.1, 1; Spring Thompson (Gis) 7.84, 2; Larry Foster (Gis) 5.77, 3; Gary Quinn (Gis) 3.97, 4.
Heat 2: Graham Breckell (Gis) 8, 1; Rupert Newbold (Whngrei) 7.64, 2; Ady van der Beek (Mnt) 4.23, 3; Ken Nicholson (Auck) 1.3, 4.
Heat 3: John Gisby (Gis) 13.5, 1; Chris Ransley (Gis) 9.9, 2; Ben Hutchings (Gis) 6.37, 3; Ross Moodie (Gis) 4.37, 4.
Men’s longboard, semifinals, Heat 1: Zen Wallis (Piha) 13.6, 1; Guy Edge Burns (Gis) 12.5, 2; Hamiora Gibson (Gis) 6.33, 3; Rupert Newbold (Ocean Beach) 5.47, 4.
Heat 2: Daniel Procter (Gis) 13.9, 1; Sam Johnson (Gis) 12.6, 2; Kelly Ryan (Gis) 10.6, 3; Geoff Pardoe (Gis) 6.5, 4.
Women’s longboard final: Sasha Brownlie (Auck) 11.1, 1; Estella Hungerford (Chch) 6.83, 2; Donna Henderson (Chch) 6.33, 3; Ariana Shewry (Tara) 5.1, 4.
Junior men’s longboard final: George Zame (Gis) 12.2, 1; Neko Tohiariki (Chch) 7.97, 2; Brie Ryan (Gis) 5.53, 3; Tom Butland (Tara) 5.53, 4.
