STORM WARNING

HEAT IS ON: Gisborne's Finn Vette in open men's action on day 1 of the National Surfing Championships in Dunedin. Vette won his heat to advance on a day cut short by the elements. Picture by Cory/NZ Surfing Magazine

GISBORNE teenager Finn Vette negotiated his way through his round 1 heat before one of the biggest active storms around the globe halted action early on the first day of the National Surfing Championships in Dunedin.

Less than two hours of surfing took place at St Clair Beach yesterday as conditions deteriorated and strong winds became a hazard.

The Otago coastline has been battered by winds forecasted to reach 130kmh today, causing swells of up to four metres.

St Clair Beach started out contestable as the open men's division competitors hit the water.

However, by the time the juniors got into action, scoring opportunities were less frequent and winds started to damage the event site, forcing organisers to stop proceedings.

Vette started the champs with a win in his open men's round of 40 heat. He totalled 8.16 out of a possible 20 for his two best waves to beat Aucklanders Cassidy Mann (6.4) and Jackson Peak (5.6), and Dunedin's Ruben Peyroux.

World Surf League Qualifying Series competitor Elliot Paerata-Reid — an open men's finalist last year — posted the best score of the morning, 12.90, to win his heat.

Jack Luke (Taranaki, 8.77) and Damien Phillips (Dunedin, 7.50) were the other heat winners.

Only one heat of the u18 boys' division was contested, Christchurch's Dara O'Malley taking the win.

The truncated day has forced a backlog of heats to be completed during the week.

When conditions improve, several large days of surfing will be required to complete the event on Saturday.

The final day will be streamed live via the Sky Sport Next YouTube channel.

Day 2 action was scheduled to start at 8am this morning at St Clair Beach.