NORTH Makorori surfer Saffi Vette showed up the men when she took out the open division in the Gisborne Boardriders Club shortboard competition eight at the weekend.
Surfing at her local break, 15-year-old Vette stole the show. She won the open division, in her first time surfing in the division normally dominated by men, and the open women’s division, pipping another 15-year-old Gisborne Girls’ High School student, Stella Smith.
The 30 competitors were greeted with soft but contestable two-to-three-foot surf on Saturday morning, with cross-shore winds from the north.
Also notable was Patrick Braithwaite’s return to competition. He won most of his heats and finished as the over-35 champion and open runner-up.
Wainui School Year 6 student Ben Kassel took third place in the under-16 division, punching a creditable five years above his age.
He also finished runner-up in the under-14 division.
Noah Collier showed consistency and confidence, taking back-to-back under-16 victories.
The competition results are given at the end of this column.
Meanwhile, Gisborne/Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie made a good start in his bid to make his Championship Tour (CT) 2018 dreams come true in Hawaii.
Christie came a close second in his Round 3 heat yesterday, progressing to the final 32 surfers in the 3000-point-rated HIC Pro at Sunset Beach.
In solid, head-high-to-overhead waves, Christie dominated much of the heat, won by defending champion Mason Ho (Hawaii), putting on a workshop in power surfing combined with several critical manoeuvres.
Having grown up on a diet of powerful Mahia walls, historically Christie has done well in the big, solid, right-hand reef breaks on the Qualifying Series.
His win at the Martinique Pro in April was in such conditions, and his ninth-place finish at the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach in 2014 propelled him into the 2015 CT.
The next big competition on the QS is the 10,000-point-rated Hawaiian Pro at Haleiwa, starting on November 12, before the QS event of the year, the Vans World Cup at Sunset Beach, begins on November 25, also offering a maximum 10,000 points to the winner.
Christie sits in 20th place on the QS, with 10,950 points, but will need to finish the year in the top 10 (with at least 20,000 points).
Only a surfer’s top five results count so Christie will need three more big results to secure a place in the 2018 CT. He can qualify from outside the top 10 but only if surfers above him also qualify by way of the CT.
This weekend has all the makings of summer arriving early: warm weather, and small waves.
Gisborne surfers will be doing well to find a ripple anywhere, with a small and weak north-east wind swell pushing in with variable northerly winds predicted.
Might be time to get on to those tasks that need doing, because you never know when that next swell will arrive.
See you out the back.
Gisborne Boardriders Club shortboard competition eight results —
Open: Saffi Vette 1; Patrick Braithwaite 2; Sean Hovel 3; George Busby 4.
Open women: Saffi Vette 1; Stella Smith 2; Abi Daunton 3; Daizee Rawls 4.
Over-35 men: Patrick Braithwaite 1; Kelly Ryan 2; Andrew McCulloch 3; Blair Dods 4.
Under-16: Noah Collier 1; Stella Smith 2; Ben Kassel 3; Manawa Ruru 4.
U14: Manawa Ruru 1; Ben Kassel 2; Hue Cowie 3; Daizee Rawles 4; Asia Braithwaite 5.
Over-50: Richard Paige 1; Sam Mottart 2.
Over-60: John Gisby 1; Ross Moodie 2; Max Bryant 3.