The longboarders finally got their feet wet at the National Surfing Championships in the Far North yesterday. Defending longboard champion Michael Fitzharris from Gisborne again showed the rest of the field exactly why he was the clear favourite in the division. Surfing in the first heat of the day, Fitzharrisscored 15.50 out of 20 on the way to the heat win and progression into the quarter finals. Fitzharris was not alone in impressing the judges as several of the top seeds went on to win their first round heats. Auckland's Phil Morris and Gisborne's Daniel Proctor both won their heats while third seed Kelly Ryan progressed to the next round in second place behind a barnstorming performance from Hawkes Bay's Brendon Young, who posted 13 to win his heat. Unseeded Daniel Kereopa attracted plenty of interest to see if he could make the transition from his preferred shortboard to the longer version. Kereopa didn't fail to impress going for some huge turns in the punchy close outs on the inside. However, after falling on several waves, he only managed one scoring ride of 8.25 but it was still enough to win his heat. Kereopa will now meet Ryan in the quarters alongside Young and Matt Cockayne who is a highly touted up and comer. As well as the longboard division, the over-35, over 40s, 45s and 50s as well as the under-14 boys were on the water yesterday. A building swell is already starting to show on the beach and combined with rumours of big swells in the Otago region, organisers are confident the event will be relocated back to the points today. If conditions are good, the Open Men's division will feature in competition today, with all top seeds scheduled to surf.
