Good conditions expected for this weekend's Polar Bear Classic surf comp at Northland's Sandy Bay

A freesurfer has the Poor Knights as a backdrop to his ride at a previous Polar Bear Surf Classic held at Sandy Bay. The event is on again today and tomorrow.

Almost 100 surfers will take to the waves in this weekend's Polar Bear Classic surf competition at Sandy Bay.

The Polar bear classic was first held in 1981 as a fundraiser for the North Coast Boardriders and an excuse to invite other clubs who could make the trek for a good party in the middle of winter, a fun competition at Sandy Bay on the Tutukaka coast.

And for the first time this year North Coast Boardriders is offering $1000 to both the Open Men's and Open Women's division winners.

Organiser Tia Lord said surf conditions were looking a bit ropey during the week, but today and tomorrow are expected to provide some good surfing conditions.

''It looks like there should be good conditions. There's an offshore (wind) and the banks are good so it should be very surfable,'' she said.

She said there are 94 surfers booked in the various sections and she was still getting inquiries from people keen to take part yesterday.

"We've still got a couple of spots left though.''

She said some good surfers would be taking part, including Zen Wallace, Dune Kenning and Nicola Colsen-Koster.

Although the surf is unpredictable at this time of the year, the competition has seen some impressive surf over the years and some even more impressive surfing from the region's top surfers, plus a few from as far away as Gisborne and Taranaki.

The club says equal prize money is just one step in recognising top female athletes for their contribution to the sport and paving the way for equal opportunities within the surfing community and the surfing industry.

The Women's division will be named the 'Dive! Tutukaka, Open Women's in honour of new sponsor. Mammoth Insulation is the major sponsor again and has put up the prize money for the 'Mammoth Insulation, Open Men's division.

The Polar Bear is always well supported and there are surfers who are now surfing in the over 40s and 50s divisions that attended those early Polar Bear as grommets.

They will be competing in: The Open (this is the Trophy division) Open Women's, Over 40s, Over 50s/60s , Longboard (over 9ft), Under 18s, Under 14s, Under 10s

Surfing starts at 8am both days.