Surfing: Local surfers solid in opener

Sandy Bay surfer Manu Scott-Arrieta surfed through to the semifinals of the Under 20 Boys Division at the first round of the Billabong Grom Series. Photo / Richard Hodder

Northland's best surfers have come through the first round of the recent Billabong Grom Series at Mt Maunganui relatively unscathed.

Though no finals appearances were claimed, exciting surfing in the Under 20 Boys division saw Sandy Bay's Manu Scott-Arrieta and Kerikeri' Joe Palmer progress through to the semifinal stage.

Surfing in heat one of the semifinals, Scott-Arrieta (9.93) and Palmer (6.33) placed third and fourth respectively to narrowly miss out on progressing to the final four.

The Under 20 Boys kicked off the opening rounds utilising clean morning conditions. Kerikeri's Palmer and Tauranga's Callum Chuter both posted 16.0 point heat totals.

Both are goofy foot surfers and took a liking to the left-hand rip bowl in front of the competition site, hitting clean lips and flying across fast sections through to the inside shore dump.

Palmer and Chuter missed the National Championships in Dunedin earlier this month so were looking to make up for their absence at that event.

However, the Under-20 Boys title belonged to Tauranga surfer Andrew Fraser-McKenzie, who claimed his first Billabong Grom Series win alongside Under 20 Girls division winner Gabriella Sansom (Albany).

Recently crowned national champion Tom Robinson (Whangarei) was one of the youngsters poised to light up the Under-14 Boys competition, as were Kaitaia's Taj Broughton and Mangawhai's's Cory Vercoe.

Surfing through to the quarter-final stage, Robinson put on a good showing, but Finn Johnson (Gisborne) was too good for the junior contingent as he claimed first round honours.

Other Northland surfers at the event included Under 17 Boys quarterfinalist Joseph Critchfield (Mangawhai), as well as Tom Norton (Waipu), Max Brunker (Whangarei) and Jamahl Moselen (Whangarei).