SURFING - Luck the key to surf legend's long safari

"Malibu" Mal Eggington treats any surfing competition the same whether it is the nationals or the Northland scholastics.
Eggington received wide praise for doing a great job at last weekend's scholastics competition at Sandy Bay but said after more than 25 years organising similar events it wasn't so tough.
The likeable North Coast Boardrider's president said he organises at least three competitions every year, including the Polar Bear Classic, the Hyundai Longboard Classic and Northland Scholastics, as well as several other club competitions.
Eggington was just one of the crew when the newly formed North Coast Boardriders, ran their first competition in 1980. The first Polar Bear Surfing contest was a "dry run" to help the club prepare for the 1981 nationals.
Viv Treacy was one of the top Northland surfers at that event and is another surfer who has put plenty into the sport, but he maintains that Eggington has done more.
"He loves his surfing and has always has done a lot in regard to organisation - and it's not that common amongst surfers - so Northland's lucky to have him," Treacy said.
Eggington has been particularly involved with young surfers coming through the sport, running national junior competitions, as well as being active in Whangarei.
"The job he did for all the young kids at the scholastics was great. I'm not sure the competition would work if it wasn't for Mal and there have been a lot of success coming through the juniors so you've got to take your hat off to him," Treacy said.
So what makes the perfect competition? We put Mal on the spot ...
What makes a good competition?
The calibre of the surfers and of course their confidence in the team running it. If you get a really tight contest, they're confident when they paddle out that the judges will do a good job - then you'll get good surfing.
Who's the best surfer you ever saw surf in Northland at one of your competitions?
It would have to be Ratso Buchanan. He would have to be the best consistently and was a five-time New Zealand champ. He's now a top international judge on the world circuit, he won a couple of Pro Am contests up here. (Daniel) Kereopa of course, and some of the locals like Steve Thompson and Paco Divers are getting right up there.
What changes have you seen in the quarter century or so that you've been involved?
The electronic age has come into it, scoring is all done on the computer now. Surfing New Zealand now operates as a business rather than a voluntary organisation and that's a major change and the support of sponsors has become huge. There's more people surfing and they're surfing better than they used to, well a different style anyway. And there's more females surfing now.
Is there any difference between the way you organise the Northland Scholastic Championships and nationals comp or are they treated the same?
You've got to try and treat them all the same but they all have their own quirks. For example, at the scholastics you have to explain things clearer so everybody knows what they're doing, because a lot of the kids who enter have never surfed in a competition before.
What got you started? What made you bid for your first nationals all those years ago?
A bunch from our newly formed club went down to Taranaki and there was all sorts of bickering and no one really wanted it, so Roger Chrisp stood up and said, ``Yeah, well have it''. We were all trying to get him to sit down but it was too late it was all about mana and we couldn't back down. We wanted to do a good job and we did, it was the biggest nationals that had ever been seen at that stage.
Have you had any big failures?
Yeah, we've had postponements but not often. Once you get it all organised the only thing you can't control is the surf. I've been bloody lucky - you only have to look at the competition last Saturday (at Sandy Bay). It was flat last Friday and we'd already started talking to the guys out at Baylys Beach, in case we had to move it there. But sure enough we had waves on Saturday morning - it's all about luck.