Peter Mitchell's sublime wave selection gave him the supreme award, the Tribute Trophy, in the Remember the Days surfing contest which was held in fine surf at the Bluff on Saturday.
Contest director Wayne Clarke congratulated the Ahipara surfer by noting the natural footer's set wave selection - where he showed a preference for the lefts and scored several rides well over 100 metres in distance - and fluent top-to-bottom surfing proved the difference between him and the other three finalists.
Of them, Daniel Bird's radical and highly progressive approach also impressed but in taking on the rights, he was eventually unable to find waves of length in the final and placed a very close second, only a fraction of a point behind Mitchell. Bringing up third place was the final's only goofyfooter, Luke Broughton, with another natural, Ronnie Berghan in fourth, both struggling to find high-scoring waves coming their way in the final.
The quartet's present in the final was an accurate reflection of the state of the art surfing on the Far North west coast, with all four usually standing out on any given day when the local breaks started firing.
Also notable was Tim Walker, winning the senior division on a longboard and catching what Clarke described as the longest wave of the day.
It was a long day with the event getting underway shortly before low tide at 10am, while a huge turnout of 36 entrants required a total of 18 heats to be run and saw the finals completed right on dark. Clarke noted the wind stayed offshore and the waves were quality all day, with the contest bank really beginning to turn on once the tide had turned (although the break was always tricky and good waves continued to elude some reasonably competent surfers).
For his efforts, Mitchell won the delightfully articulated Tribute Trophy which Clarke had designed from demolition iron. It proved a real highlight on the day and provided endless fascination for anyone pulling the metal surfboard rider on a wire beneath the lip of the forged barrel before a spring release made him shoot back out of the tube.
Meanwhile, Clarke was satisfied the event had been a success judging by the feedback he'd received.
"A day to remember was the general feeling from all who attended the inaugural competition. Very pleased, I'm stoked. Everyone had a good time, everyone of the 36 contestants got a prize," said Clarke, adding any remaining prizes were thrown out to the supporters. He also noted many surfers, given the opportunity to select their prize, proved extremely humble, which allowed the main prizes of a surfboard and mountain bike to be handed out as spot prizes.
It was generous ceremony indeed thanks to an $1800 prize pool amassed by Clarke, who admitted he was overwhelmed with the support local businesses gave towards the event.
The contest director himself received thanks and compliments for a solo effort in organising an incident-free and well run competition from conception to completion. No great surprise really: his local knowledge and canny timing had given local surfers a great day of hanging out together with premium and uncrowded surf to boot.