Mount Maunganui paddle-out honours Mauao landslide victims

Surfers at Tay St Beach in Mount Maunganui take part in a paddle-out alongside the Billabong Grom Comp to honour those who died in the January 22 Mauao landslide. Photo/ Anna Heath

More than 100 surfers entered the water at Tay St on Saturday as part of a paddle-out paying tribute to those who died in a landslide at Mount Maunganui.

The January 22 landslide from Mauao into the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park after heavy rain killed six people. Two people were killed in the same weather event when a landslide hit a Welcome Bay Rd home in rural Pāpāmoa.

The paddle-out, facilitated by the Bay Boardriders club and Surfing New Zealand, was held alongside the Billabong Grom Comp surfing event site.

The tribute brought together competitors, organisers, families and local surfers, with participants forming a large circle in the water before observing a moment of silence.

“We lost friends in our surfing community,” Bay Boardriders president James Jacob said of the tragedy.

Jacob said the paddle-out allowed people to grieve together, connect with the water and “be uplifted” after a difficult week for Tauranga.

“It is a really good opportunity for us to show our respect in these times to the victims and their families,” he said.

The paddle-out took place beside the event site for the Billabong Grom Comp, one of New Zealand’s longest-running junior surfing competitions.

The annual event attracts young surfers from around the country and is considered an important development pathway for emerging talent, as well as a key gathering point for the wider surfing community.

Surfing New Zealand chief executive Ben Kennings said organisers had held discussions about whether it was appropriate for the Grom Comp to go ahead following the tragedy.

“We definitely looked at that,” Kennings said. “But we were working with [the] council who said ‘We are open for business’.”

Surfers form a ring at sea in tribute to those lost in the Mount Maunganui landslide. Photo / Anna Heath

Kennings said the decision was made to proceed with the competition, while ensuring space was created to acknowledge the loss felt by the community.

“The paddle-out was an important way for everyone involved in the event to come together and pay their respects,” he said.

Paddle-outs are a long-standing tradition within surf culture, often held to honour surfers who have died or to show solidarity during times of tragedy.

Surfers typically paddle into the water, form a circle and reflect together, reinforcing the close bond between the ocean and the surfing community.

Local surfers said the scale of the paddle-out reflected both the popularity of the Grom Comp and the deep sense of connection surfers feel to each other and to the mountain.

Bay Boardriders and Surfing New Zealand acknowledged the support shown by the wider community and said their thoughts remained with the families and friends of those who lost their lives.

The six people killed in the Mauao landslide have been formally identified as Pakuranga College student couple Max Furse-Kee and Sharon Maccanico, both 15; Rotorua friends Susan Doreen Knowles and Jacqualine Wheeler, both 71; Swedish tourist Måns Loke Bernhardsson, 20; and Morrinsville teacher Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50.

Police cordons remained on Saturday after it was announced some specialist teams would withdraw from the recovery operation, nine days after a tragic landslide at the Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park. Photo / Anna Heath

Recovery operations continue at the Adams Ave slip site, but have started to wind up, with some specialist search teams withdrawing over the weekend.

Tauranga City Council has advised that Mauao, including all walking tracks, will remain closed until further notice while assessments continue.

The two people killed in the Welcome Bay Rd landslide were 10-year-old Austen Keith Richardson and his grandmother, 71-year-old Yao Fang.

Tom Eley is a multimedia journalist at the Waikato Herald. He previously worked for the Weekend Sun and SunLive.