Defending longboard champion and current Hyundai Tour ratings leader Thomas Kibblewhite top-scored at the National Surfing Championships at Piha today, with two other heat winners coming from either end of the age spectrum.
Raglan surfer Ben Poulter, 17, won his first heat, with 45-year-old former champion Michael Fitzharris of Gisbornetaking out his.
Seven-time national champion Fitzharris was unrivalled in the water, putting his superior wave knowledge to the test when surfing wider on the Piha Bar than his opponents. Fitzharris finished with a 12.33 point heat total to progress alongside Ant McColl (Mnt), the two surfers eliminating the more fancied Australian Trent Dickey and the youngest competitor in the division, Sam Poulter, of Raglan.
Kibblewhite progressed to the semifinals alongside fellow Aucklander Sam Bradford with a score of 13.33.
The conditions restricted action to only four hours of surfing in the solid 2m westerly swells.
The open longboard threw up several upsets with 2010 National Champion Dylan Barnfield (Ohope) being eliminated in the first round courtesy of Daniel Procter (Gisborne) and Matt Cockayne (Auckland).
Procter missed the first event of the Hyundai Tour last weekend but stormed back into competitive mode today, scoring 11.40 out of a possible 20 points to win his heat in the less than favourable conditions.
"You just had to read the ocean real well, the waves all looked the same but not every wave hit the bank. It is the same for everybody out there though" said Procter who admitted to still trying to find his feet after a month out of the water while on holiday with his family in Australia.
Procter won his first national title at Piha in 2009. A repeat performance would get his year off to a good start and the prestige of another national title is what brought him back to the event this week.
