The Comp Site - Image Chris Garden

The 2009 NMD/Mountain Dew Dion Wells memorial was held on Saturday 7th March 2009 in great 2-3ft (1-1.5m) waves at Allan's Beach on the Otago Peninsula.

With competitors meeting at St Kilda Beach at 7am on Saturday morning the call was soon made to move out along the Otago Peninsula to the wave magnet of Sandfly Bay, with Allan's Beach as a good backup. Upon arriving at Sandfly we were informed that there were better waves further out the peninsula and the crew swiftly moved along out to Allan's Beach to find some peaky 2-3ft lines unloading on to the well formed banks.

With the biggest turnout ever for the annual memorial event the Open Men's division was stacked with the first round of 32 hitting the water not long after we arrived at Allan's. The first round in the Open Men's was filled to the brim with talent, current BBSNZ Tour Front runners, past event champions and even a past Isolated Challenge winner all vying for the best trophy in NZ Bodyboarding. The level of bodyboarding was impressive from the first heat with some strong combos being thrown down in the fun, punchy bowls. Current tour leader Mitchell Tombleson (MNT) progressed easily through his heat as did stalwart Sam Wells (CHCH) and dark horse Paulus Herewini (CHCH).

With the first round out of the way things got cracking straight in to the second round with some excellent, clean waves still coming through and offering some great waves. Richard McKenna (WEL) blitzed through his Quarter Final heat to the Semis with a dominant display including a big ARS's and several powerful rolls. Aran Naismith (GBI) surfed the heat of his life to just progress to the semis by 0.3. Casey Keen (DUN) surfed really well throughout his heat and also lined up a spot in the semis with his trademark bodyboarding style. Luke Elliot (MNT) also linked together some great combos to push through in to the last 8.

Boys ready for their heat - Image Chris Garden

Straight up after the Open Men's first two rounds was the newly adopted Senior Men's 28 and over division. It was great to see riders from all over the country competing in this division with a strong presence. Local 'old boys' Hayden Parsons (DUN) and Aidan Dickson (DUN) made no mistake and blazed their way through to the final with some solid riding, big ARS's, tight spins and sick looping rolls. Jorin Seivers (AKL) joined them along with Nathan Denton from (KAIK).

Next to hit the water was the Dropknee with the waves now becoming a bit wallier and not so fast. Local ripper Craig Latimer (DUN) was in hot form tearing his way through his first heat. Bayden Barber (NAP) made sure his trip to the bottom of New Zealand wasn't wasted and progressed through to the final with some strong fast turns all over the peaky Allan's waves.

Back in the water right after the DK semi final was the Semis of the Open Means. With the waves starting to become a little wind affected it was really coming down to the most powerful maneuvers on the best waves on offer. Mitch Tombleson continued his excellent form finding power for some loopy rolls on the difficult waves. Local favourite Casey Keen got some great waves in his semi and managed to bust out a couple of times to progress through to the final. Luke Elliot used all of his experience to get some of the better set waves and combined some big maneuvers on the outside section with some strong linking moves through to the inside. An in form Richard McKenna rounded out the top 4 and was looking in devastating form.

The finals started off with the Open Women. It was great to see a couple of new faces amongst the final 4 with Korrin Dakin (TAR) and Julia Heasman (AUS) both entering their first contests in NZ. It was the two newbie's up against the two seasoned BBSNZ competitors in Mel McElwee (WEL) and Mihi Wells (AKL). The girls surfed an excellent final with the scores sea sawing throughout the heat and places swapping right up until the final buzzer. With some long rides, tight spins and big rolls being throw down in was a tight battle between the 3 girls. Korrin Dakin placed a credible 4th just behind Wellington ripper Mel McElwee. It was a tightly fought battle between second and first with the calm, composed Mihi Wells taking 1st place and newcomer Juila Heasman finishing strongly in 2nd place.

Up next was the Amateur Men's final which was a 5 man final with a mix of Dunedin locals, a couple of Mount Maunganui boys and one international rider. With some great surfing going down in the clean conditions it looked to be anyone's final. Although the 'Amateur' tag is given to this division there was still some impressive surfing going down with fast, critical spins and some solid, punchy rolls on the fun, workable waves. Mt Maunganui rider Tom West finished up in 5th with local man Stefan Rapley in 4th. Another Mount rider Tom Steel took 3rd and the youngest competitor in the whole event, Willy Nepia Murray took out 2nd. This meant that South American ripper Ezequiel Castrovillar had taken out the Amateur division of the 2009 NMD/Mountain Dew Dion Wells Memorial and took away his brand new prize of an NMD board.

Up after the Amateur Men was the DK final. This was a true mix of North and South with the battle of current tour leader Luke Elliot up against the well known dropknee prowess of Craig Latimer and Casey Keen of Dunedin as well as Bayden Barber of the Hawkes Bay. The guys surfed really well in the waves that were now making things a bit difficult for the riders. All 4 of the finalists got a good wave under their belts with some sharp turns and powerful floaters off the crumbly sections before getting a couple of waves later in the heat. It was amazingly close between the 4 riders and almost impossible to differentiate as to who had won. In the end it was the tightest finals finish in BBSNZ history with only 0.2 separating 1st from 4th! 4th placed Casey Keen only just missed out on 3rd on a count back, Bayden Barber took 3rd spot with local Craig Latimer in 2nd and 0.1 ahead of Craig was Luke Elliot who picked up the 2009 NMD/Mountain Dew Dion Wells memorial DK first place prize and at the same time the 2009 BBSNZ DK Tour Championship with an unassailable 3 wins from 3 in 2009!

Next up was the under 18 final and this was an all North island affair with 4 guys making the trip down from the north to take on the icy waters of Dunedin. There was some really solid riding from these 4 guys in the final and if this riding is anything to go by then the future of NZ bodyboarding is in safe hands. All 4 riders made the most of the deteriorating conditions with some solid rolls, poppy inverts and clean, smooth spins. In 4th place and likely to be a huge threat in the future was 13 year old Willy Nepia-Murray from port Waikato. In a closely fought final it was the powerful riding of Mitchell Tombelson that just lucked out to Andrew Corkill of Taranaki with Andrew taking second spot ahead of Mitchell. And once again it was Luke Elliot of Mount Maunganui taking home the top prize and the bragging rights in the U18 division of the 2009 NMD/Mountain Dew Dion Wells Memorial.

Victorious Richard McKenna - Image Chris Garden

So after a long day of surfing and the time at about 6.30pm it was time for the final heat of the day to hit the water. The Open Men's Final. There had been some great surfing over the day in this division with some amazing surfing, big boosts, a few upsets just to make things interesting. The final four comprised of two Mount locals, a well respected Wellington ripper and one of Dunedins finest. The conditions were not what they had been through the earlier rounds but all 4 finalists still went as hard as they could. Some tidy rolls coupled with tight spins and a couple of good punts meant that this was going to be an interesting final. Finishing in 4th was the local man Casey Keen who looked knackered after almost a 13 hour day of competition and 2 finals. In a credible third was Luke Elliot who was unable to make it three from three in his finals appearances at this year's event. So the final two were the current tour front runner Mitchell Tombleson, and the seasoned campaigner Richard McKenna. It had been a long time between drinks for McKenna but this time he had finally nailed it, taking the top spot with Tombleson finishing up 2nd. McKenna said he was lost for words and just super stoked to take out the event.

All in all it was an excellent weekend with great waves, excellent weather and great vibes around the contest and prize giving. Our thoughts go out to Dion and his family and this event just represents what bodyboarding is about. Having fun, enjoying nature and having a great time with your friends. This event is out of respect for Dion and to celebrate his life in the only way we know how, by bodyboarding and having a great time with a smile on all of our faces!







A huge thank you to all of the loyal, hardworking sponsors! These events wouldn’t take place without them on board:

NMD - www.nmdstox.com
Mountain Dew - www.mountaindew.co.nz
Isolated Online Shop - www.shop.isolated.co.nz
BBSNZ - www.bbsnz.isolated.co.nz

1st Mihi Wells, Auckland
2nd Julia Heasman, Australia
3rd Melanie McElwee, Wellington
4th Korrin Dakin, Taranaki

Senior Men
1st Aidan Dickson, Dunedin
2nd Hayden Parsons, Dunedin
3rd Jorin Sievers, Auckland
4th Nathan Denton, Kaikoura

Under 18
1st Luke Elliot, Mount Maunganui
2nd Andrew Corkill, Taranaki
3rd Mitchell Tombleson, Mt Maunganui
4th Willy Nepia-Murray, Port Waikato

Amateur
1st Ezequiel Castrovillar, Argentina
2nd Willie Nepia-Murray, Port Waikato
3rd Tom Steel, Mount Maunganui
4th Stefan Rapley, Dunedin
5th Tom West, Mount Maunganui

Under 14
1st Willy Nepia Murray, Port Waikato