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2011 Northland Scholastic Surfing Series in the Far North - Event One |
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Written by Tony Baker
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Monday, 11 April 2011 |
Near perfect conditions greeted surfers for the first event of the 2011
Northland Scholastic Surfing Series Event held at Ahipara on Friday 8th April
2011. Clean 1.0-1.5m waves wrapped around the points and were fanned by light
to moderate offshore winds all day. In the highest number of entries seen in a
NSSS event since its start in 2010, competitors and spectators were treated to
some great waves and hot surfing by Northland's
groms.
In the Girls Division Mangawhai Head's
surfer Alana Thrasyvoulou (Rodney College) beat fellow team mate and close friend Robyn
Turnbull (Rodney College) in thier final. Thrasyvoulou
picked off a long peeling left and linked a number of smooth round house
cutbacks all the way to the beach. In her first year competing in the NSSS
Thrasyvoulou was stoked on the waves on offer in the Far North.
In the Longboard Division it was another close battle between Karl Hines (Bream Bay College) and Jake Moffat(Bream Bay College) . Both surfers were pleased to
be surfing the contest peak with only a few others in the water, but it was
Hines who surfed with style and picked off the best waves in the final.
In the Bodyboard Division lone surfer Sam Moffat(Bream Bay College) had it "all to
himself" but was lucky not come away with more than he bargained for after
a close encounter with the reef.
One of the most exciting divisions of the day was the Under 14 Boys division,
which saw current Under 14 National Champion Manu Scott Arrietta (WBHS)
absolutely blitz every wave that came his way. Local Ahipara surfer Sergio
Hansen (Kaitaia College) enjoyed the home break
advantage picking off some of the better waves in his heats, surfing with style
into the finals. Ryan Renall(Rodney
College) also relished in
the left handers and the goofy footer from Mangawhai Heads built on his good
performance in the series from 2010 making the final at Ahipara. In the finals
Hansen's first wave was a long one,
scoring a 5.5 out of a possible 10, and he backed it up with a few other good
scores. But it was Scott-Arrietta who smashed his second wave all the way to
the beach to secure the win.
In the hotly contested Under 16 division there was some explosive surfing going
down, with a few upsets along the way. With 30 entries in the division, it was
evident that the popularity of the location and the series had pumped numbers
up. Early stand-out Matt McGregor(Kamo
High School) showed
confidence in the increasing sized waves linking some near perfect round house
cutbacks with big-end section bashes. McGregor, who was in the 2010 Northland
team was unlucky to be knocked out in Round 2, but put on an impressive show
all the same.
Fraser Seymour (WBHS) was a stand out all day and enjoyed the increase in size
during the event and surfed with ease into the finals. The smooth natural
footer linked some solid off the top surfing with fast, sharp gouges back into
the pocket. Local Ahipara surfer Flynn Cribb also relished at his home break
and picked off some of the better set waves to make the finals. But it was Joe
Palmer (Kerikeri High School) who dominated the final and
showed his forehand advantage by locking in a solid 7.5 out of a possible 10 on
his second wave, building a lead that eventually the other surfers could not
match.
In the highly anticipated Under 18 Boys Division we saw Sandy
Bay and veteran NZ competitor Paxti
Scott-Arrietta(Kamo High School) face off against Mangawhai Head's surfer Louie Smith (Rodney College).
Both surfers are no strangers to the pumping waves of Ahipara and both relished
in their semi-final heats with some explosive surfing . In the final local
Ahipara surfer Marlin McMeekin (Kaitaia
College) picked off some
great waves and showed true local knowledge. Scott Arrietta started off the
final by smashing a number of massive backhand re-entries on 2 consecutive
waves but came unstuck on his third wave which opened the door for his opposition.
Smith replied with one of the highest scoring rides of the day , an 8.0 out of
10, linking half a dozen vertical re-entries with smooth, fast cutbacks surfing
all the way to the beach and taking the win.
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Patxi Scott - Arrieta
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Joe Palmer
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Louie Smith
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Manu Scott - Arrieta
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Matt McGregor
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Fraser Seymour
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Northland Scholastic Surfing Series Event One @ Ahipara 8th April 2011 -
Results:
Under 18 Girls :
1st-Alana Thrasyvoulou (Rodney College) 2nd-Robyn Turnbull (Rodney College)
Longboard:
1st-Karl Hine (Bream Bay College) 2nd -Jake Moffat (Bream Bay College)
Body Board:
1st-Sam Moffat (Bream Bay College)
Under 14 Boys:
1st-Manu Scott-Arrietta(Whangarei Boys High School) 2nd-Sergio Hansen
(Kaitaia College) 3rdRyan Renall (Rodney College) 4th-Matt Jensen (Bream Bay
College)
Under 16 Boys:
1st-Joe Palmer (Kerikeri High School) 2nd-Fraser Seymour (Whangarei Boys
High School) 3rd- Flynn Cribb (Kaitaia College) 4th- Brendon Lagemaat (Rodney
College)
Under 18 Boys:
1st- Louie Smith (Rodney College) 2nd- Paxti Scott-Arrietta (Kamo High
School) 3rd-Marlin McMeekin (Kaitaia College)
The next event of the series will take place on the 6th May 2011 with the final
event scheduled for the 8th June 2011. For more information about the NSSS 2011
Series email northlandscholastics@gmail.com.
The NSSS Committee would like to thank Paul Hansen and the Far North community
for supporting the event at Ahipara, and to all the parents and competitors who
made the event possible.
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