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8:00pm
Saturday 14th January
Well the 50th Anniversary of the Hyundai
National Surfing Championships is set up to be a big week. Rego comes to an end at the Piha Surf life
Saving Club. We distributed half the
Hyundai 50th Anniversary towels to entrants. It was good to catch up with heaps of people
after a long winter. Of course the groms
were first in to register. They swooped
on most of the black towels which was a good change from the traditional blue.
The event site is set up and ready to go with the massive Hyundai Bach and
marquees. Tomorrow the Hyundai team will
get busy selling raffle tickets along side the host club Lion Rock Boardriders
with all proceeds going back to the club.
The surf is HUGE! Lets see what tomorrow
brings. The surf is expected to drop
over the next few days so we will get under way with some surfing. Don’t forget the order of events:
Day 1 (Sun 15th Jan) - All
longboard, SUP Surf and SUP Race, U14 Boys, U16 Boys
Day 2 (Mon 16th Jan) - All longboard,
SUP Surf, U14 Boys, U16 Boys
Day 3 (Tues 17th Jan) - Open Men,
Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf
Day 4 (Wed 18th Jan) - Open Men,
Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors
Day 5 (Thurs 19th Jan) - Open Men,
Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors,
Kneeboard
Day 6 (Fri 20th Jan) - Open Men,
Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women’s, All Seniors,
Potentially some finals
Day 7 (Sat 21st Jan) - Finals, All
Bodyboard
For those that are entered or following surfers remember the hotline will be
updated from 7:00am each day – 0212278732.
You can also check out the blog here or follow the updated heats on Facebook and Twitter.
6:45am Sunday 15th January
The surf still looks solid so we are postponing the start of the day with the
next call being made at 9:00am for a possible 10:00am start. The tide is low at 9:00am so hopefully the
incoming tide will clean things up a bit.
Regardless the surf is looking a bit big for some of the groms so the
Under 16 and 14 Boys will be off until Monday.
9:00am Sunday 15th January
The tide has bottomed out and there is not a lot of improvement showing yet
so we have decided to wait until 11:00am for a start. The Open Longboard will be up first followed
by two rounds of SUP.
Lion Rock Boardriders are all set up and feeding everyone milling around as we
continue to distribute the towels with all the black ones flying out the door
again.
A few guys have already tested the water and the sets look like a solid
6ft. Andrew Robinson was the first out
followed by Sam and Ben Poulter.
10:45am Sunday 15th January
We are about to get underway with the first heat of the longboard with the
tide having crept in a few bit. A good
crowd is sessioning the line up now which looks a lot more manageable.
8:30pm
Sunday 15th January
Despite the average conditions, the day saw some
great surfing and a funny paddle race.
After worrying about the size of the swell all day, the groms all
attacked the break after the final hooter.
Sean Kettle was throwing some crazy Rodeo attempts and it looked like
every grom was inspired to go big on the sizey closeout section. There is no doubt that the groms will be in
action on day two.
Day one was the usual mayhem as we got all the systems underway. No less than 25 staff were running around
organising all the different facets of the event from the competition machine
through to the promo staff, caterers and sponsorship managers.
A big thanks goes out to the Piha Surf Life Saving Club who positioned the
three Hyundai buoys for the paddle race.
A hardy fourteen paddlers took to the water heading out the cove after a
beach start before rounding two buoys and heading back to the beach and doing
it all over again. The race ended up a
head to head clash with Armie Armstrong getting the nod over jeremy Stephenson after
riding a wave all the way to the beach to the cheer of the crowd. Just after the race finished a full rain bomb
rolled in from the Tasman and drenched a packed Piha beach. Ten minutes later the beach was deserted and
the sun was back out!
The squad for the New Zealand Junior Team met at the Hyundai Bach in the
afternoon to discuss the upcoming tour to Panama for the World Junior Champs. All the groms had get up and introduce
themselves as well as their buddy before the management laid down the
expectations of all surfers leading up to and once the team is named. They meet for another official camp the day
after the Nats.
Tomorrow the surf is expected to build all day with more favourable wind
conditions according to Paul Greenland of www.aucklandsurf.co.nz. With the Open Men’s Division not surfing
until Tuesday it will be a day of groms and the longboard divisions from first
thing in the morning.
9:30am
Monday 16th January
The sun is shining on us today and the tide is
super low this morning but forecasts were right with a decrease in swell this
morning. It is still 2-3ft with some
nicer runners along the Piha Bar. The
Under 16 Boys are out first and will surf twice today.
Later on we will see the Women’s Longboard, SUP and Open Longboard with the
Under 16 Boys to end the day. The swell
should rise and with the incoming tide the waves should be good.
So far this morning we have seen Manu Scott – Arrieta, Korbin Hutchings,
Harrison Whiteside and Dune Kennings all win their heats.
If you have not seen the draw then you can check out all divisions via http://www.surfingnz.co.nz/draws_and_results.htm.
The Open Men’s Division will be surfing on Tuesday with a favourable forecast
which will keep all the boys happy.
Defending champion Jay Quinn has been blazing up the middle of the beach
while Ryan Hawker has been sneaking a few waves around his work hours in
town. However most of the guys are still
at home or making their way up today.
Matt Hewitt was spotted this morning after the long flight back from China where he
placed 17th in his first ASP World Tour event of the year. Alex Dive was also spotted going upside down
this morning and Larry Fisher was testing his lacerated ear which looked fine
by the way he was surfing.
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