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Small Manu Bay Waves Cut Day Short

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It was another day of anticipation for the majority of New Zealand’s top surfers as conditions remained small at Raglan for day two of the Backdoor Oceanbridge Manu Bay Pro today (Saturday 4th May).

The surf remained well under a metre with the big tides first putting the event on hold over the full-tide and again in the afternoon as the tide dropped out making the small conditions near unsurfable.

Despite the small waves, the first round of the Open Men’s Division was completed and featured two finalists from the Rip Curl Pro held at the same venue three weeks ago.

Raglan surfers Luke Cederman and Luke Hughes both advanced out of their matchups with heat wins to move through to the final day of competition where they will meet the top seeds in the event.

Jay Piper – Healion (Whiti) and Saxon Reber (Aus) also won their heats to advance through to the second round.

Reber was in action again in the Under 20 Boys Division where he had a close progression in the semifinals over travelling friend Axel Rose – Curotta (Aus).  The two Australians, who make an annual trip to this event, were upstaged by young local surfer Jayden Willoughby who got off to a quick start in the heat then never relinquished the lead.

In the first semifinal, Conor McLennan (Chch) and Luke Griffin upset Caleb Cutmore (Rag) who got starved for waves for the second half of the heat.

The semifinalists of the Open Women’s Division were confirmed with current number one Raiha Ensor (Mnt) set to take on Gisborne’s Saffi Vette and Billie Scott (Whangarei) in the first semifinal.  The second semifinal sees three Raglan based surfers take to the water in Brie Bennett, Aimee Brown and Kai Woolf.

Bennett and Brown advanced to the final of the Under 20s Division as well where they will meet Saffi Vette and Raiha Ensor.

The Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals finished the day with Willoughby and Reber advancing over Tom Butland (Tara) in the first semifinal.  Koa Cooper (Rag) and Axel Rose – Curotta (Aus) eliminated Jack Hinton (Mnt).

The Backdoor Oceanbridge Manu Bay Pro is the sixth event of the New Zealand Surf Series which caters for New Zealand’s top male and female surfers.  The event also doubles as the second-last event of the New Zealand Grom Series for the surfers in the Under 16 divisions.

The Backdoor Oceanbridge Manu Bay Pro will relocate to Ruapuke for the final day of the event with small waves and easterly winds forecasted.

Please see below for results from the first two days of the Backdoor Oceanbridge Manu Bay Pro held at Manu Bay.

Open Men’s Division Round 1
Heat 1

Jay Piper – Healion (Whiti), 4, 1, Darren Celliers (Rag), 3, 2, Harry Macintosh (Waiheke), 2, 3, Geoff Hutchison (Rag), 1, 4
Heat 2
Saxon Reber (AUS), 13.03, 1, Paul Moretti (Nrthlnd), 10.00, 2, Axel Rose-Curotta (AUS), 8.57, 3, Sid West (Gt Barrier), 7.73, 4
Heat 3
Luke Hughes (Rag), 11.84, 1, Mike Banks (Rag), 8.00, 2, Deane Hishon (Rag), 1.43, 3, Ben Deane (Rag),  , n/s
Heat 4
Luke Cederman (Rag), 12.86, 1, Larry Fisher (Rag), 12.73, 2, Grahame Field (Rag), 7.00, 3, Mark Becker (Tara), 6.97, 4

Under 20 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1

Conor McLennan (Chch), 12.6, 1, Luke Griffin (Mnt), 11.2, 2, Caleb Cutmore (Ham), 8.16, 3
Heat 2
Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 13.2, 1, Saxon Reber (AUS), 11.3, 2, Axel Rose-Curotta (AUS), 10.6, 3

Open Women’s Division Round 1
Heat 1

Kai Woolf (Rag), 12.7, 1, Saffi Vette (Gis), 11.5, 2, Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 10.3, 3, Anna Brock (Mnt), 8.63, 4
Heat 2
Raiha Ensor (Mnt), 4, 1, Billie Scott (Whangarei), 3, 2, Georgia Wederell (Mnt), n/s
Heat 3
Brie Bennett (Rag), 12, 1, Aimee Brown (GB), 9.47, 2, Gabrielle Paul (Piha), 7.06, 3, Baylin Klein Ovink (Auck), 5.26, 4

Under 20 Girls Division Semifinals
Heat 1

Raiha Ensor (Mnt), 12.3, 1, Brie Bennett (Rag), 11.5, 2, Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 6.83, 3, Gabrielle Paul (Piha), 5.2, 4
Heat 2
Saffi Vette (Gis), 13.2, 1, Aimee Brown (GB), 9.07, 2, Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 7.96, 3, Liv Haysom (Piha), 6, 4

Under 16 Boys Division Quarterfinals
Heat 1

Tom Butland (Tara), 13.5, 1, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 10.9, 2, Jacob Saunders (Mnt), 10.5, 3, Tana Clapham (Rag), 5.93, 4
Heat 2
Kora Cooper (Rag), 12.6, 1, Saxon Reber (AUS), 11.3, 2, Navryn Malone (Rag), 10.1, 3, Finn Vette (Gis), 9.94, 4
Heat 3
Axel Rose – Currota (AUS), 14.2, 1, Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 10.6, 2, Josef Jungwirth (Rag), 9.1, 3, Jackson Peak (Auck), 7, 4

Under 16 Boys Division Semifinals
Heat 1

Jayden Willoughby (Rag), 12.5, 1, Saxon Reber (AUS), 12.3, 2, Tom Butland (Tara), 9.97, 3
Heat 2
Kora Cooper (Rag), 13, 1, Axel Rose – Currota (AUS), 12.4, 2, Jack Hinton (Mnt), 8.6, 3


Under 16 Girls Division Round 1
Heat 1

Natasha Gouldsbury (Tara), 9.87, 1, Anna Brock (Mnt), 9.3, 2, Alice Westerkamp (Auck), 6.8, 3
Heat 2
Brie Bennett (Rag), 11.17, 1, Liv Haysom (Piha), 8.86, 2, Daizee Rawles (Gis), 6.77, 3

Information
For more information on the Backdoor Oceanbridge Manu Bay Pro please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.  Alternatively contact Backdoor via Geoff Hutchison – hutch@backdoor.co.nz.

Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at with venues, divisions contested and conditions.

Partners
Generous support from Backdoor Surf Shop, Oceanbridge and Channel Islands Surfboards has made this event possible.

Imagery
High resolution images will be available to media upon request. Images will be distributed free of charge.

The event is hosted by Raglan’s Point Boardriders.

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Keep in touch with all the surfing info from around the country by following Surfing New Zealand’s social media networks – @SurfingNZ.

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