Gisborne surfer Blair Stewart dominated the Open division of the Gisborne Boardriders Club contest held over the weekend at the Red Bus break at Makarori Beach. A total of 70 competitors, including a small number of visitors from other regions of New Zealand, entered the nine club divisions ranging from Under 12 Years, up to Over 45 Years, including Open Women and Longboard divisions. The contest began on Saturday with very small one-foot surf, which was suitable for the running of the Longboard division. A strengthening Sou-west wind pushed up the swell during the day, as well as adding wind chill to an already cool winters day. By late afternoon the Under 12 division were faced with rising two-to-three foot surf which, while still quite contestable, was becoming challenging for these least experienced club members. Sunday morning began with an even stronger sou-westerly wind that pushed the storm swell up to challenging five-foot sets by late morning, making the paddle out after each wave a real mission. Sunday’s swell was raw and wild so it had been a wise move by the organising committee to put the younger divisions out in Saturday’s smaller and more settled surf.

Blair Stewart - Image Tom Grimson

 

 

This year Gisborne Boardriders has adopted a new contest format for the club series, which is also open to surfers who are not club members. Each event utilises a three-round, non-elimination format in which contestants accumulate points as they contest each of the three rounds in round-robin fashion, with the top four surfers on the leaderboard earning a place in each division’s final. The point allocations increase by 35 per cent each round to a maximum total score of 50 for the three rounds. This progressive points increase is a new aspect that has not been present in the traditional format used by the club for decades. It encourages competitors to warm up as the rounds progress, to build on their previous performance and to peak for the final stage – desirable skills essential for surfers competing in any contest format, traditional or otherwise.

It would appear that former professional surfer, turned local surfshop owner, Blair Stewart wrote the book on the strategy of ‘peaking for the final’. In each of the qualifying rounds of the Open division Stewart was rewarded highly for completing radical, high-risk re-entries and floaters in the heaviest close-out sections of his waves. Whilst most mortals would have fallen off, or not even attempted these maneuvers in such heavy sections, Stewart emerged out of a maelstrom of whitewater on each occasion to complete these critical moves, to the surprise of the spectators and judges. Having put in stellar performances to win each of the three rounds of the Open division, Stewart entered the division final at the top of the leaderboard. The tricky three-to-five foot storm surf conditions did not deter Stewart whose performance peaked both for, and during, the final, with his last wave of the competition earning a perfect 10 score from several of the judges. Stewart had shown the other contestants what it took for him to compete as a very well-regarded professional surfer on the World Qualifying Series for many years. Stewart continues to be an inspiration, particularly to the younger up-and-coming members in the club.

Jasmine Smith - Image Tom Grimson

 

 

Second place in the Open division went to Sean Hovell who fought to the very last second of the final to catch the rampaging Stewart - who had already paddled in early with a near perfect heat score under his belt. However Hovell’s determination and considerable physical prowess was not enough to catch Stewart the consummate professional. Having contested the Longboard division the previous day, Hovell was still relatively fresh after his three Open qualifying rounds. However the same couldn’t be said of fellow Open finalists, Adam Grimson and Jules Craft, who had contested the Under 20 division which was also held on Sunday. A short break following their Under 20 final enabled the grommets to consume a three-sugar milo and change competition vests before paddling out for the Open grand final, having already completed seven heats earlier in the day in demanding and very tiring conditions. Having also attended the Campion College ball until the early hours, Craft surfed gallantly to place third. Grimson had to settle for fourth. The stamina of these grommets has to be admired!

However in the Under 20 final it was a different story with an in-the-flow Grimson finding all the right waves, taking out the final ahead of Johnny Hicks. The right waves seemed to elude Hicks whose vertical attack is very dangerous if he does get on the right wave. Not finding the right waves, Hicks had to settle for second place, ahead of Jacob Kohn in third and Jules Craft in fourth place. With prize money going to all finalists in this division, the youngsters will be stoked to have made it through to the final.

Reuben Mottart - Image Tom Grimson

 

The lure of prizemoney may have been what was needed to get Laura Rishworth, one of New Zealand’s top women surfers, over from the Bay of Plenty for the chance to compete in the club’s Womens division. Some punters probably took for granted that Rishworth would romp through at this club level. Whilst Rishworth put on a smooth, stylish display of surfing to win her earlier qualifying round, the extensive local knowledge of the club’s current Women’s champ, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris, paid off in Sunday’s tricky, unpredictable conditions resulting in a win for Martin-Fitzharris in the final. Rishworth finished second, ahead of local lass Jasmine Smith who put in a gritty, determined effort to finish third. Rachel von Zalinski, a recent import from Muriwai Beach, Auckland; finished in fourth. Smith is developing a fast, aggressive and smooth surfing style and with her mental toughness and determination, will definitely be a surfer to watch for in the future. Several of the younger girls had opted to finish the comp after the first round due to the challenging conditions, which resulted in the second round being made into the division final.

With only three entries in the Senior division and having completed three rounds of the Open division in very tiring conditions, James Fowell and club president, Clint Daly, decided they were over it and opted to settle the Seniors division with three rounds of Paper-Scissors-Rock, which JF won 3-0 in the warmth of the judges’ tent.

Blair Stewart - Image Tom Grimson

Saturday’s three rounds of competition saw the completion of the Longboard, Over 45s, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 junior divisions; in smaller more manageable surf conditions. The first call for the day was for the Longboard division as the tide was low and the Sou-westerly had yet to intensify and push the swell up. The Longboard contest boiled down to a battle between round winners, Sean Hovell and Sunny Brown. Hovell won two rounds, coming second behind Brown in the third. Brown likewise placed second in the other two rounds. Tim Renouf’s longboarding oozed with style, grace and flow as he styled his way into third place, ahead of Gary Quinn. Due to limited entries, the three rounds were contested as one heat repeated in sequence, which also allowed the organisers to delay the start of the Over 45 division until the swell had begun to build slightly.

 

Having also entered the Over 45s divison, Gary Quinn – father of legendary club members, Jay and Maz Quinn- proved he is a legend in his own right, completing three rounds of the Longboards, then staying out for the three-round sequence of the Over 45s. After an hour and half of non-stop competing, Quinn emerged a rather tired looking chappy. Gazza must have empathised with Sunday’s crew battling the cold weather and challenging surf as he turned up with a huge pile of hot chips –fresh from his Okitu store- for the weary competitors and cold, wind-blown officials; which further enhanced his legendary status!

National and world masters legend, John Gisby raced from night shift at work to the beach to catch the Over 45s division. Gisby is the man to beat in any heat at this age group so it was a safe bet he would win each of the three rounds and take out the overall victory. Less certain was who would place second. With two second placings Larry Foster took out overall second, ahead of Warwick ‘Spring’ Thomson, who might have done better in one round had he been wearing his contact lens. Spring paddled straight into Foster who was already on his feet, incurring a paddling interference and subsequent penalty. Gary Quinn -by then exhausted- finished in fourth. 

Korbin Hutchings - Image Tom Grimson