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Taranaki turns on the waves and weather for the 2010 NMD/Mountain Dew Taranaki Pro pres by Britz |
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Written by BBSNZ
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Friday, 29 October 2010 |
On the 23 and 24th of October the last round of the NMD/Mountain Dew BBSNZ Tour was run in Taranaki. The 2010 NMD/Mountain Dew Taranaki Pro presented by Britz. This change of venue was to be a new addition to the tour after a leave of absence of over 7 years. This event in the late 90's and early 2000 was a prime event on the National Bodyboard Tour usually bringing with it pumping waves and many great performances.
Competitors arrived at the registration the evening before greeted by a decent but dwindling swell and light onshore winds. With one of the largest turn outs for the NMD/Mountain Dew BBSNZ Tour this year with many new local faces from the Taranaki region, things were looking up for the coming days. Plenty of Mountain Dew went down over the few hours of the registration as well as free product from Surfers Skin and NMD so there was bound to be riders full of energy and ready for a day in the Taranaki sun. The call was made to meet at Fitzroy Beach early the following morning with the option of moving to The Groyne (a fun and hollow beach break) if conditions looked favourable.
Day one got off to a great start with the first round of the Open Men's in the water at the Groyne by 8am. Fun 2ft waves were rolling through with the occasional barrel and air bowl and for the first few hours there was some top bodyboarding going down in super fun waves. Early standouts were Ezekial Ngakuru, Luke Elliott, Bronn Foster and Ben MacKinnon who were performing as consistently as ever. The wind and tide had a bit of an impact on things by the time the DK guys hit the water. Jolan Kilkelly surfed a great heat as did Sam Peters to both progress. The wind really got on to the small swell and after 3 first round amateur heats the call was made to pull the pin on day one due to rapidly deteriorating conditions. Competitors had the early afternoon to relax and seek out some waves before meeting up again at 4pm to reassess conditions. It was decided there would be no more surfing for the day and that competitors would meet at 6am the following day with the aim of a 7am start at Back Beach (a local swell magnet) and the option to head down the coast towards Opunake.
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Ben McKinnon Invert - Image Wes Sayer
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Comp site
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Bottom turn
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Event line up
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Day Two greeted competitors with a forecast that wasn't fantastic with a strong onshore wind predicted. Despite the dubious forecast a fun and punchy 2ft left (which later became a two way peak) was what the competitors lucked into. It was the hotly contested U21's first up in the clean 2ft waves who really gave it everything they had. Next in were the Senior Men and some very contestable waves were on offer as the tide pushed in and the wind held off. Again the standouts for the coming rounds were Ben Mackinnon with a few good inverts off the outside close out, though Ben got a good scare, nearly going down to the young and upcoming Ezekial Ngakuru of Mount Maunganui with only .1 separating the two in the Quarter finals. Richard McKenna was in fine form and making the most of the waves by combining all the way to the inside with strong rolls, fast spins and punchy inverts. Sam Peters, Bayden Barber and Jolan Kilkelly dominated the Dropknee heats linking strong frontside and backhand hacks on the outside faces. With the move of the contest and the highest heat score of the day young William Nepia-Murray punched a big ARS on one of the rights to score a perfect 10 and win his semi final in the Open Men's with ease.
With finals set to run from midday conditions were still sticking in with a light onshore and two foot waves. First up in the water was the Open Women's with some new faces and some great surfing from the girls. Serena Ball started strongly with a two spin to a roll combo in the first few minutes as well as showing her wave knowledge by consistently picking the bigger and longer rides to take the win over local riders. The two new girls in Rebecca Skedgwell and Courtney Graham rode well trying nice carving reverses but just lacked the wave power to make them work.
Open Women's
1/ Serena Ball (Auckland)
2/ Rebecca Skedgwell (Taranaki)
3/ Courtney Graham (Taranaki)
Next in the water was the Amateur Men's and with a dropping tide conditions were getting a little harder to read. Managing to find a few good rolls on the slightly larger waves the eventual winner was David Burger from Auckland. Most competitors nearly maxing out their 10 wave allowance it become one of the hardest heats to separate an eventual winner. In the end it came down to wave size being the winning factor and it was David who made the right choices.
Amateur Men's
1/ David Burger (Auckland)
2/ Jason McKay (Taranaki)
3/ Sebastian Lopez (Mount Maunganui)
4/ Rawiri Paewai (Taranaki)
The Under 16's for the last year has been a show down between two emerging young talents in NZ bodyboarding, William Nepia-Murray and Ezekial Ngakuru and this final wasn't to disappoint, though there was some competition from a few new riders as well. William and Ezekial went head to head, but it was William who chose the more powerful waves offering more projection off the lip to win the division. William also secured his 1st place in the under 16 tour for 2010.
Under 16's
1/ William Nepia-Murray (Port Waikato)
2/ Ezekial Ngakuru (Mount Maunganui)
3/ Maukino Skelton (Taranaki)
4/ Carlos Purua (Port Waikato)
4/ Ashley Kanji (Port Waikato)
The Dropknee finals were always going to be a hard one for the eventual winner to take with a strong turnout. Conditions were still on the higher side of the tide with many open faces but not too much power. McKenna and Barber searched for something substantial but struggled in the conditions to find the power needed. Sam Peters found the stronger hacks and was able to back them up with two to three of them on both backhand and forehand to just pip Greymouth local Jolan Kilkelly, who looked hard to beat the whole contest, for the win. Again these two have fought it out in any event they both come together in and it has been great viewing for any of those watching. Peters secured the 2010 Drop Knee Tour title in 2010 with his 1st place finish.
Dropknee
1/ Sam Peters (Wellington)
2/ Jolan Kilkelly (Greymouth)
3/ Richard Mckenna (Wellington)
4/ Bayden Barber (Hawkes Bay)
Next up was the Senior Men's division. Waves were still holding in at the 2ft height as well as a gentle onshore. Ben Mackinnon started off hard with a big roll off a close out from a reform out the back. He backed this up with another two similar rolls. Jolan Kilkelly and Terry Ferguson chased hard with spin and roll combos with Graeme Reid struggling to find the size of waves he needed. By the final hooter it was Mackinnon who took the win and with it the Senior Men's overall Tour title.
Senior Men's
1/ Ben Mackinnon (Dunedin)
2/ Jolan Kilkelly (Greymouth)
3/ Terry Ferguson (Greymouth)
4/ Graeme Reid (Hamilton)
With an upset going down in the under 21's Matt Haldane took it from veteran contest regulars Aran Naismith and Luke Elliot. William Nepia-Murray found a few rolls and spins to take 3rd before coming in due to bad cramps. Haldane combined slightly bigger rolls with spins in a heat dominated by rolls to take it. Matt also finished the Tour in 1st place with his great performance.
Under 21's
1/ Matt Haldane (Port Waikato)
2/ Aran Naismith (Christchurch)
3/ William Nepia-Murray (Port Waikato)
4/ Luke Elliot (Mount Maunganui)
With the last heat of the day being held in a much lower tide it would be wave selection again that would make all the difference. Ben Mackinnon found it in a decent invert off a close out double up and a nice roll on the outside bowl to an inside closeout roll. Duncan Smith pushed him hard with smooth surfing and a nice invert of his own and with 2 points separating 1st to 4th it was one of the most hotly contested heats of the day. Ben Mackinnon took the overall 2010 Open Men’s Tour with his win in Blaketown and added to this with his win in Taranaki.
Open Men's
1/ Ben Mackinnon (Dunedin)
2/ Duncan Smith (Wellington)
3/ William Nepia-Murray (Port Waikato)
4/ Richard McKenna (Wellington)
The prize giving was held at Icons Bar in the centre of New Plymouth which was a great new venue. With prizes coming out of the organizers ears from companies such as Britz Camper Vans, NMD Bodyboards, Iso Shop, Surfers Skin, Seventh Wave and of course Mountain Dew, many boards and gear spot prizes were given away. By far the largest prize pool so far in a BBSNZ contest. With great food and a large turnout both in the contest and in local spectators this looks to be a contest to stay on the tour for some time to come. And it's only a matter of time before it pumps for the next one as even at its worst Taranaki still delivers contestable waves.
Thanks to all the sponsors for their support and prizes. And we hope to see you there next year!
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