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WAVE RAVE #6 | By Kelly Ryan | Autumn 2010
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Hi again beach residents and local surfers, I hope you had an awesome summer in the surf, on the beach or in the boat.
Wave-wise, it has been incredibly consistent summer and autumn with world-class quality over the past two months. Intense summer land temperatures have given way to much more mild autumn days, sea breezes have become less prevalent and the Southern Ocean has begun to stir, swinging sizeable early-season south swells onto often oily surface conditions.
The New Zealand National Surfing Championships were completed over Easter weekend here in Gisborne and local surfers featured strongly in both finals and title counts. 
Makorori was the main venue, although several other beaches were used over the five-day window. The event was actually completed in four days, which has to be a record-breaking achievement for organisers considering the event used to take between seven and ten days to complete.
This year the waves were exceptional for the duration of the event thanks to an easterly groundswell and settled local weather conditions. The waves ranged from 2-4 feet, sea breezes were light on some days and on Saturday it was offshore for the whole day.
The “Creek” and “Red bus” surf breaks were the dual venues for most divisions and, being able to split up and make the best use of the great conditions, contributed not only to the quick progression of the event but also to the quality of the waves competitors received for their heats.
The Bodyboard event was completed at Pines and the Wave Ski event was held at Whales.
Gisborne came away with six national titles and had 26 local competitors in the finals. Some of the more noteworthy performances would have to be John Gisby’s win in both the Men’s Over 50 and Over 55 finals making for a combined total of 32 national titles for him.
Jayda Martin-Fitzharris featured in three finals winning the Under 18 Women’s event, placing second in the Under 16 Women’s event and a stunning third place in the Open Women’s final.
James Fowell made two finals winning the Over 35 Men’s title and placing 4th in the Over 28 Men’s event. Gina Samson won a maiden Senior Women’s title for Gisborne and Johnny Hicks won the Under 18 Men’s title.
Surfing New Zealand president, Greg Townsend, said it was the best national’s event ever held.
• Open Men’s Final
Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Richard Christie (Gis), 2, Maz Quinn (Gis), 3, Morehu Roberts (Gis), 4
• Open Women’s Final
Laura Rishworth (Mnt), 1, Grace Spiers (Whmata), 2, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 3, Ella Williams (Whmata), 4
• Under 18 Men’s Final
Johnny Hicks (Gis), 1, Ben Poulter (Rag), 2, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay), 3, Blake Myers (Whmata), 4
• Under 18 Women’s Final
Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 1, Rosa Thompson (Auck), 2, Grace Spiers (Whmata), 3, Ella Williams (Whmata), 4
• Under 16 Boys Final
Ben Poulter (Rag), 1, Tane Wallis (Piha), 2, Patxi Scott-Arietta (Sandy Bay), 3, Adam Grimson (Gis), 4
• Under 16 Girls Final
Ella Williams (Whmata), 1, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 2, Ella Spiers (Whmata), 3, Bianca Sansom (Auck), N/S
• Under 14 Boys Final
Elliot Paerata-Reid (Piha), 1, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 2, Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 3, Matt Hansen (Mnt), 4
• Over 28 Men’s Final
Jarred Hancox (Tara), 1, Bevan Wig (Auck), 2, Damon Gunness (Gis), 3, James Fowell (Gis), 4
• Senior Women’s Final
Gina Samson (Gis), 1, Katrina Baty (Gis), 2, Fiona Duncan (Gis), 3, Janine Williams (Whmata), 4
• Over 35 Men’s Final
James Fowell (Gis), 1, Clint Daly (Gis), 2, Kelly Ryan (Gis), 3, Ben Kennings (Whmata), 4
• Over 40 Men’s Final
Rick Lasch (Piha), 1, Michael Fitzharris (Gis), 2, Steve Colbert (Gis), 3, Peter Ritchie (Gis), 4
• Over 45 Men’s Final
Glenn Shuker (ChCh), 1, Steve Colbert (Gis), 2, Phillip Griffin (Mnt), 3, Barry Macculloch (Tairua), 4
• Over 50 Men’s Final
John Gisby (Gis), 1, Mark Perana (West Coast), 2, David Storck (Piha), 3, Barry Macculloch (Tairua), 4
• Over 55 Men’s Final
John Gisby (Gis), 1, Chris Ransley (Gis), 2, Graham Breckell (Gis), 3, Larry Foster (Gis), 4
• Kneeboard Final
Roydon Stewart (Opunake), 1, Phillip Miller (Auck), 2, Murray Weir (Opunake), 3, Craig Hooper (Mnt), 4
• Waveski Nationals
Open Men’s Title won by Nigel Bryant (Wainui), Grand Masters Title, won by Steve Gibbs (Wainui).
The Export Gold Open Surfing series is just over halfway through having completed three out of the five events set down to decide circuit champions in 2010.
Event One was held right here in Gisborne on the 7th and 8th of November 2009 with Chris Malone gaining a second placing. Event Two was in Whangamata on the 30th January to the 1st February and Maz Quinn won 1st place there with Chris Malone finishing 4th.
Then it was off to Raglan and Event Three saw Morehu Roberts win, Jay Quinn 2nd and Chris Malone 3rd. A common theme in the finals of these events were experienced Gisborne competitive surfers with Chris Malone being consistently highly placed and leading the ratings coming into the NZ National Surfing Championships here in Gisborne.
Chris Malone is Gisborne born and bred but has moved to Raglan and works for Surfing New Zealand. He has a couple of kids now and has been off the surfing circuit for a few years. It’s really good to see him back bringing that fluid and powerful style and making finals at that level.
Richard Christie just completed a fantastic weekend of surfing in Tasmania at the WQS Cold Water Classic. Christie finished 5th equal, being eliminated in the quarterfinals in the man-on-man heats. He eventually lost to event champion Chris Davidson of Australia. Christie nabbed nearly $3,000USD for his rampaging six-heat blitz of serious world class competitors. Well-done Richard!
Wainui’s Charlie Brown, a local junior longboard competitor on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour, completed an exceptional feat at the recent Hyundai Longboard National Championships held in Whangamata by taking out the junior division for his first national title. He also smoked his way through to the final of the Open Men’s division. Huge surf and often back-to-back heats proved Brown’s fitness and rapidly improving surfing prowess were key elements to his success. Watch out for Charlie Brown in the years to come on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour.
The very popular Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour finished with a bang in Port Waikato on the weekend of March the 26th to the 28th. With solid 6 to 8 foot swells and an equally powerful southwest wind pounding the small west coast town, the stage was set for an exciting finale.
The shattered boards and bodies of many Gisborne competitors was a small price to pay for the successes achieved.
Sam Johnson, who has recently purchased property at Okitu, created a real stir when he smashed his way to victory in the Open Men’s pro division. Johnson survived a close heat in the quarterfinals when his board was completely snapped in two but pressed on with composure on his back-up board to take the win and become $1,500 richer. This is Sam’s first win on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour but he has been consistently making semi-final’s and final’s over the past three years.
Daniel Proctor had a circuit title within his grasp, only to have it torn from him for a second year in a row at the same event. The door opened for Proctor when ratings leader Dylan Barnfield fell in the quarterfinals. Proctor had to win, but fell in the semi finals to Johnson. Proctor finished the season ranked a very credible 4th position, after gaining a win at event 3 in Dunedin.
Charlie Brown again tasted success taking 2nd place on the Junior Circuit behind Australian sensation Jackson Winter. Brown unfortunately failed to match his Nationals performance in the Open Men’s pro division, falling in the second round to the tough conditions, which played havoc with many competitors’ wave counts.
This year Hyundai continued their generous sponsorship of the Pro Longboard Tour and offered a brand new 2010 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV vehicle for a year to the top New Zealand longboarding family. That car made its way back to Wainui Beach with its new owners, the Ryan family, the stoked recipients.
The Maz Quinn “King of the Grom’s” competition was held here in Gisborne on the 20th to the 21st of March and the kids scored some epic waves at the Creek on both days.
Jules Craft did a great job in making the Under 16 Boys final and finishing 4th. Jayda Martin-Fitzharris won the Under 16 Girls division along with a trip to Australia to watch the Roxy Pro. Hannah Kohn finished 4th in the Under 16 Girls division. Korbin Hutchings snatched a last minute victory in the Under 14 Boys division.
• Former Wainui girl, 15-year-old Sarah Mason, caused a sensation when she won the NZ Women’s national title and made it through to the semi-finals of the ASP Women’s World Championship Tour in April. Living in Australia for the past seven years the Mason family still own a home on Moana Road.
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