Raglan & longboards a perfect match

Hyundai Tour event #1

Surfing New Zealand
Manu Bay Raglan, New Zealand
5 - 6 January 2013

Tour Opener Relishes Point Break Perfection

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 5 January, 2013 : - - Raglan's famous point breaks gave Hyundai Tour competitors the perfect start to the season with clean 1.0m waves rolling down the acclaimed point break all day today. The surf provided the platform for some excellent surfing and a massive day of competition to start the 2013 Hyundai Tour.

The Open Men's Longboard Division dominated the day's proceedings as the premier division surfed through to the final eight surfers over two rounds of competition.

The quarterfinals were dominated by none other than local surfer Daniel Kereopa (Rag) surfing at his home break. Kereopa used his near 30 years of Manu Bay surfing knowledge to navigate his way through the Men's Longboard Division as well as the Stand Up Paddleboard Division for both surfing and racing.

Exceptional performances across all three disciplines were highlighted by his 15.67 point heat total in his quarterfinal match up of the Men's Longboard Division. Kereopa surfed with aggression to progress to the semifinals alongside Phil Morris (Auck) after having focussed solely on the stand up paddleboard discipline in recent years.

Kereopa later went on to place fifth in the Stand Up Paddleboard Race before moving through to the semifinals of the Stand Up Paddleboard surfing division.

Mount Maunganui's Owen Barnes used a similar approach to Kereopa completing vertical turns on his backhand and posting 17.37 out of a possible 20 points to easily win his match up and progress to the semifinals alongside Jamie Andrews (Tara) who placed second.

The Gisborne pairing of Daniel Procter on his forehand and Sam Johnson on his backhand rounded out the quarterfinal match up winners. Both surfers again dominated their heats scoring 16.6 and 15.17 respectively. Procter is the sole goofyfoot surfer left in the Men's Longboard Division heading into the final day of the event.

The Over 50 Men's Division enjoyed the clean waves over the full tide. The rivalry between local Michael Thomson and Mark Hoyle (Orewa) did not take long to reignite with the two going head-to-head to record the highest heat scores of the round. However they were both eclipsed by the performance of David Storck (Auck) who scored 13.27 points to move through to the semifinals with a comprehensive heat win.

The surfers in the Stand Up Paddleboard Division continued to pump up the performance levels with the likes of Kereopa busting one crazy backhand aerial manoeuvre in his heat. Karl Arsene (WGM) and Shayne Baxter (Chch) were equally as prominent notching up big heat wins to move into the semifinals.

Earlier in the day the 3.5km long Stand Up Paddleboard Race took place with a paddlers having to complete three laps of the course that took them through the Manu Bay line up. Paddlers that had the ability to catch waves down the point made the most of the conditions and it was local paddler Armie Armstrong (Rag) that dominated the race breaking out to a massive lead by the third lap. Shayne Baxter (Chch) claimed second place ahead of Jeremy Stephenson (Auck) after Stephenson lost his paddle whilst riding the same wave as Baxter on the final lap.

Surfing action on Sunday (6th January) will take place from 8:00am. The location of the final day of surfing will be confirmed once conditions are assessed at dawn. The surf is expected to decrease further and a venue change is possible. Seven hours of surfing is required to complete the event.

Overall the Hyundai Tour boasts $12,000 in prize money which is boosted to $20,000 with approximately another $8,000 distributed to boardrider clubs and community groups at locations the tour frequents.

Hyundai have teamed up with Global Surf Industries and Starboard to provide boards to raffle off at each event location. All proceeds from this weekend's raffles go back to Point Boardriders Club to help develop surfing in the region.

The complete calendar of events for the 2013 Hyundai Tour follows:

Hyundai Tour Event 1, 5-6 January, Raglan (4-star)
Hyundai Tour Event 2, 13-19 January, Piha (5-star) - National Championships
Hyundai Tour Event 3, 1-3 February, Sandy Bay (4-star)
Hyundai Tour Event 4, 16-17 February, Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth (4-star)
Hyundai Tour Event 5, 1-2 March, Mount Maunganui (4-star)

www.surfingnz.co.nz

Source: Surfing New Zealand

Author: Ben Kennings

Tags: SUP, Hyundai Tour, New Zealand

Longboard: Surfersvillage