Kiwi longboarding gets new stop at Fitzroy

Hyundai Longboard Tour Event #4

Surfing New Zealand
Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth New Zealand
16 - 17 February 2013

Hyundai Tour Ventures to New Plymouth for First Time

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 14 February, 2013 : - - LONGBOARD: The Hyundai Tour makes its first ever stop at New Plymouth this weekend. The two-day penultimate event of the Tour takes place on Saturday and Sunday at Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth showcasing the best longboard surfing in the country.

The title race in the Men's Longboard Division continues to heat up going into this weekend's event. The best performing surfer out of first and second seeds, Ant McColl (Tara) and Daniel Procter (Gis), will go home leading the ratings as they head to the final event of the season at Mount Maunganui on the 1st and 2nd of March.

McColl, formerly from Mount Maunganui, now residing in New Plymouth, has been waiting all season for the tour to head south. He has surfed along the Taranaki coastline consistently for the past twelve months so will have the upper hand on his opponents. This weekend he will look to break his 2013 bogey with a win after finishing runner up twice this year.

Procter, despite going into the event as the number two seed, is arguably the form surfer of the 2013 Hyundai Tour after winning both events that he has entered. He claimed the first event at Raglan in early January before winning the Hyundai National Championships at Piha two weeks later. Procter was absent from the third event at Sandy Bay where McColl placed second behind Thomas Kibblewhite (Red Beach) elevating McColl to the number one position.

The close nature of the top of the table battle will have both surfers on edge in every heat of the event. Only 110 points separates the two surfers, a margin easily gobbled up with 1500 points on the line for the winner. The battle may play into the hands of the chasing bunch including Matt Cockayne (Auck) and Phil Morris (Auck) who would both need a win this weekend and other results to go their way to catch up to McColl and Procter.

Mischa Davis (Piha) was also absent from the most recent Sandy Bay leg of the Tour. Davis returns this weekend where she and she looks to reclaim the top of the table in the Women's Division after relinquishing it to Belinda Goodwin (Rag) two weeks ago. The women's field has an international look about it with Australian and Canadian surfers featuring in the line up and ready to give the local surfers a worthy challenge.

Guy Rencher (Mnt) has a firm grip on the number one position for the Over 40 Longboard Division while it is Orewa's Mark Hoyle who leads a dedicated bunch of surfers in the Over 50 Men's Longboard Division.

The two stand up paddleboard races will take place over the weekend with the 10km long distance race going ahead on Saturday and the shorter King of the Waves race taking place on Sunday. After Armie Armstrong (Rag) claimed the inaugural long distance race at Sandy Bay, Annabel Anderson (Auck) will be out to exact revenge. Anderson remarkably led the entire first race before coming unstuck heading through the waves to the finish line allowing Armstrong to pip her for the win. The race course will be determined once swell and wind conditions are assessed closer to race time.

Contestants in the Logger Division will be well pleased with the forecasted smaller swell predictions after the Sandy Bay leg of the event endured massive 2.0m swells. Ambrose McNeill (Chch) claimed the first event with Matt Cockayne (Auck) claiming the second leg.

The swell is expected to ease throughout the weekend. Conditions will be assessed each morning before a call on location will be made with surfing commencing at 8:00am. The primary venue is Fitzroy Beach with a back up option of Back Beach.

Surfers will be able to enjoy the last of the summer sun all day before cruising along to the most envied boardrider clubrooms in New Zealand, New Plymouth Surfriders Inc, which overlooks the Fitzroy line up. Proceeds from the GSI longboard raffle and BBQ will be donated to the Taranaki Scholastic Surfing Team who will be attending the National Scholastic Championships at the end of September.

Please see below for current standings after three of the five 2013 Hyundai Tour events.

Men's Longboard Top 10
1, Ant McColl (Mnt)
2, Daniel Proctor (Gis)
3, Matt Cockayne (Mngwhai)
4, Phil Morris (Auck)
5, Zen Wallis (Piha)
6, Glen Johnson (Auck)
7, Duncan Cameron (Mnt)
8, Dylan Barnfield (Ohope)
9, Sam Bradford (Pakiri)
10, Owen Barnes (Mnt)

Women's Longboard Top 5
1, Belinda Goodwin (Mnt)
2, Mischa Davis (Piha)
3, Alexis Poulter (Rag)
4, Josephine Moore (Tara)
5, Wini Paul (Sandy Bay)

Junior Longboard Top 5
1, Jordan Griffin (Mnt)
2, Sam Poulter (Rag)
3, Joseph Stewart (Whtane)
4, Josh Taylor (Tau)
5, Elliot Paerata-Reid (Piha)

Over 40 Longboard Top 5
1, Guy Rencher (Papamoa)
2, Craig Anderson (Mnt)
3, Justin Bambery (Auck)
4, Andy Collins (Mnt)
5, Steve Tyro (Rag)

Over 50 Longboard Top 5
1, Mark Hoyle (Orewa)
2, David Storck (Auck)
3, Rupert Newbold (Whngrei)
4, Rob Bayes (Auck)
5, Michael Gray (Auck)

Stand Up Paddleboard Top 5
1, Daniel Kereopa (Rag)
2, Shayne Baxter (ChCh)
3, Armie Armstrong (Rag)
4, Karlos Aarsen (Whmata)
5, Darren Jones (Auck)

Stand Up Paddleboard Short Race Top 5
1, Armie Armstrong (Rag)
2, Shayne Baxter (ChCh)
3, Shane Murrell (Auck)
4, Jeremy Stephenson (Auck)
5, Annabel Anderson (Auck)

Stand Up Paddleboard Long Race Top 5
1, Armie Armstrong (Rag)
2, Annabel Anderson (Auck)
3, Bevan Gooch (Pau)
4, Jeremy Stephenson (Auck)
5, Gavin Houghton (Auck)

Overall the Hyundai Tour boasts $12,000 in prize money which is boosted to $20,000 with 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 the Taranaki Scholastic Surfing Team.

The final event on the 2013 Hyundai Tour follows: Hyundai Tour Event 5, 1-2 March, Mount Maunganui (4-star)

Entry into the events can be completed at Surfing New Zealand under "events." Entry into each event closes on the Monday prior to the event commencing. Complete the entry process online or download entry forms and send them in.

www.surfingnz.co.nz

Source: Surfing New Zealand

Author: Ben Kennings

Tags: SUP, Hyundai Tour, New Zealand

Longboard: Surfersvillage