Rip Curl Pro

Event #2 of Red Lion Pro Surfing Tour
Manu Bay, raglan
10 - 12 February 2006

Challenging Conditions No Obstacle for Top Seeds

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 11 February, 2006 : - - A decreasing swell has today forced the Rip Curl Pro to be relocated from the famous points of Raglan down to the Wainui Reserve Beach.  Competitors were greeted with near flat conditions on the point breaks and the beach offered up only slightly better conditions with 0.5m waves. 

The conditions didn’t hamper the progress of the top seeds in the event with the majority moving through to the quarter finals.  The $15,600 event is the last on the Lion Red Pro Surfing Tour and will determine the top 16 surfers to contest the Super 16 in two weeks time. While conditions were tough and deteriorated throughout the day with the increasing sea breeze, some big scores were recorded. 

Damon Gunness (Gis) used his tactical knowledge to read conditions brilliantly posting 13.25 to win his heat and progress to the quarter finals.  Gunness has achieved some of his best results at Raglan including a national championship in 2002 among numerous finals berths on the national series. 

 While his style is suited to the longer left hands of the points, his national title also came on a day when the event was relocated – that time to Ruapuke further down the coast.  Gunness will now come up against two locals in Luke Cederman and Larry Fisher who surfed a close heat to place first and second today.

Bayden Brain : photo courtesy NZ surfing Magazine

Daniel Kereopa who won the Rip Curl Expression Session at Manu Bay last night continued his excellent form to win the opening heat of the fourth round ahead of Luke Hughes also of Raglan who put in a good performance.  Kereopa has an almost unassailable lead on the Lion Red Pro Surfing Tour and the remaining surfers in this event will have to hope for a miracle if they are to catch the home town hero on the ratings race. 

Kereopa along with Hughes will now meet a raging Rowan Aish (Mur) who flew across the small waves today to win out over Brent Rasby (Gis).  Justin Souter completed the domination of the top seeds in the final heat of the day posting a score of 13.5 to place first ahead of Luke Harwood (Auck), the two surfers now meeting up with Dean Amess and AJ Matthews both of Whangamata in quarter final four tomorrow.

The Junior Men kicked off the day and Round two saw the introduction of the top seeds who predominantly progressed through to the quarter finals.  Tim O’Connor (Mnt) was one surfer who enjoyed the small beach break conditions as he romped in with a score of 15.25 to win out over Levi O’Connor (Kaik) who also posted an excellent score of 14.0. 

Billy Stairmand (Rag), winner of the last event on the Lion Red Pro Surfing Tour ripped apart the waves in his heat showing how numerous hours of practice on his home break has paid off. 

The young national representative hopefuls who competed on day one had a mixed bag of results.  Johnny Hicks (Gis), Matt Hewitt (Mnt) and Sean Peggs put in big efforts to make it through to the last 16 surfers and strengthen their chances of making the national team.  The small surf conditions suited the three surfers, all tiny in stature and they will go into the last day of the event with more than just results from this event on their minds.   

Manu Bay : photo courtesy NZ Surfing Magazine

The Women got their campaigns under way in the testing conditions today.  Number one seed Jessica Santorik (Rag) won her heat along with Wini Paul (Sandy Bay), Clare Thomsen (Gis) and Paige Hareb (Tara) who all progressed in first place. 

All surfers will be meeting at 7.30am on Sunday morning to confirm the venue for the final day of competition.  The surf is expected to increase throughout the day and everyone is hopeful of a return back to the points and an increase in the swell.  Below are the results from Day two of the Rip Curl Pro.

Open Men Round 4

Heat one
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 1, n/s, Luke Hughes (Rag), 2, Luke Ashman (Mnt), 3, Morehu Roberts (Rag) 

Heat two
Rowan Aish (Mur), 1, Brent Rasby (Gis), 2, Ben Kennings (Whmata), 3, Blair Stewart (Gis), 4  

Heat three
Hayden Brain (ChCh), 1, Jarrod Hancox (Tara), 2, Dan Scott (Whmata), 3, Ben Connolly (Tara), 4 

Heat four
Mark Dovey (Mnt), 1, Billy Stairmand (Rag), 2, Jarrod Toomey (Rag), 3, Sam Willis (Rag), 4 

Heat five
Luke Cederman (Rag), 1, Larry Fisher (Piha), 2, Zennor Wernham (Rag), 3, Rueben Noble (Rag), 4 

Heat six
Damon Gunness (Gis), 1, Jos Kennings (Whmata), 2, Jason Zimmerman (Tara), 3, Matt Hishon (Rag), 4 

Heat seven
Dean Amess (Whmata), 1, AJ Matthews (Cor), 2, Leon Santorik (Rag), 3, Marc Moore (Rag), 4 

Heat eight
Justin Souter (Mnt), 1, Luke Harwood (Cor), 2, Mike Banks (Rag), 3, Tim O'Connor (Mnt), 4 

Open Men Quater Finals (To be surfed) 

Heat one
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), Luke Hughes (Rag), Rowan Aish (Mur), Brent Rasby (Gis) 

Heat two
Hayden Brain (ChCh), Jarrod Hancox (Tara), Mark Dovey (Mnt), Billy Stairmand (Rag) 

Heat three
Luke Cederman (Rag), Larry Fisher (Piha), Damon Gunness (Gis), Jos Kennings (Whmata) 

Heat four
Dean Amess (Whmata), AJ Matthews (Cor), Justin Souter (Mnt), Luke Harwood (Cor)

Juniors Round 2 

Heat one
Dean Amess (Whmata), 1, Stefan White (WGM), 2, Zac Smith (Rag), 3, Adam Cranston (Gis), 4  

Heat two
Billy Stairmand (Rag), 1, Klee Drummond (Tairua), 2, Buck Woods (Gis), 3, Morehu Roberts (Rag), n/s 

Heat three
Johnny Hicks (Gis), 1, Joe Gethen (Te Awanga), 2, Conan James (Rag), 3, Lyndon Hutton (Dun), 4  

Heat four
Kieran Van Der Helder (Rag), 1, Sam White (WGM), 2, Tyler Anderson (Tara), 3, David Crofoot (Castle Pt), 4 

Heat five
Bodhi Whitaker (Gis), 1, Ryan Hawker (Piha), 2, Paco Divers (Sandy Bay), 3, Cameron Sandwell (Rag), 4 

Heat six
Matt Hewitt (Mnt), 2, Gauranga Ormond (WGM), 1, Cam Anderson (Napier), 3, Hugo Phillips (Piha), 4 

Heat seven
Tim O'Connor (Mnt), 1, Levi O'Connor (Kaik), 2, Braedon Williams (WGM), 3, Jarrod Joslin (WGM), 4 

Heat eight
Luke Hughes (Rag), 1, Sean Peggs (Tai), 2, Keone Campbell (Tara), 3, Oliver Bone (Sandy Bay), 4

Juniors Quater Finals (To be surfed)

Heat one
Dean Amess (Whmata), Stefan White (WGM), Billy Stairmand (Rag), Klee Drummond (Tairua) 

Heat two
Johnny Hicks (Gis), Joe Gethen (Te Awanga), Kieran Van Der Helder (Rag), Sam White (WGM) 

Heat three
Bodhi Whitaker (Gis), Ryan Hawker (Piha), Matt Hewitt (Mnt), Gauranga Ormond (WGM) 

Heat four
Tim O'Connor (Mnt), Levi O'Connor (Kaik), Luke Hughes (Rag), Sean Peggs (Tai)

Womens Round 1 

Heat one
Jessica Santorik (Rag), 1, Sharnae Van Der Helder (Rag), 2, Pipi Sopp (Coro), 3, Monique Hedges (Wgtn), 4 

Heat two
Wini Paul (Sandy Bay), 1, Jessica Welch (Gis), 2, Ladine Clarke (Whan), 3, Heather Easterbrook (Whngrei), 4 

Heat three
Clare Thomson (Gis), 1, Kara Stephenson (Rag), 2, Sonia Michael (Mur), 3, Laura Rishworth (Mnt), 4 

Heat four
Paige Hareb (Tara), 1, Kelly Clarkeson (Rag), 2, Naoli Pratt (Ham), 3, Leilani Morgan (ChCh), 4 

Womens Semi Finals (To be surfed) 

Heat one
Jessica Santorik (Rag), 1, Sharnae Van Der Helder (Rag), Wini Paul (Sandy Bay), 1, Jessica Welch (Gis) 

Heat two
Clare Thomson (Gis), 1, Kara Stephenson (Rag), Paige Hareb (Tara), Kelly Clarkeson (Rag)

The 2006 Rip Curl Pro is sponsored by Rip Curl and Lion Red. The event would be not possible without the support of Surfing New Zealand and Point Boardriders. Surfing New Zealand are proudly partnered by Lion Red, Vodafone, Hyundai, SPARC, Smokefree.

www.surfingnz.co.nz

Previous reports:
# 1 : Night surfing to light up the Rip Curl Pro at Manu Bay
# 2 : Rip Curl Pro - Day one furious action & high scores
# 3 : Coming soon
# 4 : Coming soon  

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Ben Kennings
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz

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