Duncan Smith, one of the favourites for tomorrow’s Dion
Wells Memorial bodyboarding event at St Kilda beach,
competes off the Catlins coast. Photo by Chris Garden
The clash between Ben MacKinnon (Dunedin) and Duncan
Smith (Wellington) will be the main feature of the Dion Wells
Memorial bodyboarding event at St Kilda beach tomorrow.
The event honours the memory of Dunedin bodyboarder Dion
Wells, who was killed in a road accident.
The memorial competition has been held for the past seven
years and is part of the 2008 NMD and Mountain Dew six-event
New Zealand series.
MacKinnon, who moved to Dunedin recently because of the
surfing conditions, won the New Zealand title at Gisborne and
shares the series lead with Smith, who won the second event
of the series at Port Waikato, Auckland.
MacKinnon is one of the most experienced bodyboarders in the
country and was one of two New Zealanders who contested the
world championships in Hawaii last February.
The other top contenders to have won the event that has prize
money of $3000 are 2006 champion Sam Wells (Christchurch),
Hayden Parsons (Dunedin) and Kevin McAlister
(Auckland).
Parsons travels around the world making movies of
bodyboarding events.
About 50 surfers are expected to contest the Dunedin event in
the four categories: open men, open women, under-18 and
under-16.
The other events in the New Zealand series are at Blaketown,
Greymouth, at Queens Birthday, and Gisborne at Labour
weekend.
Dunedin and the Catlins have the best bodyboarding waves in
the country. St Kilda is the best venue, but other local
alternatives are at Aramoana, Allans Beach and Blackhead.
There has been a resurgence interest in bodyboarding during
the last decade and the national governing body, Bodyboarding
Surfing New Zealand, was formed in 2004.
Bodyboarding is a professional sport similar to surfing. But
the contestants lie down on a shorter board which means they
can take off later and fly higher in the air.
‘‘The judges are looking for critical manoeuvres on the
boards that look amazing,'' event co-ordinator Williams
Tregidga said. ‘‘They are looking for aerials, back flips and
spins in the air.''
The memorial competition will be held at St Kilda Beach from
7am to 5pm tomorrow.
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