The massive four metre swells pounding the Dunedin coastline
were no match for top New Zealand surfer Richard Christie
(Mahia) at the national surfing championships today.
The second of a six-event series at St Clair beach was
dominated by the the swell and strong southerly winds which
turned the ocean into a wild winter-like state.
Christie blazed a path through the water, scoring the day's
highest heat score of 15.0 out of a possible 20 points.
He notched up individual wave scores of 8.17 and 6.83 with a
series of big committed turns on both his forehand and
backhand.
Christie was the only surfer in the open men's division to
score double digits in the challenging conditions. Many
surfers struggled to get more than one or two waves despite
the heats being extended to 25 minutes.
Whangamata surfer Matt Scorringe made a comeback to the
competitive arena after spending the best part of the last 12
months overcoming cancer. Now in remission, the 26-year-old
surfer has been surfing around his home town for the past two
months. However, today was the first time he donned a
competitors vest.
Scorringe won his heat scoring 9.20 to progress alongside
Adam Grimson (Gisborne). Scorringe now confronts No 1 seed
Jay Quinn.
Quinn won the first event of the series at his home town of
Gisborne in November last year.
Other surfers to win their first round heats included Sam
Willis (Gisborne), Leon Santorik (Raglan) and Tyler Lawson
(Hawke's Bay).
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.