Four of the big guns from the North will try to spoil the
party at the annual South Island surfing championships at St
Clair Beach this weekend.
Tim O'Connor, ranked fourth in the country, will start as
favourite in the open men's grade.
He surfed consistently throughout the national series when he
demonstrated his skills by grabbing the big waves to score
high points.
He will be challenged by Leon Santorik (Raglan, ranked
sixth), Tane Wallis (Auckland, 15th) and Luke Santorik
(Raglan, 24th).
Santorik is probably the most talented of the visitors but
his ranking does not reflect his true ability because he only
contested three of the national events last season.
Dunedin builder Luke Murphy (30) has been surfing for 16
years and reached the podium for the first time when he won
the South Island title at St Clair last year.
Murphy made good use of his local knowledge to master the
messy and inconsistent waves and win the event.
Other Dunedin contenders are Felix Dickson, Danny Carse and
Lyndon Hutton.
The favourite for the longboard title is Leroy Rust
(Dunedin), who will be defending his South Island title.
Rust (19) has been competing on the longboard for the last
five years and had finished no better than fourth at previous
South Island championships.
Haley Coakes (Dunedin) will be defending the women's open
event against Daisy Thomas (Canterbury).
Competition for the 150 competitors starts tomorrow at St
Clair, with the finals expected to be held on Sunday
afternoon.
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.