Surfing: Dangerous rip sees champs shortened

There might have only been seven heats, but there was action aplenty on the first day of the South Island Surfing championships at St Clair yesterday.

A southeast angle on a three to 4m swell created a deceptive rip that hastened an emergency call out to Dunedin Marine Search and Rescue when Canterbury surfer Daniel Harrington got swept on to rocks about 3km south of the venue.

Thankfully, everything turned out for the best, Damian Phillips, president of the organising club the South Coast Board Riders, said.

The event was delayed until 2pm, when a meeting of officials and competitors decided the rip was creating too much of a hazard and that competition be delayed until today.

With the safety of competitors foremost in his mind, Phillips supported the decision. However, he said it now meant condensing the three-day event into just two days.

The forecast is for a north-west wind that will push the swell back a half metre or so and make for more favourable conditions.

With only the seven heats possible, no individual surfer was able to make an impression. But among those to feature were local club members Lyndon Hutton and Leroy Rust, in the open men's section.

Hutton and Rust were the only surfers to progress through the first seven heats untroubled.

With local knowledge, and given the forecast conditions, they have a huge opportunity to make it through to the final rounds tomorrow.

Should conditions at St Clair be unfavourable today, the competition will be moved to Karitane.