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.
