A major increase in swell forced a shift north to Karitane Beach after the day dawned at St Clair Beach with the swell more than 2m. Karitane Beach offered more manageable waves in the 1.5m range but the winds continued to blow onshore all day, affecting conditions.
Stairmand surfed to a 15.83 point heat total in his quarterfinal match-up, advancing alongside Dunedin’s Elliott Brown, and he remains on track to claim an eighth national title.
“I desperately want to take the cup home. It is one of my goals this year and I want to make it happen,” Stairmand said afterwards.
“I’m stoked to be down here in Dunedin ... It is going to be a big year for me and it is always good to start the year off competing in New Zealand.”
Stairmand’s performance looked a notch above his opponents with exceptional speed through his turns and added flair on each wave.
“It has been pretty wild the last few days, windy and cold. I guess it is normal South Island. Today it has been tough, too, but there is a little left out there and that is my bread and butter.’’
Elliot Paerata-Reid (Piha), a finalist last year, continued his drive through to the finals with a heat-winning performance of 12.93 points.
Other heat winners included 2019 junior champion Caleb Cutmore, who is now in the open division, and the youngest surfer in the field, Gisborne’s Finn Vette (15). Vette won the first quarterfinal match-up, advancing alongside Daniel Farr.
Vette was back in action several heats later in the under-18 boys division, where he also advanced to the semifinals.
Vette was joined by Tom Butland, who surfed to the highest score of the event to date — 15.87 points out of a possible 20. Other standouts included Jack Lee and Taylor O’Leary, who advanced from their quarterfinals in first position.
The under-18 girls competition was contested through to the final four surfers. Ava Henderson and Leah Wilson will meet Georgia Wederell and Amarnie Barber in the final. All four battled through two rounds in the tough conditions.
The final day of the championships will be streamed live via the Sky Sport Next YouTube channel tomorrow.
