He suffers from a birth defect that has made him both long and short sighted.
In normal life he wears glasses but not on the water and relies on Sam as his eyes as he negotiates the rough surf.
"I'm half-blind and have to wear glasses all the time on land," Michael told the Otago Daily Times yesterday. "I rely on Sam to tell me what to do as we ride the waves."
Michael has not let his poor eyesight stop him from experiencing life and he played junior softball for Otago.
He found surf life-saving exhilarating and challenging when he started the sport six years ago.
He is used to the big waves he gets when training off St Kilda Beach and does not get scared when facing competition.
"The hardest thing I've faced is breaking through the short arm breaks as we ride through the surf," he said. "We just have to ride through the waves then."
Michael does not flip off his boat much, but when he does he is able to pick up the bright orange colour of the rescue boat against the ocean.
The Kinraid boys, who have been competing together for six years, made an important breakthrough when they won the senior men's title at the North Island IRB rescue championships at Waipu Cove in Northland last weekend.
The two 21-year old house renovators were promoted to the senior division after winning the under-21 grade in the national surf league and the national championships last summer.
"I was stoked," Michael said. "This was the first time we'd raced this season and we'd gone up a grade."
The pair were the most consistent crew in the senior division and won a gold medal in the single rescue and silver medals in the mass rescue and assembly rescue.
"I thought it was easier for us than competing in the under-21 grade," Michael quipped.
The Kinraids took the step up from the under-21 grade in their stride and were one of the faster crews at the patient pick-up and were able to drive their boat through the return to shore pick-up with little loss of boat speed.
The Kinraids have been coached by surf guru Peter Gibbons for the last six years and their goal is to win a gold medal in the senior division and be promoted to premier grade for next season.
Surf life-savers must win a national title to be promoted to the next grade.
