Ava Henderson and Rakiatea Tau win the premier Under 18 divisions at Round 2 of The Connect Group SISA South Island Grom Series.
The second event of the The Connect Group South Island Grom Series was held in Westport on Friday. The event took place with beautiful weather and a nice 1-1.4m west-northwest swell that saw the competition staged at Nine Mile Beach, near Tauranga Bay.
Despite the early morning low tide, conditions were clean and fun as the early rounds began, with the swell increasing and the tide moving on to the better banks throughout the day. Those who made it through the early rounds were looking forward to surfing again with the high tide providing ideal conditions.
As the finals started the tide was right in and the wind stayed light offshore making for some superb finals conditions. Nine Mile had peaks with running lefts and rights, clean rippable walls at shoulder to head high.
The Under 14 Girls were up first and a dominant performance from Sacha Surgenor took the win from Georgie Macefield, with the others fighting for the remaining places.
The Under 14 Boys was a close final, but Keo Morrison showed great patience and used his priority very well to take the win, second was Flint Sherborne-France ahead of Hamua Tau in third with early round stand out Travis Henderson unfortunately picking up an interference call and having to settle for fourth.
Tessa Gabbott continued her good form with another great performance in the Under 16 Girls, taking a win from Rewa Morrison, with Sacha Surgenor and Tessa Langman in third and fourth respectively.
Lachlan Noakes took out a hotly contested Under 16 Boys final with Lincoln Penei a very close second, Dan Lynn in third and Flint Sherborne-France in fourth.
Making a return to competitive surfing after a wee break, Ava Henderson posted some huge scores to combo the field in the Under 18 Girls final, Rewa finished second, with Tessa, third and Lucy Macefield in fourth.
The Under 18 Boys final was a two-way battle between George Roberts and Rakiatea Tau, but a massive layback by Rakiatea to earn himself a 9.0 was enough to take the win over George. Brooklyn Ward surfed well all comp to finish third, with Frank Roberts in fourth.
Thanks SISA and to all the officials for running a smooth, fun contest and a huge thanks to Buller Board Riders and the Buller Surfing Community for hosting us.