
New Zealand's Premier Surf & Snow Event,September 22-24 Queenstown & Riverton A raging Southern Ocean storm forced a change of venue for the
second day of competition in the Primo Peak to Porridge surf
and snow event.
"Porridge was onshore and living up to its name" says organiser
Evan Bloomfield and the surfing competition was moved to
"Trees" at Colac Bay. An even 3 - 4 foot swell and offshore
wind provided great conditions for the preliminary heats but
the low tide and cross shore winds delayed competition for
several hours in the middle of the day.
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| "Gale force winds and intense hail made for the harshest conditions these surfers have had to compete in..but loving it all the same!"
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The afternoon saw heats re commence with the standard of
surfing noticeably improving as the hot competitors moved
through the heats.
The womens was keenly contested with 11 surfers showing some
impressive form in what is traditionally a male orientated
sport. The finals were held in some pretty miserable conditions
with the cold southerly and driving rain testing the limits.
Jessie Terrill from Taranaki showed superb wave selection,
strong roundhouse cutbacks and long rides to take first with
fellow Taranaki surfer Heather Dent close behind in second and
Regi Starinskas from Victoria third.
"The semi finals of the men had three members of the Riverton
Pou family" said Evan. "That has to be some kind of record".
The men's final was held in possibly some of the worst
conditions ever with heavy persistent hail pelting down on the
competitors. As if to compensate the swell cleaned up and the
finalists responded with some stunning surfing.
Dwayne Fetch from Australia surfed consistently to take third
place, Felix Dickson from Dunedin powered in to everything with
some explosive re entries to take second but local Maru Pou
displayed some lovely smooth surfing, got the only tube of the
day and deservedly took first.
Surfing results were combined with points from the previous
days boardercross at Coronet Peak to calculate the overall
winners. Regi Starinskas with a second in the Boardercross and
third in the Surfing beat Jessie Terrill by one point for a
well deserved victory and became the womens Primo Peak to
Porridge champion, taking home one thousand dollars in cash and
a new surfboard.
In the men's 17 year old Felix Dickson from Dunedin showed his
style and dedication to take first place with a thousand
dollars and an all terrain "MountainBoard" spoils of his
victory. Felix was obviously pleased later thanking his " Mom,
Dad and brother " for their support and celebrating well in to
the evening.
— Chris V, BoarderZone.com Staff |HAVE YOUR SAY|
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