One hour makes all the difference at Rip Curl Gromsearch

Rip Curl Gromsearch Series Event One

Surfing New Zealand
Boys and Girls Under 16, 14 and 12
Fitzroy Beach, New Plymouth
16 - 17 April 2005

ONE HOUR MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE AT THE RIP CURL GROMSEARCH

Within an hour Fitzroy Beach changed from a thundering 1.5m chunky swell with gale cross-shore winds to near perfection barrelling peaks after southerly front rolled up the coast cleaning up conditions dramatically for event one of the Rip Curl Gromsearch.  It was Tim O’Connor who made the most of the pumping waves as he ripped his way to another first place in the Under 16 Boys.  Standing out all weekend O’Connor surfed the final in the same aggressive manner scoring 7.00 on his last wave to seal an easy victory with a total heat score of 13.75.   

Sandy Bay friends Oliver Bone and Paco Divers filled second and third places with only 0.45 of a point separating the two surfers.  Bone who finished second found good form this weekend winning through to his first final in almost a year.  In doing so he edged out Divers for third.  Both surfers being part of the Northland Scholastic Surfing Team will take good momentum into the National Scholastic Champs held in Taranaki this week.  Bohdi Whitaker placed a close fourth in the final but was in the race for the minor placings the whole 25 minute final. 

Paige Hareb held the Taranaki flag high on the way to winning the Under 16 Girls.  Mid heat Hareb linked several turns together on one wave to score a heat high 7.0.  Backing that up late in the heat with a 3.75, it was enough for the win.  Wini Paul (Sandy Bay) had to settle for second this time round in an on going battle with Hareb that has lasted all summer.  Paul could not find the longer waves but managed to edge out Riverton’s Pae Pou and Mount Maunganui’s Laura Rishworth for third and fourth respectively.  

The Under 14 Boys final took on a different look with two first time finalists in Jay Paddock (Gis) and Zen Wallis (Piha) however they could do little to make a challenge for the lead and had to settle for third and fourth respectively.  It was the ‘old guard’ of Ryan Hawker (Piha) and Stefan White (WGM) that took hold of the final with Hawker again coming out on top.  Hawker made the most of the low tide conditions and took a strangle hold on the finals early on with a 6.0 and a 7.5 on the very next wave.  From there Hawker never relinquished the lead.  Stefan White made a late charge with a 6.25 on his last wave but that was only enough for second.  

Maddy Phillipps (Auck) did all that was required in the Under 14 Girls final to take the win.  Selectively surfing only two waves in the final, Phillips scored a total heat score of 9.0 to make it two wins in a row after winning the most recent grom event held at Piha.  The other three finalists were also picky in their wave selection with Alexis Poulter (Waihi Beach) coming out in second over Renee Pearson (Gis) in third and double finalist Grace Spiers (WGM) fourth. 

Northlands Cody Hale stormed home to his first win at national level after taking on the waves out the back.  Impressing through the early rounds Hale kept to his game plan of catching the biggest waves and it paid off after scoring 6.0 on his first wave to secure the win.  Ben Poulter (Waihi Beach) also tried valiantly but ended up in second place.  Chad Jones (Tara) placed third in his first final at this level while Brad Pitcher (WGM) finished in fourth place. 

The Under 12 Girls had to also decide if they could muster up the courage to take on the big waves out the back.  Alexis Poulter did just that taking on the challenge and surfing a big open faced wave to score 8.0 before joining the other three girls in the whitewash.  Poulter’s efforts were enough to swoop on first place ahead of Grace Spiers (WGM) who surfed well on some smaller waves in second place.  Local girl Casey Stevens placed third and Rosa Thompson finished in fourth.  

Full results are set out below. 
First and second place in each heat progress through to the following round until they reach the final four surfers.

Under 16 Boys Quarterfinals 
Heat one: Tim O'Connor, Mnt, 1, Mathis Smith, Tara, 2, Tom Dobson, Tara, 3, Tyler Anderson, Tara, 4
Heat two: Paco Divers, Sandy Bay, 1, Keone Campbell, Tara, 2, Rory Guichenet, Tga, 3 Levi O’Conner, Kaik, 4
Heat three: Oliver Bone, Whgrei, 1, Bhodi Whitaker, Ohope, 2, Michael Mallalieu, Tara, 3, Maxim Van Lierde, Tara, 4
Heat four: Johnny Hicks, Gis, 1, Ryan Hawker, Piha, 2, Ethan Atkinson, Wgtn, 3, Karne Pitcher, Whmata, 4

Under 16 Boys Semifinals
Heat one: Tim O'Connor, Mnt, 1, Paco Divers, Sandy Bay, 2, Mathis Smith, Tara, 3, Keone Campbell, Tara, 4
Heat two: Bhodi Whitaker, Ohope, 1, Oliver Bone, Whgrei, 2, Ryan Hawker, Piha, 3, Johnny Hicks, Gis, 4

Under 16 Boys Finals
Tim O'Connor, Mnt, 1, Oliver Bone, Whgrei, 2, Paco Divers, Sandy Bay, 3, Bhodi Whitaker, Ohope, 4

U14 BOYS Quarterfinals
Heat one: Ryan Hawker, Piha, 1, Zen Wallis, Piha, 2, Adam Cranston, Gis, 3, Land'em Collier, Gis, 4
Heat two: Mathis Smith, Tara, 1, Braedon Williams, Whmata, 2, Dahnu Graham, Auck, 3, Blake Myers, Whmata, 4
Heat three: Johnny Hicks, Gis, 1, Stefan White, Whmata, 2, Sean Parker, Tara, 3, Jamie Sanderson, Waihi Bch, 4
Heat four: Michael Mallalieu, Tara, 1, Jay Paddock, Gis, 2, Kieran Pullman, Sandy Bay, 3, Tyler Anderson, Tara, 4

U14 BOYS Semifinals
Heat one:Ryan Hawker, Piha, 1, Zen Wallis, Piha, 2, Braedon Williams, Whmata, 3, Mathis Smith, Tara, 4
Heat two: Stefan White, Whmata, 1, Jay Paddock, Gis, 2, Johnny Hicks, Gis, 3, Michael Mallalieu, Tara, 4

U14 BOYS Finals
Ryan Hawker, Piha, 1, Stefan White, Whmata, 2, Jay Paddock, Gis, 3, Zen Wallis, Piha, 4 

U12 BOYS Semifinals
Heat one: Cody Hale, Kaitaia, 1, Chad Jones, Tara, 2, Tane Wallis, Piha, 3 
Heat two: Ben Poulter, Waihi Bch, 1, Brad Pitcher, Whmata, 2, Kahu Craig Te Ranga, Waihi Bch, 3

U12 BOYS Finals
Cody Hale, Kaitaia, 1, Ben Poulter, Waihi Bch, 2, Chad Jones, Tara, 3, Brad Pitcher, Whmata, 4

U16 GIRLS Round 1
Heat one: Paige Hareb, Tara, 1, Jessica Welch, Gis, 2, Anna Hadfield, Mnt, 3
Heat two: Pae Pou, Riverton, 1, Laura Rishworth, Whtane, 2, Grace Spiers, Whmata, 3, Elaine Van den Worm, Gis, 4
Heat three: Wini Paul, Sandy Bay, 1, Maddy Phillips, Auck, 2, Anita Crawford, Tara, 3, Casey Stevens, Oakura, 4

U16 GIRLS Semifinals
Heat one; Laura Rishworth, Whtane, 1, Paige Hareb, Tara, 2, Jessica Welch, Gis, 3
Heat two: Wini Paul, Sandy Bay, 1, Pae Pou, Riverton, 2, Maddy Phillips, Auck, 3 

U16 GIRLS Finals
Paige Hareb, Tara, 1, Pae Pou, Riverton, 2, Wini Paul, Sandy Bay, 3, Laura Rishworth, Whtane, 4

U14 GIRLS Semifinals
heat one: Grace Spiers, Whmata, 1, Alexis Poulter, Waihi Beach, 2 Kirsty Murphy, Wanganui, 3, Samantha Sanderson, Waihi Bch, 4
Heat two: Maddy Phillips, Auck, 1, Renee Pearson, Gis, 2, Rosa Thompson, Auck, 3, Lucy Brankin, Oakura, 4 

U14 GIRLS Finals
Maddy Phillips, Auck, 1, Alexis Poulter, Waihi Beach, 2, Renee Pearson, Gis, 3, Grace Spiers, Whmata, 4

U12 GIRLS Semifinals 
Heat one: Rosa Thompson, Whmata, 1, Grace Spiers, Whmata, 2, Samantha Sanderson, Waihi Bch, 3
Heat two: Alexis Poulter, Waihi Bch, 1, Casey Stevens, Oakura, 2, Lucy Brankin, Oakura, 3, Ella Williams, Whmata, 4

U12 GIRLS Finals 
Alexis Poulter, Waihi Bch, 1, Grace Spiers, Whmata, 2, Casey Stevens, Oakura, 3, Rosa Thompson, Whmata, 4

DAY ONE: WHEN THE OCEAN GETS ROUGH THE GROMS GET TOUGH 

Taranaki provided its usual source of waves for Day One of the Rip Curl Gromsearch but along with it came a strong onshore westerly wind that played havoc with the surf conditions.  The groms toughed it out all day long with some staying in their wetsuits for more than four hours on end.  Others had the sense to chill out in the beach front New Plymouth Surfriders clubrooms watching surfing DVDs on the big screen.  Local surfers Mathis Smith and Michael Mallalieu were two to show the rest what the conditions offered up as did event favourite Tim O’Connor (Mnt) who relished the chance to rip apart the increasing 1.0m swell. 

Smith and Mallalieu used there small frames to good advantage in the Under 14s as they jammed some critical turns tight in the pocket of Fitzroy Beach Break.  Being their ‘local’ they knew the break like the back of their hands and it showed.  Smith scored a heat high 8.75 and followed it up with a 7.75 while Mallalieu surfed to scores of 8.0 and 6.0 in the Under 14 Boys Division.  The two local surfers filled the top two highest scores for the round.  Earlier Mallalieu also proved unstoppable in the Under 16 Boys posting the second highest score of the round with a total heat score of 13.75. 

O’Connor was the top scorer in the Under 16 Boys.  Held earlier in the day the ‘seniors’ of the event got to surf through the fuller tide where waves offered up a lot more scoring potential.  O’Connor capitalised on this by scoring a near perfect 9.0 and backing it up with an 8.0 – the judges obviously enthusiastic with his smooth style and powerful turns.  O’Connor’s heat score from the first heat of the day held strong through 19 heats of the Boys Divisions to remain the highest heat score of the day.  The above mentioned Mallalieu came close winning his heat as did Ryan Hawker, Auck (11.35), Oliver Bone, Whangarei (12.0), Maxim Van Leirde, Tara (11.75) and Kaikoura’s Levi O’Connor who scored 12.25. 

Late in the day the Under 12s tussled with the low tide conditions and a glary horizon.  It was the tried and true surfers that forged their way into the semifinals with another dominant 11.5 point performance from Tane Wallis (Piha).  Other heat winners included Ben Poulter who progressed over Cody Hale (Nrthlnd) and in Heat 3 the tight tussle with Brad Pitcher advancing along with Kahu Craig Te Ranga (Waihi Beach) in second. 

All three girls divisions were held this afternoon (Saturday) after the time of this press release.  Full results will be distributed at the end of the event.  Results from completed Day One heats are set out below.  First and second place in each heat progress through to the following round.

All finals will be surfed on Sunday afternoon and the prize giving will be held at the New Plymouth Surfriders clubrooms at the end of the day.  Finals will commence at approximately 2pm.

For further information regarding the Rip Curl Gromsearch Series, please contact Leon Parkin on 021 386473, lparkin@ripcurl.co.nz or Ben Kennings at Surfing New Zealand 0274787369, benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.  Alternatively contact Event One Contest Director Tony Smith on (06) 753584 or smithfam@maxnet.co.nz. 

Background information: The Rip Curl Gromsearch Series is the longest running grommet series in New Zealand. The series comprises four events in 2005.  Events are scheduled for each of the school holidays and are dotted around New Zealand.  Rip Curl Gromsearch events focus on participation in the sport of surfing and are held worldwide.  The events offer an excellent opportunity for youngsters to meet other surfers and compete against each other many for the first time in their lives.

This year will see the introduction of an all new National Finals to be held at the Rip Curl Pro – Raglan in February next year.  The winners of this event will get the chance to compete at the International Gromsearch Series final to be held at the Rip Curl Pro, Bells Beach Australia in April 2006! 

Check the below details for dates and locations of the next three events in the series.

Rip Curl Gromsearch Event Two, ­Muriwai Beach, Auckland, 16th – 17th July
Rip Curl Gromsearch Event Three, ­Gisborne, 1st – 2nd October
Rip Curl Gromsearch Event Four, Dunedin, 10th – 11th December

The 2005 Rip Curl Gromsearch Series is sponsored by Rip Curl and New Zealand Surfing Magazine.
Event One would be not possible without the support of New Plymouth Surfriders and Surfing New Zealand.

Source: Global Surf News

>> SURF NEWS INDEX <<