The stage is set at the Aotearoa Surf Pro for Sunday with New Zealand’s top surfers set to face off in the quarterfinals after an eventful first day held at Auckland’s Te Arai Beach.
A building 1.0m swell and moderate onshore winds made a welcome appearance for participants as they rolled through the preliminary rounds of the Open Men’s Division led by Olympic qualifier Billy Stairmand.
Stairmand was accompanied by the likes of Taranaki’s National Champion Dan Farr and Spencer Rowson and Raglan’s Caleb Cutmore who rounded out the action on Day 1.
Stairmand set the tone on his first wave of event with a searing backhand air reverse for a 6.33 point ride and finished with a 13.06 point heat total. The Raglan surfer is taking the event in before he exits to Tahiti on Monday for two weeks of training at Teahupoo. While today’s surf conditions at Te Arai Beach will be a stark contrast to the waves in Tahiti, Stairmand is always keen to get some reps up at New Zealand events before heading overseas to compete.
Sunday will see Stairmand match up against three youngsters in Jai Wallis (Piha), Jackson Peake (Auck) and Luke Dymond (Rag) as he aims to move through to the finals and challenge for the inaugural title at the Aotearoa Surf Pro.
National Champion Daniel Farr pushed through to the quarterfinals in first place despite a few falls, posting an 11.34 point heat total. Farr currently leads the 2024 NZ Surf Series rankings after two events and a stellar performance at Dunedin to kick off 2023. He will want another good result this weekend before he relocates to Australia at the end of the month. He faces off against Navryn Malone (Rag), Tom Robinson (Whngrei) and Spencer Rowson in his match up.
New Zealand junior representative Rowson was another surfer to impress in his opening round heat posting a 13.16 point heat total in the process. Rowson was named as one of twelve young surfers that will head to El Salvador at the end of the month to contest the ISA World Junior Championships.
Australia / Oceania Qualifying Series campaigner Caleb Cutmore rounded out the days action blowing up on several backhand turns for the days Shapers Highest Heat Total Award – 13.60 points. Cutmore is recently back from Australia where he joined Stairmand, Saffi Vette and Paige Hareb competing on regional qualifying series. Cutmore joins Jack Hinton (Mnt) in the quarterfinals alongside two juniors in James Charlesworth (Auck) and Theo Morse (Rag).
Aotearoa Surf’s wildcard entry, Andrew Robinson (Auck) gave New Zealand’s current top surfers a scare on day. The 1997 National Champion was looking comfortable to progress through to the quarterfinals before getting pipped into third by Auckland’s James Charlesworth in the last minute of the heat.
The Volkswagen Highest Wave Score of the Day Award went to Ari O’Malley (Omaha) for a 7.17 point ride that saw him advance through to the quarterfinals.
The Open Women’s Division commences on Sunday and will feature a slew of top young female surfers including Leia Millar (Piha), Alani Morse and Brie Bennett of Raglan, Liv Haysom (Piha) and Aimee Brown (Gt Barrier) all in attendance as they all look to topple 13-year-old NZ Surf Series leader Lola Groube (Pau).
Sunday’s action will take place from 9am – 2pm at Te Arai Beach with fine weather forecast and conditions expected to be cleaner with light onshore winds and a decreasing 1.0m swell. Keep up to date with live scoring via https://liveheats.com/events/44498. The DJs and food trucks will be back and brought to you by Aotearoa Surf School.
The Aotearoa Surf Pro is one of seven events on the NZ Surf Series and sees over $5000 in prize money plus prizes and giveaways up for grabs. An SNZ2000 rated event, it has attracted the best surfers from all over the country as well as a handful of local talent keen to give the event a crack in home waters.
The event brings together surfing, athletes, enthusiasts and spectators to experience a new dynamic surf comp that is spectator focused, embracing entertainment, food and festival vibes!
Just over an hour North of Auckland CBD Te Arai Beach is an iconic beach break situated to the south of Mangawhai Heads. With peaks up and down the beach, often heavy barrels and a right hander off the point when the sand is right, Te Arai is one of the premier breaks of the Auckland region.
More About Aotearoa Surf
Aotearoa Surf is a surf shop, surf lesson and accommodation provider in Te Arai, established in 2003. They offer safe and fun surfing lessons for all ages & abilities at Mangawhai – Te Arai, plus wetsuits, surfboards, SUP boards and more for hire.
They have a range of services to suit all ages and experience levels with everything from locally based kids camps, after school programs and holiday programs to overseas surf retreats for adults. They are also the preferred choice for large organisations and corporate events.
Experience their outstanding 5-Star Qualmark certified accommodation options. Take the time to reconnect with yourself, your partner or your family in their eco pods or experience their glamping experience in their amazing range of teepees.
Aotearoa Surf are located at 11 Te Arai Point Rd, Te Arai Auckland
More about the Aotearoa Surf Pro and NZ Surf Series
The Aotearoa Surf Pro is an SNZ2000 event and part of the wider New Zealand Surf Series which includes the following events:
7 – 13 January, National Surfing Championships, Dunedin- St Clair
2-3 March – New Zealand Women’s Surf Festival pres by Sun Bum and VW, Pauanui
29 March – 1 April – Te Kaika South Island Surfing Championships, Dunedin
6-7 April – Aotearoa Surf Pro, Te Arai Beach, Auckland
13-14 April – Benchmark Homes Women’s Canterbury Champs, Sumner, Christchurch
26-28 April – Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Championships, Christchurch
24-26 May – Backdoor King and Queen of the Point pres by Quiksilver
For the Facebook event page Click Here
The Aotearoa Surf Pro would not be possible without the support of Aotearoa Surf, Surfing New Zealand, Volkswagen, Sun Bum, Sticky Johnson, Shapers, Vissla, Pyzel
Further Information
For further information on the 2024 Aotearoa Surf Pro please contact Surfing New Zealand’s Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High resolution action images of the surfing will be available to media free of charge.
Event details
Please visit Liveheats.com for live scores https://liveheats.com/events/44498
Follow the event
Follow the action via social media @surfingnz across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and X.
Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:
Sport NZ
NZ Community Trust
Sun Bum
Volkswagen
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