Nationals the final that never was
51 Years of National Surfing Championships rolled back into Gisborne for the 15th time to coincide with the Gisborne Boardriders 50th Anniversary. Now if you haven't figured it out by reading the rest of this magazine yet, Gisborne is a pretty damn good place for surf, but in saying that you would have to be a pretty confident man to plan a week long surf event with 23 divisions and 312 surfers in the middle of a Gizzy summer. Traditionally this is the period where the ocean can and does refuse to offer up any love. But this year Huey, the god of surfing, in partnership with Tangaroa the God of the Ocean, laid out a solid week of waves that aside from one small hiccup in the form of a flat lay day after the gods had an all-nighter on the Purple Goanna's at a Gizzy party, the rest of the competition period was humming.
The Nationals is a complex competition covering multiple disciplines and age groups, here you have the rising groms all attempting to stamp their mark on the sport and become noticed, then the old boys are here right through to their 60's simply to settle the scores with old rivals which is classic to watch. Then somehow these characters on the Stand Up boards have squeezed their way in, which has its own following and unique skill, but can I ask how paddling out to sea and around a marker buoy is at all surfing? Now come on, that's taking the piss a little isn't it, especially when a week later you held your own National Champs for the same thing! Slap me if you like but this is a surf mag and these were the surfing champs. After all is said and done, and before we cover the highlights of the week, the whole week comes down to one moment, one point, the crowning of the National Open Men’s Champ, this is what we all come to see and this is the guy that carries the illustrious title for the year and has his name etched into history on the cup. It isn't often in any sport or event that the stars align and the top seeds or the most exciting talent gets to compete head to head, after rounds of eliminations, especially in sports like surfing which does carry a lot of luck factor. Let’s compare Tennis, over the last decade two of the greatest tennis players in all of history Roger Federer and Raphael Nadal have shared an intense rivalry, yet due to the draw and meeting early eliminating each other, or being eliminated by others or forced to withdraw through injury, they have only met in Grand Slam finals eight times. This is what the punters come to see, the two best duking it out for bragging rights, after all and with much respect for the guy, who will remember this year’s Australian Open which Stanislas Wawrinka won? Yet the 2008 Wimbledon final where The Fed met The Raf will be remembered as the greatest match of all time. You see class brings out class. For a New Zealand Surfing perspective you had to look no further than this year’s men’s open final. Not only did we have the five best surfers this country has produced in the last 15 years present, five surfers that have all at one stage been ranked in the top 50 in the world, but from that lot only Richard Christie was unlucky enough to miss out on the finals falling victim to wave starvation early on in the event. However we can't have 5 in the final and to have Maz and Jay Quinn, Billy Stairmand, and Bobby Hansen all about to do battle for the title, the assembly of the GREATEST FINAL EVER, was complete.
The event was held at Makorori Beach and the week had panned out smoothly under blue skies and with consistent, user friendly surf for all divisions. Yet as we know, all surf comps, or any outdoor event is simply at the mercy of the elements, and for the 'Finals' day of the 2014 Champs the gods decided to throw a spin on the event, delivering eight foot seas and gale force southerly onshores. Perhaps the more experienced and supremely fit divisions may have been able to find a way out beyond the thundering white water of the Makorori lineup, but considering this was a multiple division event, a strategic move was made to take to contest mobile and move up the coast to the more sheltered beach of Kaiaua. In 2009 when the nationals were also held in Gisborne, Kaiaua was also used as a venue and it came to the party with some great waves, while this year she was looking a little on the sad side to hold "The Greatest Final Ever" in. The waves on offer served their purpose for many of the divisions in the build up to the main event, with the groms more than happy. But as what happens in surf contests throughout the world, once the structures of a competition site have been put in place with judges stands, computers and PA's it's very hard, in fact impossible to move. This didn't go down well with four times champion Maz Quinn who watched the contest bank deteriorate as the day went on and he was feeling somewhat bemused as to why in a south swell the contest site had been set up at the southern end of a north facing beach, which was picking up half the swell of 400 metres further north. Maz had shown up at the contest looking to seal his record equalling 5th title and made his feelings immediately known to contest staff, which all but fell on deaf ears, Maz explains, "It was a good call to move the comp, as Gisborne was massive and howling onshore and
you couldn't have had a comp anywhere, but to come around the corner at Kaiaua and to see where they had set up was hugely disappointing. Especially when a few hundred metres down the beach was four foot. I felt sorry for all the divisions that had to surf early in the day. A lady parked next to me commented as to why it was set up at the south end, as it looked way more exciting down the beach. I had no answer. To be fair by the time the open final came around the waves were fun and Billy smoked us all to the horror of the local crowd." With half of Gisborne showing up to check out the much anticipated final and many more competitors whom had stayed behind after being knocked out till the final day to witness this monumental occasion, Kaiaua packed thick to the hills looked more like Aotea Square in the 'Occupy Queen Street' saga. Yet after eight minutes into the final not a single wave had been ridden by any of the four finalists, only two minutes more and the final would have to had been restarted. That's when Bobby Hansen, looking for his first title, broke on a right down the beach. This initiated a response here and there, yet there was no flurry of action or any intense glued to your seats type of scenario until the 24 minute mark. Maz, who fell on a couple of scoring waves, had Billy then respond with a couple of quicker than lightning snaps and Jay paddle down the beach to cover his opposition. Bobby who had been leading with nothing more than a few average scores, performing the best he could with the canvas he was given, was overtaken by Billy's quicker more aggressive moves on the crumbly semi closeout lefts and before you knew it the siren ended the National Champs for another year. The crowds were left wondering where the action was
and the surfers with the exception of Billy were left shocked at what just went down. With full credit to Billy he had surfed an outstanding tournament and he thoroughly deserved his third National Title but that is not what this is about. I should have been left with the task of writing about a true battle of the four titans, using great and well selected superlatives to express what we witnessed, instead I cannot help but ponder if these four gents had been given an extended period of time, considering the conditions on hand in the marquee event, and were performing 400 metres further down the beach, then perhaps the "Greatest Final Ever" could have been stamped in print and not swept into the pile of just another final. This we will now never know!
THE 2014 NATS HIGHLIGHTS: Every Nationals has them, the upsets, the underground performer, the dark horse, the outstanding performance and manoeuvre of the event and aside from the final that never was, there were some all-time moments that these surfers will cherish for the rest of their lives. So let’s take a look and hand out some awards, that perhaps weren’t recognised officially.
The Best Manoeuvre: This would have to go Dune Kennings for his huge air in the Open semifinals, while Bucky Woods also pushed hard for this award and also surfed well in the semis narrowly missing the final, it was Dunes massive straight air that was the most impressive.
The Most Outstanding Performance: This official award went to Abby Falwasser-Logan after Abby not only eliminated the Queen Bee of women’s surfing
Ella Williams and went on to not only place 2nd in the Open Women’s final but also 4th in U18 Girls. What is even more impressive is that in December Abby fractured her ankle when she tripped, and faced the likelihood of missing the Nationals in her home waters. After four weeks on crutches she returned to the water only three days before competition commenced.
The Journeyman Award: This award actually goes to a woman, a woman who has done the hard yards, campaigning year after year, never giving up after coming close several times before. She has done her apprenticeship winning both the Junior and U16 girls divisions before, and this year her rise to master was complete. She also holds herself well and is a pleasure to have in the surfing scene, congratulations Grace Spiers on winning the Open Women’s Title and the Title of NZ Surf Journeyman.
The Most Titles: Well just when you thought he couldn’t ad anymore wins to his career the 60 year old John Gisby cements another and the juggernaut just keeps on carving notches in his belt. With 33 National titles to sit alongside his World Masters title. The man affectionately known as Giz has been saying for the last ten years that this is his last, but the fire burns deep and something tells us the show ain’t over yet!
Club Of The Year: Another official award which was implemented for the first time, taking into account the best results in open men’s, open women’s, junior men’s or girls, senior men or women plus the best other result. Add these all together and you have the Club of the year which went to Gisborne over Whangamata, and the Point Boardriders of Raglan.
The Dark-horse: In what was probably the upset of the championship a stylish young goofy footer from Mount Maunganui named Jonas Tawharu took out his more fancied rivals in the U16 boys. Jonas has shown great dedication in recent years and his surfing has flourished, now the results are beginning to flow. We look forward to more great surfing in the future years from this lad.
The Prince of the Nats: Every few years comes along a junior surfer that stands out above the rest, one who competes all day long and wins multiple events. They announce their arrival in startling fashion and their names begin to fill the junior trophies, yet it is only a matter of time before they begin walking away with the biggest titles. Names such as Motu Mataa, Daniel Kereopa, Blair Stewart, Bobby Hansen are a few that were the Prince’s who became Kings. This year Tane Bowden pushed hard for the title but was beat out by Kehu Butler who finished first in the U14’s, second in the U16’s and third in the U18’s. This rivalry will be one to watch in coming years.
The King Of The Nats: Not only the King of this championship but now the 3x King, Billy Stairmand is the only full time competitor on the WQS Tour and currently the only NZ surfer receiving enough financial support to do so. This fact really reflects in Billy’s performance, where he showed an ability to adapt to changing conditions and the competitive metal needed to hold his nerve and fire at the right time. We all hail the King!