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| 2007 NMD Blaketown Bodyboard Challenged Presented By Mountain Dew | |
The Blaketown Bodyboarders pulled out all the stops to host the annual NMD Blaketown Bodyboard Challenge and competitors came from all around the country to compete for the prizes and tour points that were up for grabs. Many local Greymouth businesses showed their support for the fifth year running of this memorial event by donating prizes and coin, offering discounts and even giving the club a truck to use as shelter. With good swell and weather conditions predicted everything was aligned to produce one wickedly pumping event. The format used for this competition was expression session where all competitors surf two rounds and the top five competitors would make up the finals. With 50 entries spread through five divisions the two days of competition looked to be pretty full. Thanks to the crew from Mountain Dew all competitors were highly hydrated and energized before hitting the water. Conditions on the first day were 4-6ft heaving wedges that would throw even the heaviest rider at least a couple of feet. Some big beat-downs along with some big aerial manoeuvres were on the cards for all competitors today. All divisions got to battle it out in the rough and grunty conditions and by the end of the day all but the open mens divisions were down to the finals. Standouts in the Open Mens first round were local boy Frank Robinson aka ‘Robbo' who showed his local knowledge by stringing together some strong combos which had him leading the pack into the second round. Ben McKinnon was also on form throwing together a couple of high scoring waves for the first round also putting him in good stead for round two. Dropknee specialists that led going into the finals were Reuben Quirk (Gisborne) who easily led with a four wave score of 20.8 and 2006 Dropknee tour champion Sam Peters ( Wellington ) who had a 17.3 total. Other leading finalists were local boys Jade Morrison and Fannas in the Under 18s division, Liam Blanchfield (Greymouth) and the current Amateur Mens Tour leader Andrew Williams in the Amateur Mens division and Mihi Wells (Otara) and Serena Ball (Whangaparoa) in the Womens division. Finals day greeted competitors with 4—5 foot offshore barrelling conditions and sunny skies despite the obvious frost bite in the air. There were guaranteed to be some big manoeuvres thrown down today! Round two of the Open Mens division proved that the day would be a cracker with some sick inverts, air rolls and combos being thrown into the mix along with some hollow barrels. After the second round the open men finalists were confirmed: Ben McKinnon ( Dunedin ), Frank Robinson (Greymouth), Nathan Quirk (Gisborne), Jarad Ferris (Gisborne) and Chris Martin (Greymouth). The first final in the water was the Under 18s who showed they could foot it with the big boys. Jade Morrison pulled out all his aces and scored the highest wave in the division with a sweet deep barrel and reverse combo which rewarded him an 8.7 with the judges. He backed it up with another solid combo set wave scoring a 6.8 putting him in an untouchable lead for the remainder of the heat. Second place was Liam Blanchfield followed by Fannas and Jeremy Curtis. Next out was the Dropknee division and the surf kept on pumping! Casey Keen scored the highest wave of the heat-an 8.4- after pulling into a deep in and out barrel which had him leading for the most part. However, Jarad Ferris (current BBSNZ Tour leader) was right on his heels and scored a solid back handed barrel which he backed up with another decent scoring wave awarding him the lead and eventually the win. Keen settled for second place after failing to get another high scoring wave. There was an agonizingly close 0.1 difference between the first two place recipients. Local DK specialist Jolan Kilkelly showed his knowledge of the break by getting some steep A-frame drops and pulling out some clean top to bottom slashes which set him in third place. Sam Peters and Reuben Quirk had lost their momentum and although they had led going into the final struggled to get some set waves which had them settle for fourth and fifth place respectively. The Womens final was close between the current BBSNZ tour leader Erica Cusack (Oamaru) and Mihi Wells as one point was separating the two. Cusack caught a couple of solid waves and nearly pulled off an in and out barrel. However, Wells was able to put in a couple of manoeuvres that put her into the lead eventually awarding her the win. Cusack placed second with Serena Ball third and Melanie McElwee fourth. Greymouth local boys dominated the Amateur Mens division and Andrew Williams was the only outsider. The locals showed their break experience by sitting in the right spot and picking off the set waves. Ben McPake knocked out some solid combos that awarded him 5's and 6's which put him in the winning seat. Second place was awarded to another local, Liam Blanchfield who narrowly battled off Williams by 0.3. The 30 minute Open Mens final was a crazy but brilliant display of bodyboarding. The pier was filled with spectators from all over Greymouth and they were treated to one of the best finals ever seen in New Zealand . A wicked battle was raged between these solid competitors where some huge manoeuvres were thrown down. Ben McKinnon hit a section and landed a sick ARS and Jarad Ferris pulled off a solid back flip. However, these didn't quite match up to the macking in and out barrel scored by Chris Martin, local boy. His deep, long and clean in and out solidified his win and spectators on the pier chanted his name repeatedly. Ferris was awarded second place for his strongly contested waves with McKinnon in close third. ‘Robbo' caught his best barrel 5 minutes after the final which meant he had to settle for third and Quirk placed 5 th. The entire weekend was a huge success, with all competitors being treated to true bodyboarding waves-steep, grunty and wedgy, heaps of mountain dew and some great prizes to boot. Huge thanks to the sponsors, competitors and crew for making this Blaketown event the biggest one yet. Final results are as follows: Open Men Dropknee Open Women Amateur Men Under 18's The 2007 NMD Blaketown Challenge is proudly sponsored by: Mountain Dew Mihi Wells |
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| 2007 Human Arato Pro presented by NMD Bodyboards & Mountain Dew | |
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