Opening domestic season wins for Raglan surfers
Raglan surfers Caleb Cutmore and Alani Morse have opened the New Zealand Surf Series with wins at the East Coast Pro completed at Gisborne
The pair were joined by six winners in the age groups after the completion of the three-day event held in idyllic conditions at Makorori Beach.
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The surf remained around the 1.0m mark all weekend with the final day conditions remaining glassy for most of the day with a light sea breeze through the finals in the afternoon.
Cutmore looked sharp all weekend with his full tilt surfing, attacking the waves at high speed and blowing apart big sections with his powerful forehand surfing. His finals performance resulted in a 15.43 point heat total and it was his opening wave of 9.33 points that put his opponents on notice.
“I’ve just been trying to take it heat by heat and focus simply on what I'm doing and not focus on the others,” said Cutmore post final.
“Obviously, a few big names went down in the draw earlier on, but by focussing on what I was doing and keeping it simple, getting two good waves each heat, it paid off.”
“I’m definitely stoked on the good start to the year and to give it a good go as the season carries on.”
Piha’s Will Hardie finished runner up in the final for a career best finish. Hardie opened the final with a 7.50 point ride in the opening minutes and needed a big second ride to match Cutmore. As the tide filled in, Hardie found it hard to get that second ride until less than a minute to go when he racked off three nice turns on his backhand. However, needing a 7.94 point ride, he came up short with a 6.67.
Local hopes rested on Jay Quinn in the final but the waves eluded him and Quin could only must single turn waves to finish in third ahead of Taimana Marupo (Mt Maunganui) in fourth.
Morse was on double duty at this weekend’s event and after a priority interference in the Under 18 Girls Division relegated her to fourth place, she was keen to make amends in the final of the Open Women’s Division. The 16-year-old claimed a close win over rival Poppy Arkle (Piha) by 0.16 points, the victory coming in the last two minutes of the final.
The win is Morse’s second in succession after winning the final event of last season at the King and Queen event held at Raglan.
“That was quite a while ago, I haven't thought about that but that's cool,” Morse said.
“It was so fun, that bank was, like, pumping the whole weekend, especially when the forecast looked small for all three days.
Surfing to a 12.30 point heat total, Morse utilised her favoured backhand for the win against the teenage filled final.
“It's cool battling with the girls and, yeah, obviously, been competing with them almost my whole life and they've kind of shaped me into the surfer I am today and it was cool to share the lineup with them and have a lot of fun, we are all super competitive too,” Morse added.
Arkle’s runner up finish came alongside her win in the Under 18 Girls Division and fellow Piha surfer Kyra Wallis finished third, surfing to the final-high 7.5 point single ride but she was unable to find a back up wave late in the final.
With the WSL World Championship Tour returning to Raglan, New Zealand along with two new qualifying series events here in Gisborne (23-28 March) and Dunedin (16-21 March), there is a lot on the line for Aotearoa’s best as they target international success in home waters.
