2010 NMD/Mountain Dew Arato Pro Write Up and Results
8th February 2010
The 2010 NMD/Mountain Dew Arato Pro was held in some excellent waves over Saturday 30th and Sunday 31st January 2010 at Sunset Beach, Port Waikato. With a field of over 50 competitors there was some fantastic bodyboarding action over the two days with some big upsets and great individual results.
The first round of the Open Men was first to hit the water on Saturday morning at 7.45 and the conditions were ideal. A great 3ft swell groomed by some brisk offshore winds. The level of surfing was impressive from the outset with the first round of 24 already shaping up with some solid contests. Early surfing from Ben McKinnon and Richard McKenna was impressive not to mention the form of 14 year old local Willy Nepia-Murray. The biggest shock of the first round however had to be the exit of 2009 BBSNZ Tour champion Mitchell Tombleson and runner up Luke Elliot who both dipped out after not securing solid second waves.
Next in the water were the DK riders. With some great waves still on offer these guys got stuck in and there was some awesome bodyboarding dished up. Sam Peters absolutely smoked his heat with a super clean DK floater and big hacks on his other waves. Willy Nepia-Murray again impressed picking up solid waves to progress through his first round DK heat.
The Senior Men were next to hit the water and it was great to see this division growing in popularity. There were some great riders in the Senior Men's ranks and also some impressive surfing for the 28 year and over guys. Ben McKinnon decided to give the division a blast and surfed well to progress out of the first round. Jeff King was keen to go one better than his 2nd place in 2009 and surfed a strong opening round to make his way through. Graeme Reid came out of retirement to also show he is not to be underestimated cruising through his first round heat also.
The ever popular Amateur division was next to hit the water and there was again some awesome riding going down. Alan Downing threw down some solid spins and rolls to move through his heat as did Hamilton local Wesley Venter. The level of riding in the Amateur division is on the increase and it works well as a stepping stone for new competitors to get a taste for the competition scene and format.
The newly introduced Under 21 division was next in the water which has been put in place as a pathway for the younger riders in to the Open Men's division. There was again solid riding in the now slightly ruffled conditions. Luke Elliott made up for his earlier poor showing to progress easily. Local Matt Haldane showed his good run of form was set to continue progressing through along with Andrew Corkhill from Taranaki.
With the waves slowly getting a little ruffled from the onshore wind the call was made to truck through the Open Men's Quarter Finals and Senior Men's Semi Finals as the high tide was offering some decent banks even if the surface conditions were not ideal.
The Open Men hit the water again and with a few of the top names already out of contention it looked likely that there may be a few new faces progressing to the semi finals. Some competitors who had been around for a while but had never lucked in to solid competition results were looking good in the still very contestable conditions. Alex Elder from Mount Maunganui surfed well and kept the hope alive for the Mount crew with good surfing taking him through to a semi finals berth. Blair Dowman of Kaitaia slowly went about his work and also progressed through to the later rounds. Willy Nepia-Murray kept up his amazing run of form at his local break and also locked in a semi finals berth.
With condition now becoming very testing it was decided to run the Semi finals of the Open Men's and then call it a day. There were some tight results in the now heavily wind affected conditions with all of the over 28 competitors surfing well in the shifty conditions. Jeff King continued his roll through the division to book himself a place in the final with his well known powerful surfing. Ben McKinnon and Graeme Reid also just snuck through to the final along with Sebastian Lopez from Mount Manganui. With condition now less than ideal the call was made to hold off until the following morning with a 7am start and a better chance of getting some clean conditions for the remaining semi finals and finals.
The next day started early and the comp site was set up and ready to go at 7am. The first heat up was the Open Men's semi finals and the guys were up and in to it at 7.15am. This is where those battle hardened competitors started to show what they really needed to get through to the final. Unfortunately the waves were not quite as expected with quite a low tide and the wind not making its mind up; with a light onshore breeze that was twisting and turning about make the surface conditions a little bumpy. There were still plenty of contestable waves with the best 4 in the Open Men's proving good waves were there if you really wanted them. Blair Dowman surfed in his usual solid final to book a place in the final as did ex New Zealand team member Gavin Spiers. Gavin and Blair had made it through to their first Open Men's final and were suitably stoked. The ever consistent Ben McKinnon also cemented his place alongside fellow Whanganui local Richard McKenna to set up a final of the experienced finalists versus the first timers.
From here we cracked straight in to the finals with the U18 division up first. In a bit of a rebuilding stage with a number of the U18 competitors now too old for this division it was good to see some new, younger faces getting involved in this division. Unfortunately numbers only dictated a straight final but this will surely build with better numbers throughout the year. Willy Nepia-Murray showed his natural talent at home in the waves of Port Waikato, with some solid spin and roll combos and some powerful surfing for his age will took out his first U18 title and the first for 2010. David Burger came in a very close second with his solid and improving style with some really powerful looping rolls. Local boy Vaughan Rhind came in third place to add to his excellent result in Gisborne at the end of 2009.
Next to hit the water was the U16 division which is growing in strength from year to year. This was a 5 man final with some of New Zealand's best up and coming talent on display. It was an excellent final and showed that NZ has some fantastic talent coming up in the younger age divisions. In somewhat of an upset it was Mount Maunganui local Ezekial Ngakuru who completely dominated his opposition in the final, easily taking the heat by about 4 points from his nearest competitor. Ezekial surfed a really powerful heat with some excellent big rolls and tight spins to take out his first ever division on the BBSNZ tour. In second place was treble finalist Willy Nepia-Murray who could be excused for not being on top form as he had to spread his surfing time throughout the three division finals, Willy still surfed a great heat but couldn't quite link the combos to keep up with Ezekial. In third and forth were Port Waikato locals Jade Roger and Carlos Purua who are starting to really progress and surf well in competition and rounding out the 5 man final was first time competitor Adam El Gana who surfed well in his first ever BBSNZ competition.
The ever popular Amateur division was next up in the water. This division has proved very popular over the past few years and is a great way for new competitors to get a feel for competing before moving in to other divisions. It was a great final and the level within the Amateur division is always impressive. It was a stoked Alan Downing taking out his first ever final in this division after a few top 4 placings. He was speechless when accepting his brand new NMD board as a prize. In a close second was Alan's good mate Wesley Venter who was just pipped and settled for second. Coming up in third was the ripper from the U16 division Ezekial Ngakuru who couldn't back up his U16 result in the Amateur final. Rounding out the top four was an old face who has got back in to competing Matt O'Dwyer who was happy to be back in the finals mix.
The newly introduced U21 division was up next and is a building block for those that had been competing previously in the U18 division. After a disappointing show in the Open Men's division it was Luke Elliot who shone in the U21 with a convincing win over second place local Matt Haldane. Matt has been surfing solidly over the past couple of years and is a regular on BBSNZ events around the country. In third was another Mount local Alex Elder who had a great weekend, making the Open Men's semis against some stiff competition as well as finishing up in third in U21's. Rounding out the final was the consistent Andrew Corkhill who has been almost a permanent U18 finalist over the past few years.
With some fun waves still on offer as the tide moved on in it was time for the Open Women to hit the water. With growing numbers in the past few years it was a disappointing turnout for the Open Women but none the less the girls took to the water with a good attitude and the desire to take out the division. Mihi Nemani started strongly with some big rolls and after locking in two great waves it was always going to be difficult for the other girls to catch her. Mihi cemented that first place with Eiko Yoshimura coming just behind her in second. In her first competition ever it was Piha charger Anna El Gana in third with a great display of surfing from this first time competitor.
In the water next was the Senior Men's division. This division has been a revelation wince its inception in 2009 and was the second biggest division at the 2010 NMD/Mountain Dew Arato Pro. This year in the first event of 2010 the Senior Men's division was taken One of NZ's finest bodyboarders in Ben McKinnon although he only just squeezed through in to first with a solid showing by second place getter Sebastian Lopez. It was Jeff King in third place although a solid second wave probably would elevated him in to first! Finishing up in 4th was one of the well known faces of New Zealand bodyboarding Graeme Reid who had made a return to competitive bodyboarding after a 3 year break.
The third to last heat in the water for the day was the DK division. With some workable walls still on offer it was going to be an interesting final to watch. The dark horse of DK, Richard McKenna, the two New Zealand team dropkneers in Bayden Barber and Sam Peters and the grom in Willy Nepia-Murray. In a bit of an upset it was Willy Nepia-Murray who was leading for over half of the heat with two good early waves. Sam Peters wasn't going to let this happen and took two waves late in the heat and threw down some big powerful hacks to secure the win in the first event of 2010. Bayden Barber picked up a good long wave late in the heat to just pip Willy, Bayden taking second, Willy moving in to third and Richard McKenna coming in fourth although his mind was clearly on the Open Men's final.
To break up the DK and Open Men's finals we had the "Expression Session" which is a time for anyone who is a competitor or non competitor to head out in to the waves for a bit of fun with a couple of prizes on offer. It was great to see a whole host of people head out for the expression session, a number of the locals who have not competed got out there as did competitors and friends. This is more of a fun heat and a way to get people involved in bodyboarding.
Last up for the day was the Open Men's final. It was two regular finalists in Ben McKinnon and Richard Mckenna up against two great bodyboarders who unfortunately don't have a stack of good results to go with their good surfing in Blair Dowman and Gavin Spiers. There were still some fun waves on offer so there was a lot expected of the Open Men's finalists. It was a tight final with some great surfing. Ben McKinnon had blitzed through one of his earlier heats with three or four massive inverts and but was unable to find the sections that he really wanted in the final. Gavin and Blair continued their fine form and really put the pressure on Richard and Ben with some solid looping rolls and fast, critical spins. In the end it was Gavin who took the fourth position with Blair in third. The top two spots were down to the two good mates originally from Whanganui. In the end it was the bigger boost and speed of Richard McKenna on the day which secured him the top spot with Ben McKinnon settling for second on this occasion. A great start for Richard McKenna in 2010 and form he will hope to take forward to the Dion Wells Memorial in just over a month!
Final Results
Open Men
1st Richard McKenna
2nd Ben McKinnon
3rd Blair Dowman
4th Gavin Spiers
Senior Men
1st Ben McKinnon
2nd Sebastian Lopez
3rd Jeff King
4th Graeme Reid
DK
1st Sam Peters
2nd Bayden Barber
3rd Willy Nepia-Murray
4th Richard McKenna
Amateur
1st Alan Downing
2nd Wesley Venter
3rd Ezekial Ngakuru
4th Matt Odwyer
U21s
1st Luke Elliot
2nd Matt Haldane
3rd Alex Elder
4th Andrew Corkhill
U18s
1st Willy Nepia-Murray
2nd David Burger
3rd Vaughn Rhind
U16s
1st Ezekial Ngakuru
2nd Willy Nepia-Murray
3rd Jade Roger
4th Carlos Purua
5th Adam El Gana
Women
1st Mihi Nemani
2nd Eiko Yoshimura
3rd Anna El Gana
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