King Paerata – Reid Crowned At Gisborne

Comment Share Posted on Sunday March 21st 2010 at 4:08 p.m. Tweet

Piha surfer Elliot Paerata – Reid was crowned champion of the Quiksilver King of the Groms today (21st March) by none other than New Zealand surfing legend Maz Quinn. Paerata – Reid will now head to France later in the year to represent New Zealand at the international final along with the world’s best surfers under the age of 16.

The young 14-year-old surfer came from behind in the 25-minute-final to lead for the last eight minutes posting a 15.25 point heat total.

The surf remained good throughout the day with a 1.0m swell and offshore winds until a light sea breeze came up late in the final.

"It's a great feeling to win the Under 16s and win the trip to France"

Said Paerata - Reid grinning from ear to ear. Paerata - Reid had single wave scores of 8.0 and 7.25 in the final. He was met at the waters edge by his mates who were stoked to see him take out the final after earlier having a shocker in the Under 14s, finishing fourth.

It was also a confidence boost for Paerata - Reid who held off fellow Piha surfer Tane Wallis, Wallis unable to back up his 8.50 point ride in the final - the highest of the four surfers.

Paerata - Reid was the form surfer of the entire weekend continually notching up scores in the excellent range (8.0 - 10.0). "The waves were really good compared to some of the other comps and my board is amazing, it is a brand new one" he said post finals.

Wallis went into the final as the favourite after earlier eliminating defending event champion Ben Poulter (Rag). He will now be analysing what went wayward after having several opportunities to post the 6.76 point ride required for the win.

Waretini Wano placed third scoring 12.85 in the final to make it a 1-2-3 for the small West Coast surfing community. Placing fourth in the final was Jules Craft (Gis) who was stoked just to make the final and show the good form he is capable of when the surf allows.

An elated Jayda Martin - Fitzharris (Gis) claimed the Under 16 Girls Division. The local girl scored a 7.75 and then an 8.25 on her last two rides of the final before applying the pressure on early finals leader Ella Williams (WGM).

Splashing the water as the final hooter sounded, it was obvious that the win meant a lot to young New Zealand representative who now gets to witness the best female surfers in the world at the 2011 Roxy Pro next summer. "It is going to be so great going to the Roxy Pro, especially to see the level of the girls surfing over there" said Fitzharris. "I have never seen those girls surf in real life" she added.

Ella Williams was close behind Martin - Fitzharris with her best wave scoring 7.25. Knowing she still had to leave nothing to chance, Ella took off on the best waves of the final, completed one big backhand turn then went vertical on her second, falling off right in front of her opponent. That was her best chance at a shot for the title but it wasn't to be with Williams finishing in second place. Local girl Hannah Kohn finished in third place with Gabriela Sansom (Auck) in fourth.

The Under 14 Boys Division was owned by Jordan Griffin (Mnt) until late in the final when all the surfers gave it one last ditch for the win.

After Griffin had held off his opponents posting two waves of 8.5 and 6.65 he looked like he would walk away victorious. However it was the last set of three waves that rolled through the line up which would provide all the action.

Korbin Hutchings (Gis) was first up with what would be a heat winning 8.10 point ride for a 15.20 heat total. "The last wave was good but I didn't think it would get me into first" said Hutchings.

Next up would be Dune Kennings (WGM) who could only manage a 7.5 leaving him 0.20 off the win and in third place. Then it was fourth placed Elliot Paerata - Reid with one last ditch effort. He posted his best wave of the final - a 7.00 point ride which was not enough for the win and left him in the same position.

It was Hutchings first win in the Under 14 Boys Division going one better than the last event when he placed second. Hutchings gets the chance to represent New Zealand at the Australian Quiksilver King of the Groms later this year.

"I can't wait to go to Aussie, it is going to be so sick, I have only competed over in Australia once before" said Hutchings who considers the events namesake Maz Quinn as high on his list of favourite surfers. "Maz is a legend in Gisborne and to have him sponsor this event and watch us all surf is cool" said Hutchings.

Rampaging Manu Scott - Arrieta (Sandy Bay) continued his fine run of form cleaning up in the Under 12 Boys Division. Scott - Arrieta scored a 14.65 point heat total as he played with his opponents going for the biggest turns possible. The win was his third straight for the year. His opponents are however slowly but surely catching up to him. Taine Craig - Ranga (Waihi Beach) surfed some great waves to hold down second place with 12.0 points just ahead of Mount Maunganui stand out Kehu Butler at all of nine years old. Placing fourth in the final was Taranaki surfer Isaac Kettle.

Please see below for final results from the Quiksilver Maz Quinn King of the Groms held at Makorori Beach today (Saturday 20th March).

Under 16 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Jules Craft (Gis), 1, Waretini Wano (Piha), 2, Patxi Scott - Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 3, Josh Kettle (Tara), 4
Heat 2
Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 1, Tane Wallis (Piha), 2, Dune Kennings (WGM), 3, Ben Poulter (Rag), 4

Under 16 Boys Final
Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 1, Tane Wallis (Piha), 2, Waretini Wano (Piha), 3, Jules Craft (Gis), 4

Under 14 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Dune Kennings (Whmata), 1, Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 2, Isaac Kettle (Tara), 3, George Busby (Gis), 4
Heat 2
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 1, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 2, Caleb Braithwaite (Whtane), 3, Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 4

Under 14 Boys Final
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 1, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 2, Dune Kennings (Whmata), 3, Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 4

Under 12 Boys Semifinals
Heat 1
Manu Scott - Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 1, Isaac Kettle (Tara), 2, Ben McCulloch (Gis), 3
Heat 2
Kehu Butler (Mnt), 1, Taine Craig - Ranga (Waihi Beach), 2, Travis Morton (Waihi Beach), 3

Under 12 Boys Final
Manu Scott - Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 1, Taine Craig - Ranga (Waihi Beach), 2, Kehu Butler (Mnt), 3, Isaac Kettle (Tara), 4

Under 16 Girls Final
Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis), 1, Ella Williams (Whmata), 2, Hannah Kohn (Gis), 3, Gabriela Sansom (Auck), 4

Additional awards went to:
Sticky Johnson Best Air - Dune Kennings (WGM)
Surfers Skin Best Tube - Tane Wallis (Piha)
Surfers Skin Best Manoeuvre - Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha)
Sequence Surf Shop Best Scoring Wave - 8.5 Jordan Griffin (Mnt)
Sequence Surf Shop Best Wipeout - Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha)
New Wave Best Newcomer - Taine Craig Ranga (Waihi Beach)

New Zealand Surfing Magazine was also onboard the entire event shooting photos of the competitors. Their talented staff will head back to the office to edit the images with each contestant receiving their own professionally edited shot to put on their wall courtesy of the magazine.

Event Sponsors
The Quiksilver Maz Quinn King of the Groms event is proudly sponsored by Quiksilver, Roxy, Jet Star, Xbox, Olympus, Macbeth, Surfers Skin, Skull Candy, Pro Lite, Sticky Johnson, New Wave and NZ Surfing Magazine.

Surfing New Zealand are proudly partnered by:

Export Gold
Hyundai
SPARC
Smokefree