Raglan’s
Alani
Morse
triumphed
at
the
New
Zealand
Women’s
Surfing
Festival
this
weekend
taking
out
the
Open
Women’s
Division
at
Pauanui,
the
third
stop
on
the
NZ
Surf
Series
for
2026.
The
15-year-old
New
Zealand
representative
surfed
seven
heats
throughout
an
action
packed
day
adding
a
runner
up
finish
in
the
Under
16
Girls
Division
earlier
in
the
afternoon
and
an
appearance
in
the
Hyper
Ride
Expression
Session.
After
three
days
of
easterly
storms
and
terrible
weather
during
the
week,
Pauanui
turned
on
a
charm
for
the
weekend
with
the
surf
starting
out
in
the
1.0m
range
with
beautiful
sunshine
and
offshore
winds.
Sunday
finished
slightly
smaller
with
the
Under
14
Girls,
Longboard
and
Novice
divisions
rounding
out
the
weekend.
Morse
looked
sharp
all
Saturday
finding
the
waves
that
offered
several
scoring
opportunities
in
the
often
challenging
conditions.
“Yeah,
I
kind
of
waited
a
while
for
that
last
wave,
but
it
came
in
the
end
and
I
knew
it
was
going
to
come
and
I
knew
my
surfing
ability
would
definitely
be
good
enough
to
get
that
score,
but
it
was
just
about
waiting
and
it
came
and
I
was
pretty
stoked,”
said
Morse
of
her
5.27
point
ride
to
clinch
the
final.
Morse
opened
her
account
with
a
7.83
point
ride
and
finished
with
a
13.10
point
heat
total
–
her
highest
of
the
day.
“Yeah,
I’ve
had
a
few
pretty
good
heats
today.
But
yeah,
it
was
really
good
to
get
the
best
score
in
the
final,”
she
added
of
her
overall
performance.
Morse
took
out
the
final
over
Mount
Maunganui
surfer
Sage
Frtichley
on
9.97
points,
Poppy
Arkle
(Piha)
in
third
on
9.44
and
an
injured
Chloe
Groube
(Pau)
in
fourth
on
6.73.
Our
top
young
stars
were
amongst
a
field
of
over
110
entrants
in
the
event
with
surfers
attending
from
Ahipara
down
to
the
Catlins.
“It’s
really
cool
to
see
the
number
of
girls
that
are
here
this
weekend,
just
the
younger
ones
coming
through
and
the
older
ones
too,
it’s
really
good
to
get
together
and
celebrate
women’s
surfing
in
New
Zealand”.
Local
surfer
Chloe
Groube
secured
her
first
event
win
in
a
year
despite
exiting
the
water
with
four
minutes
to
go
in
the
final,
sustaining
an
ankle
injury.
After
completing
two
big
turns
on
her
fateful
wave,
Groube
went
for
broke
on
the
end
section
but
tweaked
her
ankle
and
floated
to
shore
in
agony.
However,
the
6.67
point
ride
was
enough
for
the
win
with
her
opponents
unable
to
best
her
10.50
point
heat
total
while
she
waited
on
the
beach.
Poppy
Arkle
(Piha)
finished
second
in
the
final
ahead
of
Sage
Fritchley
(Mnt)
in
third
and
Izzy
Evans
(Mnt)
in
fourth.
Lola
Groube
made
it
a
double
in
the
age
groups
for
the
sisters
when
she
won
the
Under
16
Girls
Division.
In
another
major
battle
against
Alani
Morse,
Groube
got
the
better
of
this
encounter
12.20
v
11.67.
The
win
brings
Lola’s
total
to
three
for
the
season
after
winning
the
National
Championships
and
the
second
event
of
the
Billabong
Grom
Series.
Gisborne’s
Charlotte
McDiarmid
made
her
first
final
of
the
season
to
finish
third
ahead
of
Jade
Nias
Phillips
(Ahipara)
in
fourth.
Jade
Nias
Phillips
made
a
mends
in
the
Under
14
Girls
Division
taking
out
the
division
in
the
final
minute
with
a
5.83
point
ride
for
a
critical
backhand
turn
to
flip
the
heat.
Maddie
Smith
(Gis)
finished
with
her
best
result
of
the
year
placing
second
ahead
of
Millie
Dyck
(Mnt)
and
Savanah
Dawes
(Mnt)
who
finished
in
third
and
fourth
respectively.
Te
Waiotu
claimed
her
second
win
of
the
season
in
the
NZ
Longboard
Series
taking
our
the
Harcourts
Pauanui
Women’s
Longboard
Division.
Emma
Lay
(Mangawhai)
had
the
lead
until
about
two
minutes
to
go
when
Fairlie
posted
a
7.0
point
ride
to
snatch
the
victory
in
a
close
final.
Izzy
Evans
placed
third
in
her
second
final
of
the
weekened
with
Willow
McBride
(Mnt)
finishing
in
fourth.
Miriam
Popich
(Pau)
surfed
to
a
win
in
the
Over
40
Women’s
Division,
the
local
surfer
beating
her
out
of
town
opponents
in
Alex
Monteith
(Piha),
Carolyn
Gundy
(Piha)
and
Fleur
Blackie
(Whitianga).
In
a
mix
of
participants
for
the
Novice
Division,
it
was
the
older
Sarah
Ling
(Mangawhai)
that
claimed
the
win
on
her
longboard
over
the
two
youngsters
in
Maeva
Dyck
(Mnt)
and
Fay
Devoy
(Whiti)
with
Kristin
McCaw
(Pauanui)
finishing
in
fourth.
The
Salt
Gypsy
Expression
Session
drew
all
the
groms
into
a
one
heat
winner
takes
all
assault
on
the
Pauanui
waves
with
Sage
Fritchley
taking
the
win
with
her
searing
forehand
wraps.
Meanwhile,
Sunday
saw
the
Hyper
Ride
All-In
Soft
Top
Challenge
where
the
young
girls
had
a
blast,
tandem
surfing,
sharing
party
waves
and
completing
all
sorts
of
tricks
with
Jade
Nias
Phillips
ands
Lara
Lay
taking
out
the
most
entertaining
performance.
The
New
Zealand
Women’s
Surfing
Festival
pres
by
the
Thames
Coromandel
District
Council
includes
divisions
ranging
from
the
Open
Women,
Under
14,
16
and
18
Girls,
Over
40
Women,
Longboard
and
Novice
divisions.
To
add
some
fun
to
the
weekend,
there
was
an
expression
session,
all-in
foamie
soft
top
session
and
a
skate
session. Over
110
entries
were
received
for
the
weekend.
The
event
is
part
of
all
three
national
series
for
the
open,
junior
and
longboard.
The
juniors
and
longboarders
head
to
the
Duke
Festival
of
Surfing
next
weekend
before
the
South
Island
Champs
for
all
three
during
Easter,
the
Kaikoura
Grom
Comp
on
the
11-12
April
then
the
Backdoor
King
and
Queen
of
the
Point
pres
by
Quiksilver,
Roxy
and
WSL
on
the
15-19
April.
Partners
Generous
support
from
Thames-Coromandel
District
Council,
Lorna
Jane,
Harcourts
Pauanui,
Salt
Gypsy,
HyperRide,
Surf
Shell
Surf
Hats,
Zeffer
Drinks,
Cocobella,
The
Collective
NZ,
Neufound
Eyewear,
The
Sauna
Project
Coromandel
Coast,
Raglan
Roast,
Awatere
Wines,
Pauanui
Surf
School,
Wild
Coast
Collective,
Skateboarding
NZ,
Aotearoa
Women’s
Surfing
Association
&
Surfing
New
Zealand
has
made
this
event
possible.
Further
Information
For
further
information
on
the 2026
New Zealand
Women’s
Surf
Festival
pres
by
Thames
Coromandel
District
Council,
please
contact
Surfing
New
Zealand’s Ben
Kennings
on
0212278732
or
benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz.
Imagery
High
resolution
action
images
of
the
surfing
at
the
event
will
be
available
to
media
free
of
charge.
Follow
the
event
Follow
the
action
via
all
social
media
platforms
–
@surfingnz
across
Facebook,
Instagram,
TikTok
and
YouTube.
Surfing
New
Zealand
is
proudly
partnered
by:
Sport
New
Zealand
ACC
Sun
Bum
Kiwi
Holiday
Insurance
Ends
Go to Surfing New Zealand
Author: Ben Kennings