For immediate release
24 April 2024
From: Surfing New Zealand
Sport: Surfing
Event: Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Championships
Dates: 26 – 28 April 2024
Divisions: Open Men, Under 18, 16 and 14 Boys, Over 30, 45 Men’s Divisions and Longboard
Location: Christchurch Beaches
Websites: Surfing New Zealand
Exit Surf Canterbury Champs Celebrates 60th Anniversary this weekend
Ripe form will be rewarded for New Zealand’s top surfers over the next three days as the Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Surfing Championships gets underway this weekend celebrating its 60th anniversary.
The event is being held from Friday through to Sunday and has attracted top talent from around the New Zealand. A staple in the New Zealand Surf Series this historic event sees the best male surfers in the country descend on Canterbury in the search of pumping waves and the prestigious titles.
The event follows the Aotearoa Surf Pro held on the 6-7 April and precedes the Backdoor King and Queen of the Point pres by Quiksilver (NZ Surf Series SNZ3000, NZ Grom Series SNZ2000) 24-26 May.
This weekend’s Exit Men’s Canterbury Championships includes Raglan surfer and defending champion Caleb Cutmore. Cutmore found late summer form at the most recently held Aotearoa Surf Pro where he finished 2nd in the Open Men’s Division. He will want to go better than that this weekend as looks to make a surge up the rankings from 3rd overall before heading home to Manu Bay to contest the Backdoor King and Queen of the Point Presented by Quiksilver late next month
In 2022 Cutmore smashed his opponents in the final surfing to a 13.06 point heat total including current National Champ Daniel Farr and local South Island surfers Myka Black and Tyler Perry. In 2024 Cutmore is joined by a bunch of top ranked surfers including Jarrod Hancox of Taranaki. Hancox placed 4th at the South Island Championships and is a regular at the South Island events.
Other top surfers to attend the event include Taylor Hutchison (Rag) , Frank Roberts, Jai Earnshaw, Ruben Peyroux, Charlie Webb, Sam Sands, Levi Oconnor and Jack Raharuhi.
William Jamieson, 2023 New Zealand longboard team member will be a contender in the Longboard Division, one of seven other divisions contested at the event this weekend. Jamieson sits second on the New Zealand Longboard Tour rankings but with good mate Charlie Wise hot on his heels and veteran Christchurch legend Hugh Ritchie, Champion of the 2024 edition of the Duke Festival of surfing and household name in the NZ Longboard scene, a 1st place title will not come easy.
Taranaki’s Jarred Hancox and the West Coasts Jai Earnshaw will lead the way for the Over 30 whilst in the Grandmasters Over 45 Men’s Divisions Justin Summerton and George Roberts will lead The hotly contested senior division which always bring out the competitive streak amongst the elder gentlemen.
The four junior divisions see an abundance of talent from both the North and South Islands. With Alexis Owen away at the ISA World Juniors, it will be Canterbury’s own Rakiatea Tau who placed 4th at the most recent South Island event and Joe Goodjohn of the Mount looking to back up his performances where he placed 2nd in the Mount and most recently Kaikoura where he placed 3rd.
Sev Tolhurst Who has surfed up a division in all South Island events this year placing 7th 3rd and 5th in recent competitions will look for a finals berth as well after steadily gaining momentum on the South Island leg of the grom series. In his favoured division, under 16s, he will look to continue his domination at the top of the rankings currently placed 3rd.
A strong Dunedin contingent of groms will also make the event with Jack Higgins and Flint Sherbourne France leading the pack with Higgins sitting 5th in the Under 16 and Sherbourne France placed 4th in the Under 14s.
Kobe Coleman will also make this his fourth straight event in the Under 14 division and sitting in 5th on the SNZ Grom Series Rankings is a strong contender for a finals finish. Similarly, Travis Henderson has been on a roll and will surf in his third event of the season.
The three-day event takes place from Friday through until Sunday (26-28 April) along the Christchurch coastline from Taylors Mistake to Gore Bay. The event is sanctioned by both Surfing New Zealand and the South Island Surfing Association making for a valuable event for national rankings.
Participants across the seven divisions will be vying for $8,000 in cash and prizes.
The Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Championships features senior divisions – Open Men, Over 30s, 45s and Longboard plus the 18, 16 and 14 Boys Divisions.
Action will take place from 8am each day and finals are scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
Please see below for the current New Zealand Surf Series and Grom Series rankings after the most recent events.
Open Men’s Division Top 10
1 Daniel Farr
2 Zen Wallis
3 Caleb Cutmore
4 Jack Mcelod
5 Billy Stairmand
6 Jai Wallis
7 Jarred Hancox
8 Spencer Rowson
9 Taylor Hutchison
10 Dune Kennings
Men’s Longboard Top 5
1 Zen Wallis
2 Will Jamieson
3 Charlie Wise
4 Jack Tyro
5 Jai Wallis
Under 18 Boys Division Top 5
1 Alexis Owen
2 Tai Murphy
3 Christian Fougere
4 Will Hardie
5 Spencer Rowson
Under 16 Boys Division Top 5
1 Alexis Owen
2 Sam Frazerhurst
3 Sev Tolhurst
4 Harrison Biddle
5 Jack Higgins
Under 14 Boys Division Top 5
1 Jesse Frazerhurst
2 Sol Fritchley
3 Vitor Bauermann
4 Flint Sherborne-France
5 Kobe Coleman
Information
For more information on the Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Championships please contact Ben Kennings on 021 2278732 or email benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz. Alternatively contact Russell Ritchie on 0274325972 – russell.ritchie@xtra.co.nz.
The Exit Surf Men’s Canterbury Surfing Championships would not be possible without the support of Exit Surf, Signmark, Universal Plumbing, Against the Grain, Eastside Autos, Mainland Foundation, , Make, Matt Harrison Construction, North Wai Boardriders and the South Island Surfing Association.
Imagery
High resolution images will be available to media upon request. Images will be distributed free of charge.
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Author: Dan Westerkamp