More history was made this weekend for New Zealand surfing with Mahia surfer Ricardo Christie finishing third at the Hawaiian Pro – a QS 10,000 event. That pushes him from 14th to seventh in the Qualifying Series rankings and almost certainly cements his position on the World Championship Tour for 2019. It was a magic moment for all surfers in New Zealand. You can read our story on Ricardo's Hawaiian Pro success here on NZ Surf Journal.
His success comes less than a week after Paige Hareb re-qualified for the 2019 World Championship Tour. You can read Paige Hareb's story here. This is the turning point for New Zealand surfing. What Ricardo and Paige have achieved paves the way for a slew of others who have committed to the competitive path in surfing. And in turn those surfers inspire another layer below them. So it continues all the way to the smallest groms first starting out in competitive surfing at the very grassroots of it all.
We had a mob of them packed on to a peak on a small day last week at St Clair – an after-school session that was more about having fun than anything else. It was nice to see that from this level right through to the very elite of the sport, surfing in New Zealand is looking pretty sharp. Roll on the next few years ...
The pre-summer rains are upon us, snow is falling through the high-country and it doesn't feel at all like summer is about to crack open right now. If the forecasts are correct then we have a week of this. Might be a good time to get on to some early christmas shopping from our gallery!
See you at the beach ... Derek
PS Doc has launched a new campaign to help dog owners who frequent the Otago coastline to become wildlife certified. It's a great concept designed to protect the local wildlife and help dog owners interact more safely. More about it here.
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