A combination of young and old managed to contest day two of the 2012 Hyundai National Surfing Championships at Piha.

The surf started out poorly, but improved throughout the day as the new 2m swell filled in and the wind swung to a more favourable southwest direction.

Elliot Parata-Reid from Raglan led the charge on day two. Photo: PhotoCPL.

The future generation of New Zealand surfers in the under-16 boys' division started and finished the day highlighting the improving conditions with high performance.

Young local stand-out Elliot Paerata-Reid blazed his quarterfinal posting the highest heat score of the event to date – 15.33 out of 20 points.

'I am stoked, I didn't actually realize,” says Elliot.

Smashing solid backhand turns on the Piha Bar, Paerata-Reid then repositioned himself over toward the centre of the beach and appeared to have control over the break that only a local could.

'I have a huge advantage being at home and today my dad scoped out the line up while I was warming up and stretching.

'I mean, I know where to sit but he points places out as well and that helps to confirm everything for me,” says Elliot.

Elliot was joined by the likes of Whangamata's Dune Kennings, Christchurch's Harrison Whiteside, Gisborne's Korbin Hutchings and Whangamata's Mackenzie Bowden, who all looked comfortable in the conditions as the size increased in the afternoon.

Other standouts included Matt McGreggor, Mahorahora McLeod and Isaac Kettle, who also got good rides throughout the day and made it through to the semifinals.

Some of the groms wanted to surf a third round in the one day with the surf continuing to look good in the afternoon.
'Tomorrow looks real good, but I would have been happy to surf the semis today,” says Elliot.

Current Hyundai Tour ratings leader, Aucklander Thomas Kibblewhite, left it until the last wave in his semifinal of the longboard division to make his move and advance through to the final in a bid to defend his title.
'It was a hard semifinal until the end, I was scratching for waves but I snuck a late wave and it ended up being a sick one,” says Thomas.

His final wave saw him boost over an oncoming section getting his nine foot board vertical in the process.

'I didn't expect to pop up over that big section of whitewash, but it just happened like that and turned out to be a high scoring manoeuvre,” added Thomas, who is gunning for back-to-back titles.

Thomas found himself trailing Gisborne surfer Michael Fitzharris who ultimately finished the heat in second place to make his first final since the 2009 national champs.

'Fitzy and I have competed against each other for years and he has taught me a lot in the past and he has been ripping the last two days,” commented Thomas on the performance on the elder statesman.

In the first semifinal it was longboard versus shortboard surfers with young Ben Poulter from Raglan the shortboarder taking on the challenge with the change of equipment and overcoming the odds to push Daniel Procter from Gisborne into second place; the two surfers both progressing through to the final.

The stand up paddleboard semifinals were dominated by the two standout performers of the discipline – Daniel Kereopa from Raglan and Shayne Baxter from Christchurch.

Both surfers found themselves contesting the same heat.

Daniel came out on top on this occasion but the Christchurch surfer will only use that to fuel the fire when the finals come around later in the week.

'There is a bit of southern pride in every one of my performances,” says Shayne.

'I get chicken skin whenever I head out there and that is because I want to represent Christchurch proudly.

'I definitely want to represent Christchurch and put a smile on a few faces down there because we have been through some tough times.”

In the second semifinal it was the Whangamata pairing of Karl Aarsen and Lynden Kennings who moved through to the final.

Daniel, Shayne and Dune hold the only three national titles contested in the division so bragging rights will go on the line when the final is contested.

Earlier in the day the women's longboard division was contested with Raglan's Alexis Poulter and Piha's Anna Jolly winning their heats to move through to the final.

Conditions for day three are expected to improve further with more favourable and lighter winds with the swell cleaning up.

The premier open men's division hit the water on day three with Piha already full with New Zealand's best who are eager to get their campaigns underway.

2012 Hyundai National Surfing Championships Day Two Results

Open Longboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Ben Poulter, 11.43, 1, Daniel Proctor (Gis), 10.47, 2, Ant McColl (Mnt), 9.6, 3, Sam Bradford (Pakiri), 8, 4
Heat 2
Thomas Kibblewhite (Auck), 13.67, 1, Michael Fitzharris (Gis), 13.43, 2, Matt Cockayne (Mngwhai), 9.93, 3, Zen Wallis (Piha), 9.9, 4

Women's Longboard Round 1
Heat 1
Belinda Goodwin (Mt), 4.87, 1, Hannah Howard (Auck), 2.83, 2, Sasha Brownlie (Auck), 1.93, 3, Anna Gooding (Tau), 1.67, 4
Heat 2
Mischa Davis (Oratia), 9.67, 1, Alexis Poulter (Rag), 7.67, 2, Denise Piper (Whngrei), 0.9, 3
Heat 3
Shelly Jones (Auck), 6.37, 1, Anna Jolly (Piha), 6.13, 2, Kelsi Efford (Mt), 4.23, 3

Women's Longboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Alexis Poulter (Rag), 10.33, 1, Mischa Davis (Oratia), 9.17, 2, Hannah Howard (Auck), 3.53, 3
Heat 2
Anna Jolly (Piha), 9.33, 1, Belinda Goodwin (Mt), 6.3, 2, Shelly Jones (Auck), 2.53, 3

Stand Up Paddleboard Semifinals
Heat 1
Daniel Kereopa (Rag), 13.5, 1, Shayne Baxter (ChCh), 10.57, 2, Warwick Gray (Hawaii), 6.83, 3, Annabel Anderson (Auck), 4.13, 4
Heat 2
Karlos Aarsen (Whmata), 12.1, 1, Lynden Kennings (Whgmata), 10.57, 2, Armie Armstrong (Rag), 7.5, 3, Jeremy Stephenson (Auck), 5.7, 4

Under-16 Boys' Round 1
Heat 1
Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 7.33, 1, Joe Palmer (Kerikeri), 5.5, 2, Max Marshall (Chch), 5.23, 3
Heat 2
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 12.83, 1, Toa Macdonald (Waitara), 5.6, 2, Sam Poulter (Rag), 2.03, 3
Heat 3
Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 11.2, 1, Josh Farr (Tara), 6.6, 2, Caleb Braithwaite (Whtane), 6.53, 3, Daniel Farr (Tara), 6.1, 4
Heat 4
Dune Kennings (Whmata), 10.6, 1, Isaac Kettle (Tara), 9.63, 2, Te Rapai Barbarich Love, 6.13, 3
Heat 5
Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 13.67, 1, Kehu Butler (Arataki), 10.17, 2, Callum Chuter (Tau), 4.6, 3
Heat 6
Ryan Renall (Mangawhai), 5.93, 1, McKenzie Bowden (Whmata), 5.9, 2, Samuel Sands (ChCh), 4.9, 3, Joshua Gibson (Piha), 2.1, 4
Heat 7
Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 11.47, 1, Xavier Campbell (Dun), 5.43, 2, Taylor Hutchis on (Rag), 3.1, 3
Heat 8
Matt McGreggor (Whngrei), 10.67, 1, Mahorahora McLeod (Waitara), 8.27, 2, Russell Keenan (Waihi Bch), 3.73, 3

Under-16 Boys' Quarterfinals
Heat 1
Korbin Hutchings (Gis), 8.83, 1, Isaac Kettle (Tara), 8.37, 2, Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay), 6.07, 3, Josh Farr (Tara), 5.67, 4
Heat 2
Dune Kennings (Whmata), 12.17, 1, Harrison Whiteside (ChCh), 8.7, 2, Joe Palmer (Kerikeri), 6.4, 3, Toa Macdonald (Waitara), 5.5, 4
Heat 3
Elliot Paerata - Reid (Piha), 15.33, 1, Mahorahora McLeod (Waitara), 8.57, 2, Ryan Renall (Mangawhai), 4.07, 3, Xavier Campbell (Dun), 3.07, 4
Heat 4
McKenzie Bowden (Whmata), 9.5, 1, Matt McGreggor (Whngrei), 8.90, 2, Kehu Butler (Arataki), 8.80, 3, Jordan Griffin (Mnt), 7.10, 4

Remaining Draw

Day 3 (Tues 17^th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys
Day 4 (Wed 18^th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women's, All Seniors
Day 5 (Thurs 19^th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women's, All Seniors, Kneeboard"
Day 6 (Fri 20^th Jan) - Open Men, Under 18, 16, 14 Boys, All longboard, SUP Surf, All Women's, All Seniors, Potentially some finals
Day 7 (Sat 21^st Jan) - Finals, All Bodyboard