Papamoa Beach to host longboard champs this weekend

Three-time New Zealand Longboard over-40 champion Owen Barnes from Mount Maunganui. Photo/NZ Surf Photography

Papamoa Beach will become the focal point of longboard and stand-up paddleboard surfing this weekend with the Barrett Homes New Zealand Longboard and SUP Open today and Sunday.

Fresh off representing New Zealand at the ISA World Longboard Championship in China last month, Zen Wallis (Piha) will return home for this weekend's event.

Wallis finished 16th in China, the highest placed Kiwi, helping the four-person New Zealand team to 11th overall at the event.

The New Zealand Open has eluded Wallis in the past but after securing the national championships at Gisborne in early January, this event will be high on his list.

Title defence will be on the mind of Orewa surfer Thomas Kibblewhite, a two-time winner of the event. Kibblewhite missed the nationals earlier in the year but remains the standout threat at any longboard event in New Zealand.

Kibblewhite will draw on the experience that comes from five national titles and has represented New Zealand multiple times at the pinnacle WSL World Longboard Championships.

New Zealand representative Stella Smith (Gis) returns to defend her title in the Starboard women's SUP division.

Smith won the nationals in Gisborne earlier in the year and placed seventh at the ISA World Championships in September last year. Smith will go head-to-head with teammate Lucy Te Moananui (Kaik) who is heading north for the event.

Ollie Houghton (Auck) will switch from race mode to surfing for the weekend as he looks to go back-to-back in the Starboard men's SUP division. He will be up against the likes of New Zealand representative Sean Hovell (Gis).

The Barrett Homes NZ Longboard and SUP Open also gives older surfers the chance to compete in the over-40 and over-50 divisions. These divisions have been dominated by Mount Maunganui surfers in the past with Owen Barnes the three-time defending champion in the over-40s. Orewa surfer Mark Hoyle will defend his title in the over-50s division.