Northland surfer Paul Moretti, 24, was back to his best in Taranaki on the weekend as he took out the Backdoor Pro open men's division title. Photo / Shaun Coffey
Northland surfer Paul Moretti, 24, was back to his best in Taranaki on the weekend as he took out the Backdoor Pro open men's division title. Photo / Shaun Coffey
Two of Northland's top surfers are heading into the new year with extra confidence after a winning weekend in Taranaki.
Paul Moretti, 24, and Tom Robinson, 16, won their respective divisions against some of New Zealand's top surfers at the Backdoor Pro surfing event held at New Plymouth's Stent Rd and Fitzroy beaches.
Moretti, raised on Whangārei's east coast now lives in Auckland, took on the open men's division and surfed to a 15.5-point heat total in the final, highlighted by a quick start and near-perfect 8.83-point ride in the opening minutes.
"I had a quick start and I couldn't hear anything over the wind scores-wise, but I got a wave straight off the bat and it obviously paid off with a good score," Moretti said.
"Then I managed to back it up with another couple of good ones through the heat."
Northland surfer Paul Moretti shows his excitement with his first ever open men's division win on the national circuit. Photo / Supplied
The win was also Moretti's first in about 12 years, which the carpenter by trade put down to a recent six-week surfing excursion to Indonesia.
"I had runner-up finishes all through my junior years and finalled in some premier competitions, but I just hadn't managed to shake the monkey off my back for the first position.
"Definitely having spent a little more time in the water helped, trying to surf around work can be trying at times, but I think it still lines up and you get confidence through heats and you build on that."
While he was unsure whether he would be competing in next month's nationals in Dunedin, Moretti hoped if he did make an appearance, he would build on the confidence gained from his recent win.
Robinson, a Raglan Surfing Academy student, won the under-18 division, despite being eligible for the under-16 age-group. He also competed in the open men's division but was knocked out in the semifinals.
Northland's Tom Robinson climbs the wave in Taranaki on the weekend. Photo / Jesse Peters
Robinson congratulated Moretti on his winning effort which was a long-time coming.
"I saw [Moretti] surfing the day before the competition at Stent Rd and you could see he was putting everything into it, you could see he just wanted to show everyone that he is a really good surfer," Robinson said.
As for his own performance, Robinson was pleased to get the win after what had been a trying few months. As part of a New Zealand team competing VISSLA ISA World Junior Surfing Championships in the United States in October, Robinson was knocked out early and finished 65th in his division.
"After worlds, I was pretty bummed not getting the result I was after, so when I went to Taranaki, I just wanted to have a fun weekend and just enjoy surfing," he said.
After enjoying healthy waves at Stent Rd, Robinson had to battle poor surf at Fitzroy that saw him barely make it through the semifinals. However, Robinson said he was proud of how he reacted in the final.
"I could've been upset and lose confidence knowing that I hadn't put on a good performance in those waves, but I just went into [the final] with the same mindset that I had the day before and just surfed what was in front of me and it just came together, I guess."
Tom Robinson (left) can barely contain his excitement with the nationals in January quickly approaching. Photo / Jesse Peters
Robinson's semifinal finish in the open men's division was also his highest at that level, which added to his feeling of belief looking to the nationals next month.
"Now I've finished the year in a good way and next year I'm moving up to under-18s anyway so it's a lot of confidence for me going into next year, it's making me really excited for nationals."
