Surfing: Moretti continues fine form

Paul Moretti carves his way to third in the final event of the Billabong Grom Series at Piha. Photo / Supplied

Paul Moretti continued his fine competitive form in the final event of the Billabong Grom Series at south Piha at the weekend, but was left to ponder what could have been if he had contested all three events in the series.

Moretti was sixth overall in the under-20 boys category, however, if he had competed at the first grom series event at Mount Maunganui, he would have been in close contention for the overall title win.

Grace Pevat

He was third at Piha for the second straight event after making the Grom Series final at Whangamata last month.

"I think I've got a bit of a monkey stuck on my back at the moment," Moretti said.

"It's a bit rugged isn't it, two third places back-to-back, but I'm still stoked to be able to surf the last two events and keep it pretty casual."

Piha's Elliot Paerata-Reid returned home for the final event of the series and dominated from start to finish, claiming the under-20 boys title.

The finals day started out with nice clean 1m waves, which built throughout the day.

However, the low tide and 1.5m swells, coupled with a strengthening sea breeze in the afternoon made conditions challenging.

"There were a few runners coming through on the Piha bar but lots of close-outs also," Moretti said.

"If you hooked into the right one and got a few turns in then it seemed to be good enough."

Paerata-Reid finished with an 18.6 point heat total in the final, which included a near perfect 9.73 point ride for three huge backhand turns strung together across the Piha Bar; a break that Paerata-Reid knows well.

Moretti's excellent form in the under-20 boys semifinal saw him beat Paerata-Reid, scoring 15 off his two best waves, but he failed to carry this momentum forward to the final, in which the eagerly dominant Paerata-Reid took the victory.

Meanwhile, Whangarei surfer Grace Pevats did enough in the under-14 girls' final to take top honours for the series.

Pevats, by way of her second placing, did enough to claim the title after ratings leader Kai Woolf (Gisborne) opted to surf up a division at the Piha event.

Gabriella Paul (Piha) claimed the event win in the under-14 girls division holding off Pevats, who finished runner-up for her second event in a row.

The under-14 girls final was close between all four surfers with Toni Power (Mount) third and Georgia Wederell fourth.