Surfing: Moretti still chasing top spot

Mimiwhangata's Paul Moretti came off second best to Raglan's Taylor Hutchison in a tightly contested under-20 boys final at the Backdoor GromBash.Photo / Supplied

It was another second place for Northland surfer Paul Moretti in his latest performance at the Backdoor GromBash in Raglan.

However, he'll be looking to shake his recurrent bridesmaid tag in preparation for the Rip Curl Pro in Raglan next month.

After making several finals in events this past summer, Moretti says he's "taking it as it comes" as he looks to chase down an elusive first-place finish.

"The finals [were] a little on the rough side," Moretti said. "[I] didn't quite hit the sections I wanted to [but] if you hooked into a good one you were away."

He surfed well through his under-20 boys opening heats, but suffered a narrow loss to Raglan surfer Taylor Hutchison in the final.

Northland surfers had a strong presence at the two-day GromBash event, held at Manu Bay, several progressing to the final stages.

Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay) surfed himself toward semifinals berths in both the under-20 boys and under-17 boys divisions. Whangarei's Jahmal Moselen appeared in the under-20 boys quarter-finals.

Waipu surfer Tom Norton contested the under-20 division as did Zane Hicks (Ocean Beach).

Max Brunker (Whangarei) surfed his way into a semifinal spot of the under-17 boys along with Scott-Arrieta.

Tom Robinson (Whangarei), who also surfed in the under-17 boys, was the best Northland surfer in the under-14 boys and made it through to the semifinal.

Billie Scott (Whangarei) made appearances in both the under-20 girls and under-17 girls divisions and managed to land a spot in the quarter-finals of the under-17 event.

Grace Pevats of Whangarei continued her dominant form with a fourth place finish in the under-14 girls.

Raglan surfer Taylor Hutchison was too strong for his opponents on the final day of the GromBash, taking out the under-20 boys title.

The expected swell pulsed in throughout the day with clean 1.5m waves and offshore winds.

Hutchison used his precision backhand attack to notch up a 16.2-point total, edging out runner-up Moretti on 15.7.

The two surfers went wave-for-wave in the final, but Moretti fell short by about a point on each of his waves.

Kehu Butler (Mount Maunganui) placed third in the final after contesting seven heats throughout the day.

Muriwai surfer Britt Kindred claimed her first win at national level in the under-20 girls division.

Kindred finished with a 13.2-point heat total, beating Ella Williams (Whangamata), who finished second on 11.4 points.