Australian stars shine

Small waves at the Sandy Bay leg of the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour did not bother Gisborne surfer Daniel Proctor, who has made the road trip up to the Tutukaka Coast beach for the past 10 years.
"I've been coming up here since I was 13 and these conditions are what you expect for Northland - you don't expect big waves, but clean small ones and the better weather makes it worthwhile," the 23-year-old said.
Proctor, who won the 2007 and 2009 open men's division at the Sandy Bay leg of the Pro Tour, said he was impressed with the high calibre of surfers at the competition.
"Not only is it warmer than Gisborne up here, you get more surfers at events like this one ... the calibre of surfers is the best we've ever seen in New Zealand for a longboard competition."
The three-day event was bolstered by a star-studded line up of surfers this year with the event becoming part of the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) Australasia Longboard Qualifying Series (LQS) for the first time in 2011.
"This is a contest we train for and try to peak for, because of the professional surfers competing ... often NZ surfers such as myself cannot afford to go to the competitions in Australia or America but surfers from those places come to us for this competition," Proctor added.
This year, the Sandy Bay leg of the Pro Tour was extra special, as Proctor had his 6-month-old daughter Malea and his partner Seda in tow.
"It adds to the whole thing when they are with me - they get to enjoy travelling up here and this beautiful spot - just as I did growing up," he said. Proctor finished second in the open men's division at the first event at Piha, in January but he was knocked out of the competition at Sandy Bay during yesterday's semifinals.
Meanwhile, Australia's Josh Constable claimed the open men's title after a dream final run. Australia's Harley Ingleby opened up the final scoring a solid 9.0 ride (out of a possible 10) with a number of vertical back hand re-entries on a punchy left hander.
Constable replied with some super stylish nose riding, showing true class but young Mitch Surman (Aus) stole the lead at the half way point scoring a 9.5 on a long right hander, linking vertical re-entries with a nice long nose ride.
However it was Noosa-based Constable, who scored a perfect 10.0-point ride with seven minutes to go and followed it up with an 8.6-point ride to take the lead with two minutes to go - a lead he never relinquished.
He now leads the four-event LQS and also jumps back into the lead on the Hyundai Pro Longboard Tour in NZ after winning the two events to date.
Earlier yesterday, fellow Aussie Georgia Young took out the open women's division, with Sandy Bay's Wini Paul placing fourth in the tough final.