Hawker's powerful display takes title

Piha's Ryan Hawker won the open division of the 29th annual Polar Bear Classic at Sandy Bay, but not by much, in what turned out to be the tightest of finals.
The former New Zealand junior team member is regarded as one of the country's most promising surfers and he showed why on Sunday, edging home to win the top prize.  Raglan's Mike Banks and Aucklander Scott Rex-Bell chased him with only 1.5 points separating the top three.
Hawker's powerful, fluid display was  enough to hold off the challenge of Banks while Rex-Bell was squeezed into third.
Hawker's first wave scored near maximum points but the lead changed several times throughout the heat to make it an  exciting final.
The under-18 division saw another tight finish with Aucklander Tim Thompson beating  local surfer Patxi Scott-Arrieta with expatriate South African surfer JC Susan third.
The 14-year-old Sandy Bay regular, Scott-Arrieta, surfed to the highest single wave score in the heat final but was outpointed by Thompson who surfed consistently well throughout the heat.
A newcomer to the Polar Bear and recent arrival from South Africa, Susan pushed both of them with some radical moves.
Many of the heats were close from early on, with the lure of a new surfboard for the u-18 winner, plus $1000 cash and a new trophy for the open.
For the first time, the host North Coast Boardriders Club, backed by many generous local sponsors, was offering cash plus an impressive array of prizes for all divisions.
While the swell slowly dropped in size over the weekend, conditions continued to improve as the wind gradually swung into a near perfect offshore.
The result was some of the closest surfing  seen at Sandy Bay in the u-18 and open finals.
Just back from representing New Zealand in the World Titles Competition in Puerto Rico, Auckland's Rosa Thompson  took out the women's division.
Results
Open: Ryan Hawker (Auckland) 1; Mike Banks (Raglan) 2; Scott Rex-Bell (Auckland) 3; Tane Wallis (Piha) 4.
Under-18: Tim Thompson (Auckland) 1; Patxi Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay) 2; JC Susan (South Africa) 3; Tane Wallis 4.
Under-14: Seth Roselt (Sandy Bay) 1; Manu Scott-Arrieta (Sandy Bay) 2; Tangaroa Rawiri (Raglan) 3.
Women: Rosa Thompson (Auckland) 1; Kirstie Thompson (Whangarei) 2; Samantha Sharp (Whangarei) 3; Rachel Von Zalinski 4.
Over-40: Richard Langdon (Whangarei) 1; Billy Hale (Kaitaia) 2; Rupert Newbold (Ocean Beach) 3.
Longboard: Chris Malone (Raglan) 1; Simon Egginton (Sandy Bay) 2; Sean Carter (Sandy Bay) 3; Mike Hemingway (Sandy Bay) 4.