Sandy Bay's Patxi Scott-Arrieta surfed close to his potential, to win second place in the prestigious under-16 division at the first event of the Rip Curl GromSearch for 2009, on Sunday at Makorori Beach in Gisborne.
Along with Tyler Lawson of Hawke's Bay, Scott-Arrieta pushed the eventual winner, Piha's Tane Wallis,
hard in the event's final.
Both surfers looked powerful in the final, completing big turns but they both failed to back up these turns, either falling off or having their waves close out and
therefore limiting their scoring potential.
In the end it was the Northland surfer that placed second - his best ever result in the division - ahead of Lawson in third, with Mount Maunganui's Todd Doyle finishing fourth.
The first of two Rip Curl GromSearch events was held in wind affected 1m high waves, contrasting with the picture perfect waves of Saturday's heats.
Wallis looked to find some form in the difficult conditions, seamlessly surfing the tricky conditions. His 14.13 point heat total had opponents chasing excellent scores to catch him.
It was Wallis' second win of the year and comes at a perfect time with the New Zealand Junior Surfing Team to be named in just over two weeks. Wallis will be aiming to make the New Zealand team for the first time and represent his country at his home beach when the World Junior Championships come to Piha in January next year.
Wallis and Scott-Arrieta secured invites to the Rip Curl GromSearch national final which will be held at Raglan in February in conjunction with the Rip Curl Pro.
Earlier in the day Wallis and Lawson eliminated Mimiwhangata brothers Paul and Joe Moretti in the first semifinal while Scott-Arrieta and Doyle eliminated Mount Maunganui's Peri Matenga and Whangamata's Dune Kennings in the second semifinal.
Whangamata's Grace Spiers won the under-16 girls competition with 10.27, beating local Jayda Martin-Fitzharris and Raglan's Alexis Poulter in second and third respectively.
Waihi Beach's Kahu Craig Te Ranga continued his fine form at Gisborne events by winning the under-14 boys final, while Whangamata's Ella Williams won the under-14 girls contest.
Gisborne's Korbin Hutchings held out Scott-Arrieta's younger brother Manu, to win the final of the under-12 division, while Muriwai's Milly Crewe was victorious in the under-12 girls category.
