SURFING - Victory comes Paco's way

Local knowledge and youth combined to conquer experience when Northland's world-ranked junior surfer, Paco Divers, won the $1000 first prize in the Schnappa Rock Polar Bear Surf Classic on his last wave at Sandy Bay over the weekend.
Divers, who recently placed sixth in the world junior championships in France, was pushed hard by veteran Red Beach surfer Thomas Kibblewhite, and former national champion Andrew Robinson from Takapuna in the final.
With only 20s left in the 25 minute final, Divers was ahead on one judge's sheet, behind on another and dead equal with Kibblewhite on the two remaining sheets. But the young Sandy Bay-based surfer, who has repeatedly shown he has the mental toughness to compete at the top level, exploded into action on a powerful 1.5m left-hander.
With the final rapidly drawing to a close Kibblewhite and Robinson had each latched on to a solid left-hand wave that had reformed part-way through and thrown up a critical section closer to the beach that provided scope for high-scoring manoeuvres.
But Divers followed suit and pulled off an even more radical series of top-to-bottom turns.
Fourth place went to another junior, 14-year-old Tane Wallis. The young Piha-based surfer had a busy weekend, winning the under-14 division and also placing third in the under-18 division, which was won by his brother, Zen, with Far North surfer Todd Hale taking second.
Todd's father, Billy, won the over-40 division. The Longboard division was taken out by Kibblewhite while the women's final went to New Zealand junior team member Rosa Thompson from Auckland.
It was the 28th time the Polar Bear has been run at Sandy Bay, making it one of the longest running surfing events in New Zealand.
North Coast Boardriders Club president Malcolm Pullman said that with Schnappa Rock already confirmed as the major sponsor for next year, the club would again be able to lure top surfers to Sandy Bay.
"The Polar Bear has cemented itself on the New Zealand surfing calendar as a prestigious-yet-fun event. With local business backing, it now offers a prize pool not far behind the country's leading professional competitions," Pullman said.
Results - Open: Paco Divers, 1; Thomas Kibblewhite, 2; Andrew Robinson, 3; Tane Wallis, 4.
Under-18: Zen Wallis, 1; Todd Hale, 2; Tane Wallis, 3; Ryan Colquhan, 4; Longboard: Thomas Kibblewhite, 1; Paul Culan, 2; Viv Treacy, 3; Simon Egginton 4. Over-55: Paul Brown, 1; Rob Bayes, 2; Ken Nichelson, 3; Dave Gould, 4. Women: Rosa Thompson, 1; Samantha Sharp, 2; Renae Lee, 3; Kylie Bloxham, 4.
Over-40: Billy Hale, 1; Mark Shanks, 2; Tony Devaney, 3; David Stork, 4. Under-14: Tane Wallis, 1; Patxi Scott-Arrieta, 2; Paul Moretti, 3; Jack Treacy, 4; William Bowden, 5.