Treacy carves it up

By PETER THORLEY WHILE much of the attention was focused on the open men's competition, it was hard to ignore Ocean Beach surfer Viv Treacy, as he added another over-50s title to his name at the Hyundai Longboard Classic at Sandy Bay yesterday.
Given the experience and style out on the water on Saturday and Sunday, it was some effort to top the well-contested division, but it was an even greater feat to finish fourth in the over-40 event as well.
Treacy's success on the water left North Coast Boardriders president Malcolm Pullman shaking his head.
"Viv Treacy seems to be made out of kauri, he just keeps going and I think he'll outlast us all," Pullman said. "It was a long hard road for him, he was in the over-40s as well as being in the over-50s - so that means he had a lot of heats to surf and as the surf got bigger and bigger towards the finals, he must have been feeling it - but he came through and he got the credit he deserved."
Treacy was one of a good number of veteran surfers out on the water during finals day at the annual Sandy Bay event. He beat another local surfer, John Ayton, in the over-50 final, while Ocean Beach surfer Rupert Newbold took second place behind Raglan's Mike Thompson in the final of the over-40 competition.
Kieran Pullman qualified for the junior semifinals in his first ever national longboard event, while Tutukaka's Demi Poynter and Ocean Beach's Kirstie Thompson both made the semifinals of the open women's division, eventually won by Auckland's Claire Norman.
There was huge interest again in a topsy-turvy men's open event that saw a number of the top seeds troubled and eliminated by relative unknowns.
In the end the contest was won by Mount Maunganui surfer Daryn McBride, but the final wasn't without some controversy.
Mike Burling, originally from Tonga but now based in Auckland, quickly became the crowds' favourite in the final after pulling off a huge move on a wave to land a big floater. It seemed the move would be enough to win the final.
But McBride ended up out-pointing Burling, performing what turned out to be a longboard classic, which allowed him to win the contest with a 9.3 score.
The distinction wasn't always apparent to the hundreds of people who lined the beachfront, but the judges knew what they were looking for.
Pullman said the competition had benefited from the great weather and the kindred spirit of the surfing community.
"It was a hugely enjoyable weekend and people from all around New Zealand keep on coming back to this contest, it just gets bigger and better and our local Hyundai sponsors IC Motors deserve our thanks for the work they've done this weekend to make everything flow smoothly," he said.