Surfing: Muriwai's Pearson laps up Piha surf

Muriwai's Ariki Pearson revelled in the conditions at Piha yesterday to take top honours in the Hybrid Surf Ironman series.

The conditions were typical of Auckland's West Coast, with a steady 1.5 to 2.5m surf in irregular formations requiring good anticipation.

"I love racing on the west coast, especially at Piha in these conditions," said Pearson.

What appeared to be moderate seas soon became challenging for all but the top competitors.

"It was reasonably testing, with different chops, channels and holes at different times to try and get through," said Pearson.

Pearson is an outstanding ironman competitor, but it is his love of Auckland's West Coast that brings a smile to his face.

"This type of ironman contest fits into any surf sports calendar at any time of the year," he said. "I think the three back-to-back ironmans, each involving the swim, board, ski and soft sand transition, with a short break in between, is fantastic."

The number of entries could have been greater as the timing, right in the middle of the summer break, could have excluded a few surf athletes away on holiday.

"On the other side of that, the timing has given those from other parts of New Zealand a chance to travel to Piha," said Pearson.

The open and under-19 ironman series were run together, with the points recorded separately, which gave a number of young ironmen a chance to measure themselves against some of the best.

"I was very impressed with Daniel Moodie, a young Westshore competitor from Napier," said Pearson. "His swimming is strong, his board paddling is good and he's solid on the ski.

"He's flying at the moment and he's only going to get better. He was competing in the under-19 division, but had he elected the open division, he would have beaten me by a point."

The open women's event was won by Nikki Cox of Westshore.

Surf athletes get another opportunity for an outing at the Owen Chapman carnival at Red Beach tomorrow.