Mount Maunganui welcomes the return of the SOL Surf Series

For immediate release

13 December 2010

Mount Maunganui welcomes the return of the SOL Surf Series

The 2010/11 SOL Surf Series will return to Mount Maunganui after a one-year hiatus following the announcement that the Bay of Plenty will mark the fourth stop of the series.

Thanks to naming rights sponsor Power Balance, the Power Balance Pro will see the biggest names in New Zealand surf head to the East Coast to compete on February 12 and 13, 2011.

Mount Maunganui has long been a breeding ground for some of New Zealand’s best surfers.

Tim O’Connor is currently the top ranked surfer from this region after placing third at the O’Neill Sequence Surf Shop Pro, in Gisborne – the first event of the SOL Surf Series for summer.

O’Connor has been lethal in his performances over the past few months and a competition at home may be all that is required to get him over the line for his first ever career win in the Open Men’s Division.

“Really stoked the national series is coming back to the Mount, I was disappointed that it wasn’t here this year, but yeah, stoked to see it back” comments O’Connor.

“You can’t beat competing at home, you sleep in your own bed and you surf the place you have surfed your whole life” adds O’Connor of home water advantages.

Surfing New Zealand Executive Officer Greg Townsend is pleased to see a national event being held back at Mount Maunganui.

“The Mount has a big surfing community and during those summer months there can be some good waves and big crowds at events so we are looking forward to the Power Balance Pro in February” says Townsend.

Alongside O’Connor, the Power Balance Pro is likely to see a number of other highly talented local surfers return to competition.

“I was talking to Hewy (Mat Hewitt) the other day and he said he should be back in the water competing by that time. You also have Divey (Alex Dive) who is ripping at the moment and heaps of other guys that don’t do the circuit, Mark Dovey, Matt Bennett, Luke Ashman, Owen Barnes, all those guys rip,” O’Connor says.

The Power Balance Pro includes the Open Women’s and Under 20 Men’s divisions that will be contested over the two days.

Jessica Santorik currently leads the girls rankings and is likely to be back in New Zealand to compete after placing 35th on the ASP Women’s World Qualifying Series in 2010. She will be joined by 2010 National Champion and local surfer Laura Rishworth along with a raft of other young surfers from around the country.




Please also refer to editor’s note overleaf for more information…

For media enquiries please contact:
Ben Kennings | 07 8250022 or 021 2278732 | benkennings@surfingnz.co.nz

Event snapshot:

Event: Power Balance Pro - 4-star
Series: 2010/11 SOL Surf Series
Event date: 12-13 February 2011
Location: Tay Street, Mount Maunganui
Associated websites: Surfing New Zealand and Power Balance

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of Power Balance and SOL, surfers around New Zealand will get to take part in the event. Head over to the Surfing New Zealand Facebook page and pick your four Open Men's Division finalists. Pick the finalists correctly and you will go in the draw to win two Power Balance wrist bands and five dozen SOL.

The current SOL Surf Series rankings after event one of six are below:

Open Men’s Division
1, Jay Quinn (Gis)
2, Blair Stewart (Gis)
3, Tim O'Connor (Mnt)
4, Alex Dive (Mnt)
5, Keone Campbell (Tara)
5, Tane Wallis (Piha)
7, Nick White (Mnt)
7, Sam Willis (Gis)
9, Jarred Hancox (Tara)
9, Brent Rasby (Gis)
9, Tyler Lawson (H-Bay)
9, Adam Grimson (Gis)

Open Women’s Division
1, Jessica Santorik (Rag)
2, Grace Spiers (Whmata)
3, Laura Rishworth (Mnt)
4, Alexis Poulter (Rag)
5, Ella Williams (Whmata)
5, Jayda Martin-Fitzharris (Gis)

Complete event write ups, results, surfer and industry ratings, images and audio interviews from the event can be viewed at Surfing New Zealand.

Please see below for the remaining five events that make up the 20010/11 SOL Surf Series.

Sol Series Event 2 - 13-16 January - Hyundai National Championships, Dunedin (5-star)
Sol Series Event 3 - 29-31 January - Billabong Pro presented by Sony, Whangamata (6-star)
Sol Series Event 4 - 12-13 February - Power Balance Pro, Mount Maunganui (4-star)
Sol Series Event 5 - 11-13 March - Rip Curl Pro, Raglan (6-star)
Sol Series Event 6 - 2-3 April SOL Super 16, Mobile (6-star)

2010/11 SOL Surf Series at a Glance
• New Zealand's top surfers across three divisions - Open Men, Open Women, Under 20 Men
• Six events held throughout New Zealand
• One new event at Mount Maunganui
• $50,000 in prize money
• Winners of each event in the Open Men's Division receive direct entry into the final event
• One entry into the final event granted to the top rated surfer on the South Island Circuit
• Remainder of the entries will be the top rated surfers on the SOL Series
• Final event caters for 16 males and top 4 females from the SOL Series
• Final event is mobile across the top of the North Island
• North vs South Challenge and Interclub Championship to be held at National Championships
Imagery
Web clips and newsfeeds will be distributed free of charge from the event. Please contact Ben Kennings for further details.

High resolution images will be available to media upon request. Images will be distributed free of charge courtesy of NZ Surfing Magazine.

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Event Hotline
The Surfing New Zealand event hotline is 0211134506. This will be updated daily at each SOL Series event with venues, divisions contested and conditions.

Sponsors
Generous support from Power Balance, SOL and Bay Boardriders Boardriders has made this event possible.

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Surfing New Zealand is proudly partnered by:

Power Balance
SOL
Hyundai
SPARC
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