Muriwai Meerkats hold on to surf boat series lead

The Muriwai Meerkats have held on to their lead in the open women's ranks of the New Zealand Surf Boat Series after round two at Whangamata yesterday.

The West Auckland crew of Nicole Owen, Louise Ayling, Kathryn Wright, Jessica Parkin and Ricky Butt are sitting on 40 points after taking out the first round at Titahi Bay last month along with Monday's Whangamata Surf Boat Spectacular.

The Red Beach Muzzies (Emma Wilson, Billie-Lee Haresnape, Ashley Timoko, Andrea Gerrard, Shamus O'Halloran) remain in second place while the third place round win wasn't enough for the Piha Black Pearls (Erin Tolhurst, Charlotte Haskell, Trudy O'Halleran, Audrey Bourneville, Mark Bourneville) who sit in fifth place overall. Strong performances at rounds one and two have the Titahi Bay Timders in the third place position overall.

The Open Men's division saw a change in the points table with the first round's leaders North Beach sitting this round out.

The Paekakariki crew of Richard Whinham, Abe McPherson, Ethan Atkinson, Josh Temple-Brown, Steve Dickson took the round two win, moving them into first position in the overall series points.

The Red Beach Boomers took second place at Whangamata, keeping them in second place overall and the North Beach Beavers are now in third.

In the Under 23 divisions, the Orewa Chargers took out the round two win for the men while the Muriwai Munchkins took the win over Paekakariki.

The Sunset Beach Young Guns took out this round for the Under 19 men with the Orewa Baby Blues taking the women's win and Fitzroy taking out the Masters division.

Round Two Results: Whangamata Surf Boat Spectacular- January 2, 2017.

Open Men:
Surf Boat Series. Paekakariki SL White Chocolate (Richard Whinham, Abe McPherson, Ethan Atkinson, Josh Temple-Brown, Steve Dickson) 1, Piha SLSC Pistols (Benjamin Richards, Paul Gerritsen, Liam O'Halloran, Ben Scott, Mark Bourneville) 2, Red Beach SLSC Boomers (Jed Wright, Charles Graham, Shamus O'Halloran, Hayden Smith, Ryan Davenport, Shane O'Halloran) 3.

Open Women:
Surf Boat Series. Muriwai LS Meerkats (Nicole Owen, Louise Ayling, Kathryn Wright, Jessica Parkin, Ricky Butt) 1, Red Beach SLSC Muzzies (Emma Wilson, Billie-Lee Haresnape, Ashley Timoko, Andrea Gerrard, Shamus O'Halloran) 2, Piha SLSC Black Pearls (Erin Tolhurst, Charlotte Haskell, Trudy O'Halleran, Audrey Bourneville, Mark Bourneville) 3.

Under 23 Men:
Surf Boat Series. Orewa SLSC Chargers (Callum Thomason, Ethan Hutchinson, Jasper Ballantyne, Ryan Carrigan, Mark McCarthny) 1, Piha SLSC Pineapples (Tom Jacob, Chris Lines, Oliver Tattersall, Tyler Harrison, Tyler Waters, Tom Jacka) 2, Titahi Bay SLSC Darryl's (Darryn Stapleton, Fraser McLaren, Sam Findlater, Callum Watts-Pointer, Brett Hamer) 3.

U23 Women:
Surf Boat Series. Muriwai LS Munchkins (Grace Joseph, Dayna Lawton, Jaime Gunderson, Alex Murden, Danny Tenheuvel) 1, Paekakariki SL Almost (Jonti Cullen, Nicola Trott, Netta Cagney, Ursula Gordon, Shane Radovanovich) 2, Piha SLSC Pingers (Kelsea Broekhoizen, Jordan Pope, Alisha Carpen, Grace Jacob, Sophie McIntyre, Patrick Marsh) 3.

U19 Men:
Surf Boat Series. Sunset LS Young Guns (Carl Morgan, Jack Morgan, Ryan Brash, Jack Boulton, Samuel Hughes, Ted Marsh) 1, Sunset LS Hipsters ( Sebastian Neilands, Flynn Avery, Sean Oliver, Harrison Fulton, Stuart Keven) 2. Whangamata SLSC Baby Barry's (Sergio Schuler, Zane Sweetman, Joshua Nicholas, Taine Wilson, Steve Pipe) 3.

U19 Women:
Surf Boat Series. Orewa SLSC Baby Blues (Ashleigh Paotama, Sarah Hogg, Vanja Joy Franich, Maddie Fergus, Mark McCarthny) 1, Titahi Bay SLSC InTIMidators (Sarah Talbot, Maya Stillwell, Luisa Stillwell, Rosie Darrah, Tim Marsden) 2.

Masters Men:
Surf Boat Series. Fitzroy SLSC Floggers (Iain McCallum, Paul O'Keeffe, Brett Rogers, Calum Park, Mark Luff, Richard Comber) 1, Westshore SLSC Sneaky (Greig Michael Madden, Peter Scammell, Steve Smithers, Kevin Russell, Aidan Callaghan) 2, Westshore SLSC Red (Jamie Thompson, Jude Minor, Eric Forster, Rob Robinson, Aidan Charman) 3.

 Sarah Hogg sprints to the finish for the Orewa Baby Blues. Photo: TOM LEE/FAIRFAX NZ

For more information, please contact:

Lisa Smith, Media & Communications Manager, SLSNZ
Phone 0276 488 823
Email lisa.smith@surflifesaving.org.nz